Toronto, Eh???

After about a half hour delay in Dallas due to mechanical difficulties - I was more than happy for them to take their time on that one - we took off for Toronto and arrived about three hours later. We didn't know that we were arriving in Toronto on one of Canada's long, three day weekend. Our taxi driver explained that traffic around the city was especially bad because so many people were headed to the "cottage country". Apparently, that's the term used to refer to the countryside where people have weekend homes, or "cottages". Not sure it this is true all over Canada or just in this area.....any of our Canada friends, feel free to chime in!

Our hotel was centrally located in the financial district in downtown Toronto, so we could easily walk to almost anywhere without difficulty. We decided to buy a day pass for the subway and streetcar which made a lot of sense with as much as we wanted to see and do. A sightseeing tour of the city was a great way to get an overview as well as our bearings. Did you know that shortly after the American revolution, Americans actually invaded Toronto for two weeks? Appparently, the many of the loyalists to the crown who lived here feared this might happen after the US war for independence. Turns out, it wasn't too hard to beat these people back to the American side. A couple of other interesting Toronto tidbits:

• Originally, Toronto was called York but when some people started referring to it as "Little York" in relation to the larger New York down south, the city decided to change it to Toronto.
• Toronto was also the final destination for the underground railroad, which slaves from the US would travel to find freedom in the North.

We were pleasantly surprised on our bus tour that the tour operator proudly pointed out the church in Toronto where the first same sex wedding occurred after Canada legalized same sex marriage. Kudos to Canada!!

Well, tomorrow we check out but since we don't fly to iceland until 9 p.m., we're going to take a boat tour of the harbour during the day and enjoy the sunshine.

TORONTO DAY 2

Wow! Did the weather improve today! We woke up to sunny weather and highs in the low 70’s – a perfect day for our harbour tour. We got a later start this morning than yesterday since we knew we’d be on an overnight flight and hoped to bank some quality sleep time. We headed down to the continental breakfast provided by the hotel and fortunately, it wasn’t quite as crowed as yesterday. Still, since we arrived shortly before the buffet was closing down, the rush to the bagel bar was akin to the passengers on the Titanic scurrying to the last of the lifeboats!

The harbour tour was really enjoyable and actually, quite informative. A few more interesting facts gleaned from the tour:

• Canada doesn’t use their coast guard to protect the water fronts of their cities because the guard is too small for such a major job. Instead. Each city uses it’s police force to monitor the waterways by boat.
• During prohibition in the US during the 1920’s, the Toronto islands were a popular destination for Americans who wanted to enjoy some alcohol.
• Mute swans were found around the islands and apparently, they truly are mute. Becase their necks are so long, their tracheas are stretched to the point that all they can do is quietly hiss if you come to close.
• The CN Tower – the tallest tower in the world – can hold the weight of 14 hippos on their observation deck.
• Yonge Street in Toronto is the longest street in the world at almost 1200 miles. It actually ends at the Ontario/Minnesota border!

Well, that’s about it for Toronto. I’m finishing this up on the plane to Iceland and it looks like the food cart is coming down the aisle. Since we didn’t have dinner yet, I think I’ll sign off......Iceland, here we come! Hope all is well with everyone!!