Spring Break Trip - Toronto, Canada Posted on: 18 April 2018 :: Photo Credits: Pradip, Alap ::
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Preface
After a week’s delay due to the snowstorm, my passport arrived with the Canadian visa and the Toronto trip was on! Cornell’s ‘Spring Break’ began on 31st March, though weather showed no signs of ‘Spring’. Nonetheless, this week-long break offered us the opportunity to explore new destinations. The plan was to visit Toronto and Niagara (both Canadian and US sides).
P.S. Thanks a lot Swati Tai and Suraj Jijaji for hosting, and Pradip for planning most of this trip!
Day : 1
Location : Toronto (Canada)
Our day began with a small hike in the Scarborough Crescent Park on the outskirts of Toronto. This park doesn’t show up in the top to-do lists of Toronto. But it turned out to be a hidden gem! Since the weather was sunny, we chose the ‘adventurous’ steep hike route to get to the top of Scarborough Bluffs.
The sight beyond the fence was simply stunning!
The breath-taking views of Lake Ontario (the lake that looks like an ocean) left us speechless.
After spending about an hour on the top of Scarborough Bluffs, we decided to go down to the Bluffer’s Park. Suddenly the weather changed from Sunny to Cloudy and it started to snow! So, we had to call a cab. After a short 10minute ride, we reached the Bluffer’s Park. This is the only park along the Bluffs which has direct access to beaches of the Ontario Lake.
Our next destination was High Park, located to the west of Downtown Toronto. Apart from a pond, small hillocks, gardens, and playgrounds, this park also had a small zoo. The zoo featured American bison, Yak, Reindeer, Wallabies, Mouflon sheep, Barbary sheep, Emus, Highland Cattle, Llamas, Peackocks, and Emus.
Day : 2
Location : Niagara Falls
We arrived at the Niagara Falls town from Toronto, early in the morning. Unfortunately, the main attraction - ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat tour of Niagara Falls - was closed, since the river was still frozen. So, we decided to start our day with the ‘Journey Behind the Falls’ experience. We took a cab to the ‘Table Rock Welcome Center’ to buy the Journey Behind the Falls tickets. I was surprised to learn that there is no waterfall named ‘Niagara Falls’ but it is a collective name given to three waterfalls: Horseshoe Falls (largest), American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls (smallest). The first look of ‘Horseshoe Falls’ was mesmerizing. It was gigantic, much bigger than I had imagined. The American Falls looked minuscule at a distance as compared to this majestic waterfall. The mighty Niagara river literally comes crashing down and changes its direction by 90 degrees at this location. The ‘Horseshoe Falls’, also known as Canadian Falls, carries about 90% of the Niagara river’s water.
We spent nearly one hour watching those millions of gallons of water come down with a thunderous noise. Then when hunger rolled in, we went back inside the visitor center. And there was a Tim Horton’s! Tim Horton’s is a Canada’s largest fast food restaurant chain know for its coffee and donuts. We had their delicious (but somewhat expensive) hot chocolate, muffins and cheese sandwiches, before beginning our ‘Journey Behind the Falls’. This unguided tour began by descending about 14 storeys (150 feet) in an elevator from the street level. Then we walked in a small tunnel which opened to these spectacular views:
Another tunnel ran behind the falls for 200 meters, almost one third of the Horseshoe Falls. The tunnel reverberated with the ear-splitting sound of this gigantic waterfall. This tunnel also had a couple of cave openings to view the water cascading from above.
It was an unworldly experience. I would highly recommend this tour (it costs less than 12USD, And we can stay in the tunnels as long as we want). We spent around an hour in the tunnels and then ascended back to the street level in an elevator. Our next destination was Rainbow Bridge, the bridge that connects Niagara Falls, USA and Niagara Falls, Canada. We exited Canada by walking past the check-post on Canadian side.
And then we were in ‘no man’s land’! The view from the bridge was also stunning.
In the middle of the bridge, there was the international boundary line between Canada and USA marked by their flags and a small plaque.
We walked over to the other end of the bridge and went through immigration to enter the Niagara Falls State Park, USA.
The views of Niagara Falls from American side weren’t that great though.
After spending an hour on the American side, we walked back to Canada.
We were slightly tired after walking for almost 5hrs in this day. So, we decided to go to Tim Horton’s and relax for some time, sipping hot chocolate. But we ended up going to the ‘Casino Niagara’ on the way. This was my first time inside a Casino. And it was huge! The 2-storey place was filled with flashy slot machines and poker tables. To our pleasant surprise, they also had a complementary hot drinks counter. So, we dropped our Tim Horton’s plan and instead sipped free coffee while watching drunk gamblers lose their money. After the sunset, we walked towards the Skylon Tower. The market street looked like a small fair.
The Skylon Tower’s observation deck offered sweeping vistas of the Niagara Waterfalls. The falls were illuminated by multi-coloured lights.
By the time we walked back to the visitor centre, it was already 8PM. And we found that our bus was scheduled to depart in another 15minutes from the bus station, which was about 5km from our location. Frantically, we booked a cab and asked the driver to drive as fast as possible. Luckily, there was no traffic and we managed to reach the bus station just 2 minutes before the departure. With amazing memories of the Niagara Falls, we left towards Toronto.
Day : 3
Location : Toronto
Today we had decided to visit popular tourist attractions in and around Downtown Toronto. The first on the list was Casa Loma, a grand 18th century castle. It reminded us of the Disney Castle! As we didn’t have much time (and money, and most importantly, the interest) to tour the castle from inside, we just roamed around it.
After having a delicious and fulfilling lunch at ‘Roti Cuisine of India’ near Casa Loma, we took a subway to Royal Ontario Museum. The Museum subway station itself was beautifully designed to look like a Museum. The Royal Ontario Museum is the largest and most visited museum in Canada (source: Wikipedia). But again, since we didn’t have much time/interest/money to explore the museum, we just walked around the spectacular building.
Our next destination was Nathan Phillips Square. This place had a colourful ‘Toronto’ sign (like the ‘I-amsterdam’ sign in Amsterdam). The wonderful arches added to the beauty of the scene.
After roaming around the Nathan Philips Square for an hour, we went to the Eaton Centre. This huge mall was bustling with tourists and locals. We recharged ourselves around a fountain.
Our next destination was Toronto Waterfront. We walked along the Queens Quay towards Harbourfront centre. Harbourfront centre offered awesome views of the city’s skyline.
We had planned to take a ferry ride from Harbourfront to Toronto Islands to see the Toronto Skyline at night. There were still a couple of hours before the sunset, so we walked around the Roger’s centre stadium and CN tower.
We reached the Harbourfront centre just-in time to board the ferry towards Centre Island. There is a chain of small islands in Lake Ontario called Toronto Islands. It consists of three islands namely, Muggs Island, Centre Island and Ward’s Island. Each of these islands offers a unique projection of Toronto’s skyline. We decided to visit all three islands one after the other to check all the views.
Our bus to USA was from Yonge-Dundas Square. This square reminded us of the Times Square in New York. The high points of this Toronto trip were Scarborough Crescent Park and Niagara Waterfalls. Hope to visit Niagara Waterfalls again!