Friday, May 31, 2013
A Toronto Day
Our first full day in Toronto included window shopping around the Distillery District, the St. Lawrence Market with its variety of eateries, food court style, where we went with Anthony Bourdain's recommendations, the CN Tower for its aerial views, Chinatown, and Kensington Market, a gritty ethnic neighborhood of stores and eateries, and ended with thundershowers which should continue through tomorrow. Toronto's multitude of distinctive neighborhoods, each with its own unique character lined with shops and eateries, along with its maze of connected under and above ground corridors, kept us going all day with probably at least 10 miles of foot work. Below are some pictures from the CN Tower.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Toronto Nights
The second picture is our apartment high rise. There is a lot more street activity around our part of downtown with all manners of shops and eateries lining the sidewalks, and people out and about late into the evening. Good location for us!
Our Apartment in Toronto
From Niagara Falls, we rented a car, one way, and took our time driving to Toronto by way of the scenic route which traveled, at times, along Lake Ontario and through home lined streets, neighborhoods, city centers and marinas. Great way to get a quick feel for the region. There is actually a designated bike route from Niagara Falls to Toronto known as the Waterfront Trail. Here's pictures of our Toronto apartment on the 17th floor near the intersection of Bay and College Streets.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Downtown Niagara Falls
This is where the tourist of Niagara Falls hang out. You ever feel as if someone is watching you!!
Our Day at Niagara
After a night of rain, heavy at times, our second day at Niagara Falls started off iffy with spits of rain, but eventually the sunshine broke through, turning it into a gloriously warm but humid day. Kay and I are quite ready for some fun in the sun and to ware our shorts and tees. Hope it continues into Toronto.
Niagara Falls
The weather here hasn't been the best starting with afternoon drizzle shortly after our arrival which then continued throughout the day and night, sometimes heavily, but at least it was't a cold storm. We got to see part of the falls and found a decent Chinese Restaurant within one block of our place, the Days Inn. So things are looking up. The worst thing today was actually the early morning wake up call at 4:30 a.m. Got a full day here tomorrow so we'll have more opportunities to see the falls.
Time to Move On
Each morning while in Chicago, this is where I sipped my dark morning brew. This being our last day, I'm sad to be leaving but also ready to move on. Our lunch today was at the Greek Island in Greek Town, an easy walk from our apartment, even with tired legs, and was absolutely delicious. We decided to forego the lunch entree and went for appetizers. Great way to try a lot of different dishes. We followed that with dinner at the Publican, a place featured on Anthony Bourdain's show, the Layover. Needless to say, I found myself in a constant state of fullness today. Pictures below are dishes from the Publican. For me, however, the highlight of the day was our lunch.
Beets with Burrata, Walnuts, and Balsamic Vinegar
Roasted Porchetta
Burned Honey Panna Cotta
Beets with Burrata, Walnuts, and Balsamic Vinegar
Roasted Porchetta
Burned Honey Panna Cotta
Time to Rest
Including travel, Kay and I have been on the go for 7 days straight so today is a rest day to restore our energy. Besides it looks like a good day to stay in and tomorrow is another travel day with an early morning flight to Buffalo, NY where we'll shuttle to Niagara Falls, Ontario in Canada. There's still much to see and do in this city, but it will have to wait for another time. You never know! Here are some things I noted about Chicago:
The downtown loop has a lot of chain eateries like Subway, Panda Express, Potbelly, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, McDonald's, etc. It's good and bad. Good because you know what you get and it's a value. Bad because it's hard to find good local eateries. They're around but you have to hunt for them. Most of the local eateries that appealed to us were outside of the loop.
Most of the high rise buildings are in the downtown area or along the Lake Michigan waterfront. A mile or two west of the waterfront, the buildings are relatively low and the surrounding cityscape appears amazingly flat. That's one of the advantages of above ground track systems, riders get a view.
Chicago's downtown, within the loop, appears to fall asleep after the workers leave for the day and on weekends. Many eateries and service businesses, especially those away from the waterfront where the tourist tend to congregate, close after business hours and on weekends. The streets around our apartment high rise, which is just over a half mile from the waterfront, are very quiet during the latter half of the evening hours. This is unlike some of the other major cities we visited where local residents fill the streets after hours. Perhaps there are less residents within the loop than I expected.
It's easy to get around Chicago without a vehicle. The public transit system with its trains and buses is very efficient. Be aware that there are two rail systems servicing the region. The CTA covers the city of Chicago including the city core or the loop while the Metra covers the regional area surrounding the city as well as the city excluding the city core. Although there are tickets that cover both systems, visitors mostly use the CTA. We usually purchase rechargeable prepaid tickets because it removes some of the hassles of using public transit systems in that we don't need to stop and buy tickets each time we get on. Also, the CTA subway fare is fixed at $2.25 regardless of the distance traveled. Makes sense when you think about it! There is no extra travel cost for living in the outline area or for traveling across town, therefore, the city is more accessible for everyone.
The Magnificent Mile is a shoppers paradise from the highest-of-end shops to the more standard everyday stores. Like most retail stores, the men's section is in the back or up the stairs; women reign.
Above ground rail track support structures, especially the old steel truss systems are very noisy. If you are under them when a train passes, cover your ears.
For a large city, the people of Chicago are more on the friendly side.
Chicago is fairly clean for a big city. There is homeless activity but it's not overt.
The downtown loop has a lot of chain eateries like Subway, Panda Express, Potbelly, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, McDonald's, etc. It's good and bad. Good because you know what you get and it's a value. Bad because it's hard to find good local eateries. They're around but you have to hunt for them. Most of the local eateries that appealed to us were outside of the loop.
Most of the high rise buildings are in the downtown area or along the Lake Michigan waterfront. A mile or two west of the waterfront, the buildings are relatively low and the surrounding cityscape appears amazingly flat. That's one of the advantages of above ground track systems, riders get a view.
Chicago's downtown, within the loop, appears to fall asleep after the workers leave for the day and on weekends. Many eateries and service businesses, especially those away from the waterfront where the tourist tend to congregate, close after business hours and on weekends. The streets around our apartment high rise, which is just over a half mile from the waterfront, are very quiet during the latter half of the evening hours. This is unlike some of the other major cities we visited where local residents fill the streets after hours. Perhaps there are less residents within the loop than I expected.
It's easy to get around Chicago without a vehicle. The public transit system with its trains and buses is very efficient. Be aware that there are two rail systems servicing the region. The CTA covers the city of Chicago including the city core or the loop while the Metra covers the regional area surrounding the city as well as the city excluding the city core. Although there are tickets that cover both systems, visitors mostly use the CTA. We usually purchase rechargeable prepaid tickets because it removes some of the hassles of using public transit systems in that we don't need to stop and buy tickets each time we get on. Also, the CTA subway fare is fixed at $2.25 regardless of the distance traveled. Makes sense when you think about it! There is no extra travel cost for living in the outline area or for traveling across town, therefore, the city is more accessible for everyone.
The Magnificent Mile is a shoppers paradise from the highest-of-end shops to the more standard everyday stores. Like most retail stores, the men's section is in the back or up the stairs; women reign.
Above ground rail track support structures, especially the old steel truss systems are very noisy. If you are under them when a train passes, cover your ears.
For a large city, the people of Chicago are more on the friendly side.
Chicago is fairly clean for a big city. There is homeless activity but it's not overt.
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