Toronto

The Mister and I visited Toronto last August for a wedding and we decided to stay a few extra days and look around the city a bit. Just to be upfront, Toronto is not on my Top Ten list of cities to visit. Probably not even the Top Twenty or Thirty. (Sorry Toronto friends reading this!) But if you happen to be there for a few days, I recommend a visit to the top of the CN Tower and lunch or dinner in the Distillery District. First off, a word of caution. The Canadian customs agents are some of the worst. So rude. My theory? They forget they live in Canada and have wild delusions of border smuggling and crime. It’s Canada, guys! Lighten up! No seriously, the customs agent we got was so incredibly rude. We told him we were in Toronto for a wedding. He wanted to know who’s wedding it was and how I knew the bride. He asked if we brought a wedding gift. I said no. (Because I didn’t, c’mon idiot, there’s this thing, it’s called the Interweb!) He didn’t believe me, so he asked me again and implied I was rude to not bring my friend a wedding gift. He obviously didn’t know he was dealing with a lawyer who simply answers the question asked, so again, “No, I did not bring a wedding gift.” Next were questions of where we were staying and if we knew how we were going to get to the hotel. The Mister thought he was starting to be nice and might offer advice on taxis or shuttles, but no, he really just wanted to know how we were getting there. Because he thought we were smuggling wedding gifts into the country and were renting a van? I don’t know. I’m probably now banned from travel to Canada.

Anyhow, dealing with customs can make you hungry, so I recommend lunch in the Distillery District. The restaurants and shops are housed in the former Gooderham and Worts Distillery buildings, which was the largest whiskey distillery in the world in the 1860s.The area is totally vintage industrial which is totally my thing, but I did wish they had more antique stores and less clothing boutiques.My favorite shop in the Distillery District was Blackbird Vintage Finds.Shopping can make you thirsty, so we had a glass of wine with chips and salsa at El Catrin Destileria. The restaurant is so fabulously designed, you can’t NOT eat there! Check out those chairs, lamps, and tiles! And the inside was amazing, too!Afterwards, I recommend a trip over to the CN Tower. The CN Tower … it’s a glorified antennae. Yeah. I’m serious. That’s all it is. Oh wait, an antennae with a view. I thought maybe it was another World’s Fair structure. But no. Antennae. But I definitely recommend a trip to the top. A great view of the city, all of the new construction, and Lake Ontario. Plus the restaurant at the top isn’t bad and there’s a glass deck which is not for those who are afraid of heights.

Stay tuned for my Niagara Falls post. The Falls are a must-see!