We caught a 10.30 train. Unfortunately the station is on the outskirts of Ottawa and difficult to get to. The metro system, the natural link, has been recently completed, but has been rendered unsatisfactory because the operators cannot guarantee its safety.
,Despite being a pricey option, we decided to go for comfort and travel by rail, rather than by bus. This leg was $120 pp. The Canadian system is quite modest in this region, only 2 working platforms at the main station. A bit like Canberra. It was a pleasant journey with our own guard for our carriage, serving food and drinks.
Farming communities along the way
,First impressions of Toronto. A vibrant city with modern and period buildings, wide streets and a young, thriving business community. Toronto has 2.7 million people and the largest Canadian city, being its economic centre. Toronto began as a fur-trading business, under the name of the Hudson Bay Company.
We are staying in a large downtown hotel, Hotel Chelsea, which is central with good facilities.
A snack lunch across the road - themed, with menus printed on LPs.
Tonight we had a meal at Leña’s, a seafood restaurant on Yonge Street. We arranged to meet up with Michael, son of Andrew, Mark’s Paris cousin. He has been working in Toronto for 3 years. Wonderful to catch up with him to hear about his sister, Annika and Jerome’s Swedish wedding.
Michael walked us around the CBD, so that we could see Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel (1928), once the largest hotel in the British Empire.
A beautiful balmy evening. The city is full of massive glassed-high-rise buildings. The CN telecommunications tower is the tallest tower in the Western Hemisphere at 553m.
M&M
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