A Taste of Toronto, Ontario....what a big city!!

Go Train to Union Station in Toronto

Today we park at the nearby GO Lakeshore West Train station and catch the 9:48 am train into downtown Toronto. 

Union Station, Toronto

The ride in is just under an hour as we pass through Oakville and Mississauga before landing at Union Station in downtown Toronto. 

Inside the Historic Bank of Montreal building

Just down the street is historic Bank Of Montreal building where we plan to see The Hockey Hall of Fame. It's a beautiful old building but what catches our eye is a 'Freedom of Press' exhibit with outstanding photos from natural disasters around the world. 

Photo of a plane on a flooded tarmac in Brazil

Flood water house roof reflection makes the perfect Brazil flag

Hockey Hall of Fame

Toronto has many world class museums but we have seen so many over the past months. We love hockey and just pick this one for a fun experience. 

Edmonton Oilers 5 cups in 7 years

There are exhibits of every hockey icon from every place in the world. Obviously we are happy to see our Edmonton Oilers from the 1980's when we were in our early 20's. It's been far too long since the Oilers have won that cup :) 

Mark Messier - my favorite oldie

Most iconic Canadian Women's Hockey player

Original seats from The Maple Leafs Gardens

The 'Original Six' hockey teams in the NHL were the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadians. The museum has memorabilia from each of the original six stadiums. 

Old Boston jersey complete with moth eaten holes :)

Lord Stanley's Vault area

We head to the Lord Stanley's Vault area, which is an alcove off the Great Hall to see the original cup. 

The Stanley Cup :)

Edmonton Oilers names 1984-85

One could spend an entire day here but 1.5 hours flies by and we need to move on. We head to the waterfront. 

Halloween Sea-Doo parade

St Lawrence Market

We walk over to the St Lawrence Market. This place has been around since 1803 housing over 200 vendors selling diverse foods, local produce and artisan goods. 

Chris gets his Peameal Bacon Sandwich :)

The Distillery District

We quickly realize all this walking between places we want to see will kill us and we'll run out of time. Chris quickly loads the apps to rent the Tangerine bikes throughout the city and off we go to The Distillery Historic District, which is a National Historic Site and pedestrian-only neighborhood in Toronto. It was redeveloped into a hub for arts, culture, dining and entertainment. 

Vibrant Distillery District

We always enjoy live music :)

Tangerine Rent-A-Bike

The Toronto Blue Jays have made it to the post season of the MLB and it's almost game time for the first game of a series against the New York Yankees. The city is a sea of blue and though the tickets have long been sold out, we bike over to Rogers Stadium just to get a feel for the excitement in the air. 

Rogers Center

We land at the St Louis pub right across the street from the game where we can literally hear the crowd cheering. Super cool. 

St. Louis pub and The Blue Jays game :)

A Packed Stadium

Biking to Kensington Market

There is still one more neighborhood we want to see yet today so after the 4th inning, we quickly hop on the rental bikes and risk our lives in the crazy traffic to get to the Kensington Market, a vibrant multicultural Toronto neighborhood known for its global cuisines, vintage clothing and colorful shops. 

Old homes turned into little businesses of all varieties

Streets of Kensington Market

Pub in Kensington with The Jays game on

After a quick walk about we find a pub with The Blue Jays game on and catch the last 3 innings. The Jays play well and kick New York 10 to 1.  Whoot Whoot

Toronto's CN Tower

Once the game is over we have to bike all the way back to Union Station where we started our day and catch the GO Train back to our truck. We navigate the busy streets in the dark and catch the 8:20 pm train heading west to Oakville. 

Home by 9:30 pm after a long day.  

Toronto is such a big city with so much going on and so many iconic places to see that we just scuff the surface of all it offers. To enjoy it one really needs time to stroll the streets and enjoy the culture. Maybe another time but that's enough for us :)