Toronto

A few weeks ago, I was the only one awake, and I started Googling Canadian cities with good waterfronts. Why? I’m not sure. It just felt like a good idea at the time. I discovered that Toronto had a great waterfront, AND we could drive there in about 8 hours. That was good because it was way too late to purchase plane tickets.

Josh woke up, and I asked him if he wanted to drive to Toronto.

Then the kids got up and started making a list of things we could do in the city.

And finally, I wrote the Road Less Travelled to see if I could meet her because I knew she lived in Ontario. I then looked up which British books on my TBR were already in Canadian bookstores, even though they haven’t been released yet in the US. (There were two!) Priorities.

A few days later, we jumped in the car and drove 8 hours to Toronto, stopping in Niagara to show the kids the falls. We spent 6 days walking around the city, photographing the architecture, eating vegan food, peeking into museums, meeting Lori, and buying matching t-shirts at Roots.

Highlights:

Bata Shoe Museum: We swapped in for a different museum at the last minute, and it was fantastic.

Art Gallery of Toronto: It felt similar to Rijkmuseum, trading Dutch artists for Canadian ones.

Toronto Islands: We got there early and were still inundated with little kids, but the islands are beautiful, and the water is crystal clear.

Fresh Kitchen: We had two great meals at this low-key vegan restaurant and bought one of the cookbooks so we could recreate it at home.

Dinner with Lori: Meeting someone I have been reading for 17 years was amazing.

University of Toronto: We had a lot of fun walking around the campus.

Lowlights:

Casa Loma: It was fine. I had a good time being there with the kids and Josh, but we also could have been happy dropping it.

Kensington Market: This neighbourhood kept popping up on lists as a must-see. It might have been better if we had been there for a meal, but as it was, it was hot, crowded, and loud.

Distillery District: This felt like it was designed for Instagram posts.

Our final takeaway:

Toronto seems like a great place to live, but it’s less great to visit if you’re already from a large city. We missed the unique history and culture of a place like Montreal. Toronto felt like a blend of New York and Chicago. I’m not sure we would return, even though we had a good time while we were there.