Last weekend I went to Toronto with Osho!
It was really fun and easy to get there (1 hour-ish plane ride). We woke up super early Saturday morning to get on our flight and arrived in our hotel on the water by 9:30 AM. We spent that whole day exploring and walking through the city. We must have walked for 7 hours and by then, our legs were broken. I also managed to get a sunburn in Toronto (starting that day) because it was so warm and sunny outside. We went to Little Italy, Little Portugal, University of Toronto/College Area, Chinatown, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. The art gallery was pretty awesome and we spent a lot of time there. We discovered an area called Kensington Market at the end of the day, which was more alternative (read: not corporate) and had a lot of different (cheap) food options. The best coffee we had there was the Voodoo blend at Voodoo Child Coffee (so good!).
We were surprised how much of the city was under (new) construction to create massive luxury apartment buildings. The city of Toronto seems to be extremely prosperous and wealthy. We also were surprised by how easy it was to get around, though each neighborhood is pretty spread out (unlike in NYC). We also enjoyed quite a bit of of roti (there soft bread with delicious curry-like things inside) from an Southeast Asian place and a Jamaican place.
For day 2, we did more walking and tried to do a lot (but it didn't exactly work out how we expected). We went to St Lawrence Market, but is was closed (so sad). We looked at some antiques in the area and then decided to walk by the harbor. By that point, we hopped onto the ferry (literally in front of our hotel) to the island. We spent a few hours walking around and trying not to get lost in the little amusement park there. It was super cute and a nice (close) escape from the city. On the way back, we tried to go to Amsterdam Brewhouse (super famous, but the wait was ridiculous). Instead, we grabbed some quick bites and headed over to CN Tower. We decided not to go up because we were too tired. Instead, we headed back to the hotel to rest. At night, we went out to the nicest dinner. The restaurant was called Buca and the entire experience was amazing. Even though the restaurant was on a main street, the spot was tucked away in a little private alley and we got to eat outside. Osho ordered the best Rose and we ordered hare pasta, shrimp pizza, the best tiramisu of my life, and this awesome cake thing. Overall, it was one of my favorite memories of the whole trip.
For day 3, we made sure to check the last things off our check list. We took the subway in Toronto for the first time (which was so fast!) to Casa Lomo, which was a medieval-style castle a rich Toronto financier built in the early 1900's. The entire building was beautiful and over the top. It was really fun to walk through and look at the intricate furniture, huge rooms, and blooming flowers everywhere. The weather was so beautiful the entire time we were in Toronto. After mustering up enough energy to walk again (we were exhausted the entire weekend from so many activities and walking), we went to the Royal Museum of Toronto. It was kind of a mix of the Met and the Natural History Museum. We grabbed some food after, walked a little bit around the Bloor area (luxury shops and boutiques), and then headed back to the hotel. Before hopping into a cab to go to the airport, we picked up some gyros. Overall, the trip was pretty great.
