Toronto

We arrived late last night approximate 24 hours after leaving Wellington. We were all starving and although it was midnight in Toronto, we found a bar open near our hotel and are some burgers.

We were up bright and early the next day, for our only day in Toronto. We started by catching the new UP Express train from the airport into the city. This is a brand new train, only opened June this year. Very high tech and impressive for us Kiwis.

Once we arrived into the city it was still before 9am. We found the hop on - hop off bus and decided to give it a go despite my concerns because it was very expensive. Once on our way, we stopped at the markets to have a look. It was named the world's best food market by National Geographic in April 2012. We reckon we've seen better elsewhere especially Granville Island in Vancouver.

We hopped on the next bus and stayed on for the majority of the trip. Toronto is a large city and the tour is quite long. It's a real mix of super modern, expensive highrises, and more bohemium neighbourhoods, and everything in between.. We had plans to complete the ride and then make it to the waterfront for a boat ride early afternoon, unfortunately our bus had a car accident which cost us time.

We hopped off early to get lunch, then walked about 20 minutes to the Eaton Center, a giant mall in the city.

Here they have a Apple and Microsoft store. Look at the photos for each, I suspect Apple is more popular!

Anyhow Helen ended up spending in the Apple Store, to get the whole "Apple experience".

We then walked down to the waterfront to find our boat ride. Along the way, Helen spotted Brendan Coyle from Downton Abbey. And more importantly, from the old BBC mini series which we previously visited locations in Edinburgh. Helen asked for a photo, he was reluctant and said he was in a hurry, so we made it quick! But no time for a chat.

It was quite a long walk to the boat, and a wait as well, but we eventually made it on board. It took is out on the water around some of the islands, very peaceful out there in the late sun, and great views of the Toronoto skyline.

Once we were finished on the boat, we agreed to head back to the hotel to retire early, and find dinner. Except we ended up walking past CN Tower, which was once the tallest structure in the world from 1976 until 2010 when Dubai build a taller one. We decided on a whim to see if we could get dinner in the revolving restaurant. Success! So up we went in the glass elevator and enjoyed dinner. It was right on dusk and the sunset looked fantastic. By the time we left it was dark outside and the whole city was lit up. A beautiful way to end the day.