Touring Toronto: Part 2

FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT
Easter Sunday when you're a kid is all about a visit from the Easter Bunny, waking up to find chocolate eggs of various sizes and degrees of cavity-inducing sugar rushes. When you're an adult, it's about sleeping in, and THEN waking up to find chocolate eggs of various sizes and degrees of cavity-inducing sugar rushes.

But if you're me, and it's Easter 2006, it's about a fabulous shower at the Sheraton, donning a fluffy white hotel bathrobe, and devouring double-choc Tim Tams and baby Easter Eggs direct from Paris. Jealous much?

Following these chocolaty treats, Kate and I decided there was much we had to accomplish on our Easter Sunday, so we set off from the Hotel early, pausing only briefly to fill up on the healthier breakfast options on offer in the Club Lounge.


THE "HIGH POINT" OF THE DAY
One of the key attractions in Toronto is the CN Tower, which stands for the Canadian National Tower. Visible from our Hotel, the Tower is the highest of its kind in North America. Visible from our Hotel room, Kate and I made the decision early on in our holiday to get to the top of the Tower and take in the view from the top.

And that's exactly what we did on Sunday. We hitched a ride with Troy, a representative of the tour company we had travelled with the day earlier. Troy dropped Kate and I off at the CN Tower straight away rather than making us sit through the entire tourist route we'd already seen and, given that we had bought our CN Tower tickets from the Hotel concierge, we walked straight to the front of the already-forming queue. After a ride on the uber-fast elevator to the top of the Tower, we stared down at the City waking up to Easter, 553 metres below where we stood.

For mine, the CN Tower is actually more impressive from the ground because, once you get up the top, it's just a viewing platform and some photo opportunities. Sure, there are some information boards and some historical photos, but it's nowhere near as impressive as the Sears Tower in Chicago (a bit of 'local' pride there doesn't hurt).

HAKUNA MATATA
Leaving the CN Tower behind, Kate and I got a subway and a cab to go to the Toronto Zoo. Now Toronto is the only city in the world that I know of where the zoo is a million miles away from the main city centre. I mean, seriously, if you don't have a car, going to the Toronto Zoo is insanely inconvenient to get to. But despite the difficulties, and the crowds of young families that we KNEW would be there, Kate and I wanted to see the as-yet unnamed baby orangutan that was born at the Toronto Zoo in January this year.

Arriving at around midday after a subway AND taxi ride, Kate and I parted with $19 Canadian each (I know!!) just to get in the gates. But the cash and effort we expended was well worth it. The Zoo was just amazing. Spread out over 287 hectares (or 710 acres, for those of you playing along at home), the Toronto Zoo is so expansive, it was a good thing both of us were wearing sneakers! We did so much walking to make sure we saw all the exhibits, we were very footsore by the end of the day.

But not all the Zoo entertainment was found inside the cages. Two teenage girls were prancing around together, close behind Kate and I as we walked through the Africa Exhibit. As Kate and I made the obvious references to the "Lion King" after visiting the warthog enclosure, I began to walk away as the girls approached the fence. As they looked in (in the familiar "where is it? do you spot it?" routine), I was just in earshot long enough to hear one of the girls ask her friend, "where is the warth-og?". Yep, that's right - she pronounced it WARTH-OG, as if it were a villanous Tolkien character or something. Poor misguided Canadian young person. And she didn't even get to spot the crazy animal either, presumably because he was elsewhere in his enclosure devouring illiterate Canadian hobbits. Or something.


YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE
On our return to the Hotel at about 6.45pm, Kate and I were positively exhaused. So much so that rather than revive myself in the hotel swimming pool or spa, I chose to fall onto the Sweetsleeper bed and pass out for 3 hours.

I wouldn't say that I awoke feeling VERY refreshed, because I'm never much of a 'nap' person, but I was at least feeling up to heading out for some dinner in a part of Toronto known as "The Entertainment District".

By 10pm on Easter Sunday night, "The Entertainment District" was anything but. Some restaurants were closed for the Easter break, others looked to be closing up for the night, but we did find one bistro whose kitchen was still open, and eagerly awaiting our custom.

A plate of pasta each, some more red wine, espresso, and a restorative Baileys, Kate and I were starting to feel human again. But the next day of our holiday promised a day-trip to Niagara Falls and that meant another early start.

So without feeling too much regret, we went back to our Hotel and watched an in-house movie before retiring for the night and sleeping like the proverbial dead. But honestly, we were The Grateful Dead, having had a really great Easter Sunday in "The Livable City" of Toronto.

(Touring Toronto: The Third Day will follow, and I haven't forgotten about the photos....)