Welcome to Toronto: Navigating Airport Madness and Exploring the City

Arriving in Toronto: The Airport Madness

it seemed sad leaving America but we were excited to be moving on to Canada and closer to seeing the Polar Bears in Churchill. Our first stop was Toronto. The flight was easy and both airports well organized. We had pre-registered for a quick route through immigration but the scanner didn't recognise us, luckily the normal route was quick and we had a receipt to get us through immigration. The bag pick up was quick and on the way out we had to show the receipt again which surprised me, luckily Karen had kept them!

Outside the airport was complete chaos waiting for our uber with hundreds of ordered taxis blocking all three lanes. Once we got out of the airport I saw what I'd read about Toronto traffic system was true as the 60 minutes to the hotel was continuous queues.

Crazy Hotel Rules: A Surprising Welcome

We arrived at the hotel to warm welcome by Vivian. The hotel is really more of a hostel but is clean, cheap and has a decent shared kitchen However Vivian proceeded to tell us all the house rules, these are some rules I remember;

• No shoes on in hotel, you have to take them off at the door

• No door slamming

• Don't force the keys

• Don't cook after 10.30pm or before 6.30am

• Don't turn the oven knobs without pushing them in first

• Don't leave pots to dry

However one rule she didn't mention was don't set fire to the kitchen. As I cooked my pizza wondering why the cheese wasn't melting I realised the oven heated from below. I opened the door and filled the kitchen with black smoke. Luckily Karen wafting the tea towel and me opening the fire door ensured no smoke alarms went off and the house didn't burn down. Unfortunately my pizza was rock hard and black on the bottom so uneatable and there was CCTV in the kitchen so I imagine this was all caught on film.

Getting to Know Toronto: Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour

The next day, our adventure officially began with a hop-on-hop-off city tour. It was a wonderfully convenient way to glimpse many of Toronto's must-see sights without worrying about getting lost. The trip also included a boat trip round the Toronto Islands. The weather was nice and we enjoyed seeing Toronto which looks like a vibrant city. The bus tour did highlight how Toronto has been called an ugly city with so many skyscrapers. They also have a rule which protects the outside of older building but that means you get an old building frontage with a skyscraper growing out of it!

We'd seen an article on hidden Toronto and enjoyed the street art in graffiti alley. From this list we also took a walk today to Philosophers Path. A foot path through the university it used to be a river creek which has run dry and been paved and is a great bit of tranquillity in the city centre.

Karen, I've fallen

As we were walking back from a lovely lunch of cajun salmon, I didn't notice the edge of the path and to the concern of passers by and Karen's amusement, I took a tumble. Apparently completing a full somersault before landing. I have a few cuts and bruises but generally fine. We felt a sit down was needed after this so went to a roof top bar for cocktails before heading back to the hotel

Conclusion: Toronto Awaits

We both like the vibrancy of Toronto and looking forward to seeing more after our trip to Niagara falls tomorrow. I will be standing well back from the edge.