Blue Jays, a waterfall, and illusions

The train journey was great - time flies by…

Arrived at Toronto Union Station, dropped our bags (for free because the cute child asked politely!) and walked along the Skywalk to the Rogers Stadium just in time to see the Toronto Blue Jays getting beaten by the Baltimore Orioles. It was incredibly hot in our seats - there was no shade but we had a great view of the pitch. Unfortunately it wasn’t a great game of baseball but it was a superb experience to be there anyway. And of course we spent a fortune at the food and drink concessions and also at the Blue Jays merchandise stand. Including buying an ice cream for Alana in a souvenir plastic baseball cap, and buckets of coke in Blue Jays branded rainbow cups. Let’s go Blue Jays!

After the game we headed back to Union Station, picked up our bags and got another train to Oakville - double decker train this time! From Oakville we got a bus to our accommodation - this time we had an apartment in a student halls. It was very basic but just about good enough. We dropped our bags and headed across the road to Monaghan’s Sports Bar for a pizza, salad, veggie burger and a pint of local beer (Alana had apple juice!).

Next day was all about a waterfall. Had a quick breakfast at the apartment then got the bus to Oakville station to get another double decker train to Niagara. 

It seemed like the whole world was also at Niagara, pretty much stopping every two paces to take photos. You can see why! 154 million litres of water flows over the falls every minute. It’s big!

We got some lunch and booked ourselves a trip behind the falls. Mainly so we could get to wear a beautiful plastic bag over our clothes!

For me this was the best part of the visit. Being  almost  level with the bottom of the falls and not only seeing the water but also hearing it (and feeling the spray!) was very impressive.

But not everyone was impressed: two overheard grumbles (not from us) : “I can’t believe there’s no Wi-Fi in the tunnels”… “I thought we’d get to walk under the water” 😳 (obviously not aware of the science of how much of a pulp he’d be mashed into under 154million litres per minute)

Then we headed back to the station, and had a pretty rubbish journey back to Oakville. There were no trains so we had to get a bus, and it seemed to take twice as long as getting there…

We made it, eventually. 

Next day was Saturday, also known as Park Run Day! So we walked to River Oaks Park run, about a mile from the residence. It was a really friendly event, very welcoming and thoroughly enjoyable. Alana and I ran, and Kathy took on the volunteer role of Park Run Ambassador!

Run complete we headed back to the residence, showered, changed and got the bus to Oakville station to go into Toronto for the afternoon. Turns out that it’s not only park run day but also the Grand Parade - North America’s biggest Caribbean street parade and festival - 2 million plus people expected! The trains were full of people on their way, some in costume, many with flags of different Caribbean nations. It was a great atmosphere.

We left Union Station and walked up Front Street to find the St Lawrence Market, where we grabbed a table at the Paddington Diner and had an excellent brunch. The market was really good - we were able to pick up lots of food for tomorrow’s train journey at pretty good prices. 

Next stop for us was the Toronto Museum of Illusion which was absolutely brilliant. It’s small but has so much to see and do, and make your brain work differently. We loved it!

Then, feet aching slightly, we bought some food and beer, and got the train back to Oakville and bus to the college.

Early ish night and bags packed ready for a very early start next morning… alarms set for 6:20, 6:22 and 6:25. 😴🥺

There were no buses this early on a Sunday, so we booked a taxi to take us to the station. But there were no trains, so we got a bus direct into Union Station. All good, we arrived in plenty of time before our epic trip on board VIA Rail #1, The Canadian. 

Just the 36 hours on board… it’ll be fine!

Adventure score: 8/10

Tiredness rating: 6/10

(Stats mini update: in  the past 7 days we have walked just over 72km… no wonder my feet are tired!)