Toronto after the tennis

After spending 9 days at the Toronto Masters i stayed in Toronto until Thursday evening. This is what i got up to.

Monday - I had a lie-in and boy did i need it. It is hard work watching tennis all day, chasing players around for autographs!

After i got up i went to Toronto Island - http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/ I had a lovely walk through the Island and went along the shoreline of Lake Ontario to dip my feet. It was a sunny day so lots of people hanging out, having picnics etc. After catching the ferry back to the city i went to the CN Tower - http://www.cntower.ca/index.aspx Not much unless you like the view of skyscrapers, lol but it does give you a good view of the Islands & Lake. I went right to the top (Skypod) and had to queue again, another hour. My feet where killing me :( That was it for Monday.

Tuesday - Went to the Zoo - http://www.torontozoo.com/

Went on the subway then bus and bloody hell it take a long time, 90 minutes! The zoo is located outside the city in Scarborough and i felt like i had travelled to Scarborough, Yorkshire it took that long! Finally arrived and off i went to see the animals. Polar bears, yay!!! Tigers, yay!!! Elephants, yay!!!, Moose, yay!!! Snow Leopard, yay!!! and lots lots more. The long-standing resident Gorilla, Samantha, died the previous day so everyone was sad :( Poor Gorilla had recently suffered a 2nd stroke and was put to sleep. Had a lovely day as i love animals.

Wednesday - Niagara Falls - http://www.niagarafallstourism.com/.

Nice Amtrak train from Toronto @ 08.30 with big comfy seats with lots of leg room :) I got a taxi from the station to the Maid of The Mist with a fellow train traveller (some guy from Holland) Went to collect my pass and went straight onto the boat. I got SOAKED!!!! I have been before, back in 2005 but don't remember getting this wet. But it was great fun. I then went to Journey Behind the Falls. I had to wait 40 minutes for my timeslot so i went to get some lunch. TBH it was not worth the wait, it was crap. Yes you get very close to the base of the falls but it was that windy and so much spray that you can barely see anything. I moved on to Rainbow Bridge and crossed over the boarder to the USA, cost me $6 for a visa that i used for around 90 minutes, lol. Got a good view of the Horseshoe Falls from this side and had a nice walk through the park. I then crossed back over and caught the shuttle bus to the Butterfly Conservatory. The last time i was here we didn't have that long to look around here. Whilst it is not that big there are thousands of butterflies and gave me a chance to use the Macro function on my camera. Managed to get some good shots when they finally stopped flying around, lol. At this point i had ran out of time so made my way back to the train station. And i shouldn't of bothered!! The train originates in New York so after crossing the boarder the Immigration people do their checks. 137 needed to be checked, luggage checked etc etc etc and it took over an hour!! Finally we got on board and off we went. Got back into Toronto and once again found myself in a bar, happened every night, lol. Made it back to the hotel and packed my case ready for the checkout next morning.

Thursday - Royal Ontario Museum - http://www.rom.on.ca/

I had booked my ticket for the special exhibtion on the Terracotta Warrior Army so got there early, 10am. There were 6 pieces brought over and it is a fasinating story. They have dinosaurs too, yay!!! Had a look around the other floors then once again found myself in a bar, always seems to happen to me, :) Went back to the hotel to collect my case and off i went to the airport. Was sick of paying for cabs so i took the subway & bus, $3, bargain. Toronto International has free WiFi, nice people! Went straight to my gate and found a seat with a plug and surfed the net whilst waiting to board. Unlike the way over i was on time. Boring flight, slept for 30 minutes, woohoo.

Got home just before 11am, chatted with my Mum for a while then went to bed and slept like a log for a few hours. Ooooo, almost forgot, there was a pressie waiting for me, a dishwasher!!!!! Been after one for a few months now, lol. Ordered and eat a Chinese and i am now sat watching Cincy on the laptop.

I miss live tennis already!!

Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/53107733@N06/