Toronto and Wonderland
Last Tuesday morning (the 18th), I arose very early and headed to the train station. Despite my previous experience with VIA trains (BUMPY and crowded), I enjoyed this train ride immensely. There was hardly anyone on it and it was a nice smooth ride to Oshawa. I got my tickets for the GO train in Oshawa (cheaper to take the VIA and the GO Train than just sticking with the VIA all the way to Toronto. Go figure). I was a bit dismayed to see that the Oshawa GO station is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Almost the size of Belleville's train station, actually. The GO train was better than I remember it, though. It had comfy seats and, again, there was nobody on it. You get nice views of the lake as you head to downtown Toronto. So I arrived at Union Station about noon and decided to have a bite to eat. Then I headed out into the muggy, muggy streets of TO. I looked like a classic tourist, with my camera and map in hand. I went on a little self-guided "Due South" tour. Due South was one of my favourite TV shows back in the day and it was filmed in Toronto, and their website gives a list of places to visit where they filmed the series. So I went around to various sites, snapping photos of obscure buildings and streets. People probably thought I was nuts.
I had to cut the tour short though, because it was just too hot. I went and sat by City Hall and the fountain was covered in Seagulls. Hmm! Then I went into the Eaton Centre. My feet were pretty sore by this point though. (Darn sandles and the cuts on my feet from the cottage). So I just kind of sat in there for a bit, then decided to take the Subway to Queen's Park. So I did. Now that I'm comfortable with travelling around Edmonton and using their subway system, it was a breeze using the one in TO. When I got to Queen's Park, I just sat under a tree and relaxed. Until some crazy squirrel started throwing walnuts at me! Little bugger! So I did a bit more walking and came to the Toronto Reference Library. It is the most amazing library I have ever seen. Fountains in the foyer and glass-walled elevators. Rows and rows of books. A librarian's dream, for sure! I spent some time in there, and then headed back to the subway to go to York Mills station to meet Steve. (He had to work and couldn't meet me as early as planned).
But he arrived at York Mills shortly after and we headed for our hotel. Nice hotel too, thanks to Steve being employed in a hotel himself. It was an average room but still nice. We were amused by the placement of a telphone right above the toilet in the bathroom. And the two-headed shower!! We decided to go swimming, since it was so hot out. There was a movie being filmed near the pool, called "Camille." I did some researching later on, and determined the only actor in it that I have heard of was Sienna Miller. Hmm!!! But I might see it when it comes out, you never know, you might just see Steve and I swimming around the pool in the background!!
We went to Shoeless Joe's for supper and just had fun talking about old times and Youth Group and catching up. Then we came back to the hotel and watched Nacho Libre but we both fell asleep halfway through.
The next morning, WONDERLAND TIME. We had a quick breakfast in the hotel, then headed up Highway 400. We arrived at Wonderland around 9:30, half an hour before it opens. That is an excellent thing to do, because there is no line at the gates. They let you in, and then they have the rest of the park roped off till 10. But when it opened, we had first dibs on some of the rides. We headed to Thunder Run, a personal favourite of mine (the one that goes through the mountain in the dark). Then we were off, conquering most of the rides in the park. I was pretty proud of myself, I went on rides that I had been too afraid to go on before. Like Drop Zone. Which still scared the crap out of me. ("We will, we will, DROP YOU". I want that guy's job!!!). When it got hot, we did a couple of water rides, which was a bit dumb because then we were both drenched. So we had to change clothes for the rest of the day. Steve and I met lots of interesting people while waiting in line for the rides. There was only two rides that I wouldn't go on and that was Tomb Raider and the Stand-Up roller coaster. Favourite rides of the day were The Italian Job and The Vortex. I wasn't too keen on Top Gun or The Bat but at least I've been on them now. The funniest moments of the day were when we went on the Bumper Cars and this poor kid kept getting stuck in the corner. He finally succeeded at getting out, only to get stuck again a few seconds later. You couldn't help but laugh. Then when we were next in line for The Bat, Steve had his back turned to the tracks and the roller coaster came zooming by suddenly and scared the crap out of him. Ha ha!!!!
I was feeling a bit nauseas at the end of the day but it quickly passed after Steve bought me ice cream. (grin). I was proud of myself for conquering Wonderland. It was such a fun trip, I can't wait to go back!
This is getting pretty long now, so I will write about my last week in Ontario when I'm back in Edmonton! I can't believe I leave tomorrow already!
I had to cut the tour short though, because it was just too hot. I went and sat by City Hall and the fountain was covered in Seagulls. Hmm! Then I went into the Eaton Centre. My feet were pretty sore by this point though. (Darn sandles and the cuts on my feet from the cottage). So I just kind of sat in there for a bit, then decided to take the Subway to Queen's Park. So I did. Now that I'm comfortable with travelling around Edmonton and using their subway system, it was a breeze using the one in TO. When I got to Queen's Park, I just sat under a tree and relaxed. Until some crazy squirrel started throwing walnuts at me! Little bugger! So I did a bit more walking and came to the Toronto Reference Library. It is the most amazing library I have ever seen. Fountains in the foyer and glass-walled elevators. Rows and rows of books. A librarian's dream, for sure! I spent some time in there, and then headed back to the subway to go to York Mills station to meet Steve. (He had to work and couldn't meet me as early as planned).
But he arrived at York Mills shortly after and we headed for our hotel. Nice hotel too, thanks to Steve being employed in a hotel himself. It was an average room but still nice. We were amused by the placement of a telphone right above the toilet in the bathroom. And the two-headed shower!! We decided to go swimming, since it was so hot out. There was a movie being filmed near the pool, called "Camille." I did some researching later on, and determined the only actor in it that I have heard of was Sienna Miller. Hmm!!! But I might see it when it comes out, you never know, you might just see Steve and I swimming around the pool in the background!!
We went to Shoeless Joe's for supper and just had fun talking about old times and Youth Group and catching up. Then we came back to the hotel and watched Nacho Libre but we both fell asleep halfway through.
The next morning, WONDERLAND TIME. We had a quick breakfast in the hotel, then headed up Highway 400. We arrived at Wonderland around 9:30, half an hour before it opens. That is an excellent thing to do, because there is no line at the gates. They let you in, and then they have the rest of the park roped off till 10. But when it opened, we had first dibs on some of the rides. We headed to Thunder Run, a personal favourite of mine (the one that goes through the mountain in the dark). Then we were off, conquering most of the rides in the park. I was pretty proud of myself, I went on rides that I had been too afraid to go on before. Like Drop Zone. Which still scared the crap out of me. ("We will, we will, DROP YOU". I want that guy's job!!!). When it got hot, we did a couple of water rides, which was a bit dumb because then we were both drenched. So we had to change clothes for the rest of the day. Steve and I met lots of interesting people while waiting in line for the rides. There was only two rides that I wouldn't go on and that was Tomb Raider and the Stand-Up roller coaster. Favourite rides of the day were The Italian Job and The Vortex. I wasn't too keen on Top Gun or The Bat but at least I've been on them now. The funniest moments of the day were when we went on the Bumper Cars and this poor kid kept getting stuck in the corner. He finally succeeded at getting out, only to get stuck again a few seconds later. You couldn't help but laugh. Then when we were next in line for The Bat, Steve had his back turned to the tracks and the roller coaster came zooming by suddenly and scared the crap out of him. Ha ha!!!!
I was feeling a bit nauseas at the end of the day but it quickly passed after Steve bought me ice cream. (grin). I was proud of myself for conquering Wonderland. It was such a fun trip, I can't wait to go back!
This is getting pretty long now, so I will write about my last week in Ontario when I'm back in Edmonton! I can't believe I leave tomorrow already!