We spent 2 nights in Toronto to catch up with friends and be tourists.
We managed the CN tower and Ripley’s aquarium in a day. We pre bought tickets to both places online the day before, both kids were free. We arrived at the CN tower at 11am and managed to walk straight onto the elevators without any waiting! The views from the CN Tower are absolutely amazing. I hadn’t realised how big Toronto is, from that height it feels much bigger than Sydney. There was a bar with a special CN Tower lager that I just had to drink! We went to the glass floor level and struggled to persuade Moose to walk on it. Another poor kid was dragged kicking and screaming so the parents could get the iconic shot.
After we went to the aquarium which may end up being a highlight of the trip. It’s got a great collection of animals but what stands it apart is the the layout and design of exhibits. Each seemed to have their own music. The underwater tunnel had a travelator so you could easily move through without bumping into people.
After the kids had a quick nap so we stopped at the Steam Whistle brewery for a beer and pretzel. Much deserved after all that walking!
That night we got a baby sitter from an online agency and went out with friends for dinner and drinks. Toronto has no shortage of unique small bars. Interestingly the ones we went to offered little snacks as well. We had spicy ribs, duck hearts and sweet potato pie.
Our Air BnB was well located, at a good price but damn small and not Ollie proof. Any time we wanted to clean or pack one of us would have to take him out for a walk. Not bringing a portacrib is proving to be short sighted!
We met Cara, my old nanny, for a play date on the way out to Ottawa. Turns out the drive was quite a bit further than I had realised. It took us close to 5 hours with 2 pit stops. For now that seems about the limit the kids can put up with. If all goes to plan that will be the longest drive though. We bought some towels to put under Ollie’s seat to change the angle. He’s in a bucket seat in the van and he’s rear facing so he flopped forward when he slept.