Toronto Trip 2010: Day 1
by Christian Martinez
As per tradition, I will be blogging about our adventures, this time around in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I will try my best to be faithful, i.e. I will try to blog every day, and recall as much of the details of our encounters as possible. It began in Winnipeg.
Although I knew that not having enough sleep would haunt me later in the day, I couldn’t help but postpone my shut-eye out of sheer excitement. About four hours in two days was all I got, and surely enough it first bit my butt as we landed in Toronto and got out of the plane. I guess you could consider this our first adventure. We didn’t know where to go! We had done research about the directions to our hotel – we know which bus to take to the train station, which station to get off at then walk to our hotel. Where in the friggin’ huge airport would we catch the bus though, how do we get to the platform where we’d get into our train, and where do we turn to get to the street that would lead to our hotel? My brain was fried, so I just shrugged, and we got stuck in the airport for what must’ve been at least an hour.
Well despite our manly stubbornness and inclination not to ask for directions, we eventually talked to this nice old lady who helped us with directions. We were then finally on track. As we got off at Union Station to begin our 10-minute walk to the hotel, we were simultaneously in awe and daunted by our surroundings. It’s so beautiful! Everything’s bigger and flashier, and the people just emanated confidence (and cockiness, really). At the same time, how would we ever figure our way around this mighty city, the 5th largest in North America? I was eager to get to our hotel just to reassure myself that we’re at least still able to get to places and so, without mind, I walked faster than the group. Upon realizing that I was too far ahead, I stopped and looked behind at them, and there it was… the CN Tower stood majestic before my eyes. We didn’t realize it when we got out of Union Station. It soared into the sky, confident like the millions of people surrounding it. I pointed at the CN Tower, and the group looked and were immediately stunned as I was. It finally hit: we were in Toronto!
We arrived at our hotel and I was pleasantly surprised. Hotel Novotel Toronto Centre. It was in the middle of downtown and from its entrance you could see the CN Tower. It’s surrounded by tall buildings that just seemed shinier than the ones in Winnipeg (haha). We checked in, dropped our things off and went to grab lunch. Jefferneil insisted that it be a bigger meal. We ate at Houston Steak and Ribs. It’s a high end restaurant that (seemingly) business-savvy people frequent. I’m glad that this ostentatious-at-first-glance restaurant actually had friendly servers and the meals were served pretty timely. We went back to our hotel to nap. Oh man, we really needed it.
Two hours later, we woke up to get ready. We headed for Yorkdale Mall, one of Toronto’s many malls, and this had many of the famous and ridiculously expensive brands such as Dolce and Gabbana, Holt Renfrew, Louis Vuitton etc. I’m sorry Jefferneil, but you’re out of your mind to even consider buying a $1500.00 sweater. That’s ONE FREAKIN’ SWEATER!
I was proud of myself for not having bought one, single item, despite the many temptations. We headed to China Town via the TTC street car, and ate at some authentic-looking Chinese restaurant that seemed most crowded out of all. The food was great. After this we walked around China Town, and yes, it did seem like we were in China. Including the scents. Umm, let’s just say it stunk. Despite this, China Town is one of those places that gives a city like Toronto a vibrant culture. I could see this place filled with people and energy, and I’m glad we visited it. We walked to the CN Tower and throughout the route we must have encountered 100 policemen at the very least, without exaggeration, and this is due to the upcoming G20 Summit. Well at least we felt safe, walking in some obscure route at some city foreign to us, not knowing anyone but the people in our group.
Despite the long walk, the sight of the CN Tower, getting taller and taller by the moment, was encouraging. We were finally at its base, and… wow. Just wow. We will be visiting it tomorrow, and hopefully the sky clears up enough to make the view as awesome as possible. Should we eat at the CN Tower, half a kilometre up the sky, or not? We’ll see. Now to head back to Novotel.
To end, this was a very productive day. We got a good glimpse of Toronto, and I believe we experienced several of its attractions that are essential to visit. We’ve gotten to know its Transit System (all three kinds, the bus, train and street car) and are now comfortable using it. We shall now catch up on some well-needed Z’s, and tomorrow promises to be just as good a day if not better.
