Our only whole day in Toronto and we’d planned a busy schedule. But first, breakfast. Flippers are famous for their soufflé pancakes, so we headed there for breakfast. Note fries for breakfast.
After breakfast we wandered towards the CN Tower and Rogers Centre, and found Union Station and an impressive old railway roundhouse (now shops and cafés).
The first activity of the day was a baseball game. We were very lucky to have been given free tickets for the Major Baseball League game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the San Francisco Giants, and whilst they do not play in the same division (due to geography, The Giants being on the US West Coast) they are playing at roughly the same level currently (so I later found out from the man sat next to me in the stadium), so should result in an exciting game. It was also a “Junior Jays Sunday” event meaning nearly everyone was at the game with their kids, and the stadium was surrounded with activities for the thousands of children there.
The first surprise was where we were sat in the Rogers Centre. On entering the stadium (the pitch is actually below ground level, so from the outside it doesn’t look as big as it actually is) the roof was closed, and it looked impressive enough. Shortly after sitting down the roof began to open. Around 30 minutes to roll back each half of the roof, it was a piece of engineering genius the way it folded back into itself.
Of course there was plenty of food available – we had fried chicken and chips, nachos and ice cream.
The view of the pitch was incredible, with the CN Tower right in front of us. I won’t begin to explain what we learned about the game itself, other than the home team won and the crowd were more than slightly partisan. In fact I don’t think we saw anyone not in Blue Jays kit.
Once the game was done we headed back to the hotel to collect cameras (real ones were not allowed in the stadium) and then straight out again. We walked back down to the CN Tower via “Graffiti Alley”, a real road name and a place where every wall is covered in artwork. Some were hugely impressive.
From here we walked to the CN Tower for our trip to the top. It used to be the tallest freestanding building in the world, unless numerous others took the title. It was nowhere near as tall as the Skytree tower we visited in Tokyo, but nevertheless some good views. Danny yet again was not that happy, particularly with the lift which had a glass front so you could watch out as you went up or down in it. And they had the requisite glass floor – I don’t really understand why people don’t like them, and I happily strolled around it taking pictures of the ground below whilst most other people looked like they were about to be launched off the observation deck.
Back on the ground, it was getting late so we headed off for dinner by the lake. Not that exciting, and slightly overcooked, but the beer was locally brewed and was pretty good. Fries again (3 times today).
A walk back to the subway in the dark was a nice way to walk off the carbs and end our first full day in Canada.
