Exploring Toronto

Happy New Year! hope you had a great time celebrating and best wishes for 2017. I am on the road again since a few days back in time. I wonder if I ever will be tired of traveling? hope not. My new years trip of this year did however started with a short stop in Toronto on my way to Bonaire in the Caribbeans. The idea for this trip came up in August when my friend and travel partner in crime that I met during an exchange semester ten years ago in Singapore was visiting me in Stockholm. Then we wanted to travel somwhere during New Years and first thought about the Florida keys. Then she got the idea that we could visit her cousin that lives at the Deutch colony of Bonaire and why not? I never been there so I was positive.

We started to research for travel routes and it was not that easy to get there. Only United and Delta flies there except KLM but that was not an option this time so we found a way through Toronto and Newark. Since I am fortunate to know people at many places around the world, I do of course know someone in Toronto aswell so we decided to stop by on the way to Bonaire. To Canada we flew the Canadian pride  Air Canada through Amsterdam and I got to try their business class for the first time.

Exploring the city center of Toronto

After touch down at Toronto Pearson airport (YYZ) we took the train to the city center. It took 20 minutes and since we only traveled with hand luggage we had no problem doing some sightseeing in the city center. I have been to Toronto one time before so I was familiar with the area. There is not a lot to do in Toronto though, except watching one of the many churches, ice hockey and eating so the outdoor part of the sightseeing tour was over quickly.

There is a huge sight for shopping enthusiasts, Eaton center, which is a very nice mall but since the Christmas sale was going on it was crazy a lot of people there so we just passed by being impressed about the huge reindeer decorations. After meeting and greeting at our Canadian Singapore exchange student friend that we stayed at we all went for dinner and drinks to continue our catchup and gossiping at an Italian place called Gusto 101 . A place I strongly recommend for eating. It was great, both style wise and food wise.

Niagara falls – the must see place

We had no clear plan on what to do the second day but as a coincidence our Uber driver recommended that drove us home from the Italian restaurant recommended to visit the Niagara falls and so we did. It was the second time I saw the falls and also this time from the Canadian side which I think is the best one. The power of the falls is fascinating and if you are in the region this is a must see only 1,5 hours drive from Toronto. This December day it was very, very freezing so we didn’t take a long walk alongside the falls but instead we went inside to a cozy coffee place to heat up and we met a talkative american from Texas that we started to chat with. That is one thing I really do miss in Europe, the random people you share your stories with and that everyone is more open minded when it comes to speak with one another. There are tons of tours from Toronto to the Niagara falls except driving there yourself and I recommend some research on google to find the option suiting you the best.

Done with the falls, done with Toronto and we were ready to pickup our stuff and continue our travels towards a night at Newark in the evening after an efficient stopover. Do you ever book flights where you can have a stop over? how are you in that case using that time? I am curious to know.

Happy holiday from Pernilla on the go