A Trip to Toronto
A WEEKEND IN CANADA
2 weeks ago I spent the most amazing weekend in Canada. Living so close to Canada (5 hours is very close in the US) meant that I just had to visit at some point during my year abroad, and I'm so glad we did. The people were just lovely, the laid-back and chilled atmosphere was so refreshing and Toronto was just absolutely beautiful. Walking around Toronto made me feel so at home, it reminded me so much of England! We went for 3 full days and spent 2 of them in Toronto, Ontario. I honestly had the most amazing weekend ever, and can't stop thinking about it, and so of course I had to document it on here to look back on it in the future. Enjoy!
Now, the trip itself actually didn't start off so great. That friday we had more snow than any other day of the winter so far; I think it was roughly 2 foot in the space of 8 hours. Classes were cancelled, all buses to New York City were cancelled, and we all thought we'd never make it to Toronto. We decided to leave a lot of time to get to the bus station - and thank goodness, because we would definitely not have made it if we hadn't! Our bus was due to leave at 8.25pm, and we got to the station at 6pm (I ike to be reaaally early) and we went up to the ticket guy and to double check our bus was going ahead and he said 'nope they're all cancelled!'. I was so mad because there were no updates or anything and so we each kept going back up to the guy showing him the buses were running etc. and he was so rude to us! Then I started crying (I reaaallly could not bare the thought of being stuck in Binghamton all weekend and all the money we'd spent on buses and accommodation going to waste) and finally he was a little more sympathetic and found us a bus!!! However, that bus was due to leave ANYTIME NOW (it was 6.30pm and the bus was meant to leave at 6.15pm) but was running a little late and not all the girls had arrived at the station yet, and those 20 mins were the most stressful of my entire life. In fact, the whole day was just stressful. The bus left 6.45pm and if we had not got to the station so early or that bus had been on time or if we hadn't gone to check it was still running or if we hadn't have persistently bugged the ticket guy, or if i hadn't of cried.... we would not have made it to Canada at all so it felt like an absolute MIRACLE when we made it there. We made all 3 buses (5 hour travelling and a 4 hour wait in Syracuse), sailed through customs (where they marched us all off the bus, which was not that enjoyable at 3am) and arrived in Toronto before the sun came up at 6am. Wow thats a lot of words- but getting there really was that eventful.
First off we went for breakfast - pancakes and maple syrup whilst in Canada, of course - and then headed to St Lawrence market. It was a foodie's heaven and had so much fresh produce, meat and pastries. We didn't get anything because we were so full up from breakfast, so planned to go back on the monday and then it was closed!!! Tragic.
Toronto's Flat Iron building!!
Next we headed to the CN tower, the highest viewpoint in the city. Anywhere I go, my favourite thing to do is see the city from above, I get so mesmerised looking down on all the buildings, and love seeing the differences between cities and their architecture this way - Toronto could not have looked more different to NYC, and totally different to Boston too! Apparently you could see Niagara Falls from the top, and its true, you could see the direction where it was, but I'm not convinced you could see the actual thing... maybe I was looking in the wrong direction!
By 11am we had done all the above (we arrived at 6am remember!) and so we got the ferry over to Toronto Island. The island was the weirdest place ever! It was like some tiny little village and had old quaint houses on it - to go anywhere residents have to get the ferry into the city! The view of the city from the island was incredible.
By the time we got back to the city we were all starving, so we got some food and then walked to the City Hall. The old city hall was absolutely beautiful, and the war monument in front had both the Canadian and British flags. The golden hour sunlight was so pretty. After, we walked across the road to the Toronto sign and Ice Rink - this reminded me sooo much of Amsterdam!!! There was music, food trucks and it was so busy which made for a really cool atmosphere and I loved just sitting there and taking it all in!
Our second day in Toronto began at the Royal Ontario Museum - the largest museum in Canada (I think). I really liked it and found the sections on the history of Canada and native peoples most interesting.
We then had our very own local tour guide to show us around the University of Toronto (she's studying abroad from Lancaster too!) which was sooo beautiful. The buildings were so old and it felt like Hogwarts!!! It makes Bing look so modern and boring in comparison. The university is a city uni too and so was spread about across part of the city which was so cool.
We walked back through the Toronto sign area, and to the Distillery District, which was really hipster and a lot like Brooklyn. Unforunately a lot of things were closed down there because of it being winter time and the area was so quiet. I bet in the summer its even better with lots of people hanging around making for an awesome atmosphere.
Then we walked back along the waterfront and stopped for some food to fill up before the long journey back to Binghamton. The journey back could not have gone smoother, we managed to have the same bus for the whole way back and it took us so much less time - left at 11.30pm and arrived back at 8am.
I loved Toronto so so much (if you hadn't noticed yet) and I'm already thinking about going back to Canada; which hopefully will be pretty soon!.... I imagine the city is even better in the summer - it was really, really cold and many things had winter opening times which were a pain! I'd definitely recommend adding Toronto to your travel bucket list, I know I'll make sure to head back in the future!
Next week I'll post all the pictures from the trip to NIAGARA FALLS!!!!!
Hope you enjoyed this post,
Elsie! xo
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