Day 3: To the Top of Toronto and Back

Start: Toronto, ON
End: Toronto, ON
Miles Driven: 0 (624.8 total)

This morning we had our first snafu of the trip: Katrina almost set her hair on fire as her hair dryer shorted out. Luckily, we both left the house in one piece and headed out to explore Toronto.

We rode "the Rocket" (Toronto's subway) into town and got off at Eaton Centre, Toronto's massive downtown mall. Once above ground, we walked down Yonge St, the longest street in the world, to the CN Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the world. We took an exhilarating 58 second elevator ride up to the observation deck. The most interesting part was the glass floor--all that stood between us and a 1,815 foot drop was a couple thick sheets of glass. It was pretty unnerving to stand on though the young children jumping
up and down on the glass floor didn't seem to care.


As we further explored the downtown area we came across the convention center which was simultaneously hosting an antique show and "AnimeCon". Though we both love old furniture...we decided to check out the Anime conference instead. Above are some of the fellow attendees we met.

On our way to our next destination we came upon what we thought was a downtown footrace but when the second competitor yelled "thief" we realized it was something much different. Luckily the two speedy plain-clothed officers were able to apprehend the race leader/shoplifter a few feet from where we stood and retrieved the three pairs of tan slacks and pair of blue deck shoes strewn across the sidewalk. Pictures of the chase and arrest were confiscated as evidence (or would have been if we had taken any).

We finally reached our next stop....the Steam Whistle Brewery where we took a tour of the facilities. We learned about the intricacies of the production process and the qualities that make their pilsner so unique. Their beer is known for having 2 "fingers" worth of head to preserve the integrity of the beer to the last drop which protects those with sensitive palates. Patrick and his sensitive palate were thrilled when we had our free samples. But not as thrilled as Patrick when he got to pull the brewery namesake's very own steam whistle to bring an end to the tour.

We ended the day in Little Italy for dinner with Nicole and Elizabeth. We ate at Bar Italia and feasted on salmon, spinach linguine, tiramisu, chocolate truffle cake, cheesecake, and plenty of Shiraz. As the snow began to fall, we got a nightcap at a local martini bar where the ladies ordered from the extensive martini menu, and Patrick got a Labatt 50 in true Canadian style. We then headed home to rest up for a big driving day tomorrow.