Toronto

Sunday 25 July

Toronto

I went round the corner from the hotel for breakfast at a cross between an English greasy spoon café and an American diner. Cooked breakfast for $5 - no complaints from me!

Then to get to the CN tower. This involved taking a tram (known as streetcars in these parts) and then a subway train and a short walk. The weather started out cloudy but by the time I emerged from the subway the sun had come out and it remained sunny and warm all day. It's amazing the difference the weather makes - when I arrived yesterday in pouring rain the city all looked rather dreary. Today in the sunshine, it was a sparkling metropolis.

I queued up for the lift up the CN Tower - the second tallest structure in the world. Security involved standing in a chamber which blew little gusts of air on you - I've only ever seen that at the Statue of Liberty. The lift whizzes you up to the observation deck at the equivalent of the 114th floor in 58 seconds and has glass on three sides and glass panels in the floor. Once there, there were amazing views for miles - apparently you can see 100 miles on a clear day. In fact, it was pretty clear after yesterday's rain! Then up to the Skypod which is another 100m higher at 447m, or about a quarter of a mile.

Cruising around the islands, Toronto

Once down I decided to a bus and boat tour. First was the boat which went out to Toronto Island and gave great views of the city's skyline. The bus took in many sights and districts and was a good way to spend the afternoon.

The tour ended back at the lakeside (Lake Ontario, by the way!) and so I sat and had a beer outside looking out to the Lake.

I then wandered up to King Street where there is a good selection of restaurants, and I went for a Thai meal. This was one of the best Thai meals I've had outside Thailand or London. Actually, that doesn't narrow it down very much. And I had a very good Thai meal in Paris a couple of years ago. Anyway, it was very good!