October 10, 2024 - Toronto - Thursday

October 10, 2024 - Thursday 

Toronto, Ontario 

We are looking forward to our excursion today. When the excursions for this journey were released, there was nothing showing for Toronto. This is a change-over day and all but 38 passengers will be getting off. They will be replaced by just as many new passengers. 

This is our first time in this area of and we’d like to get a feel for the city. We had very good luck in hiring a Tours By Locals guide in Honolulu on our World Cruise, so are giving them a chance again. Our guide (Leon) is supposed to pick us up at 9:00 am. And we plan on spending most of the day with him.

Toronto at 6:00 am

We are off the ship well before our pickup time and are waiting when he arrives. We file into his Jeep SUV and head out. He stops at a spot where no one is around that has a view of the City and the Islands that are just off shore. He explains the origins of Toronto and we learn why Toronto is here on this spot. Back into the car and into the City. Traffic is heavy, there is construction EVERYWHERE. They are adding a new subway line, they are building new buildings, tearing down beautiful old buildings. Many of these old buildings have been on the waiting list for historic status. Recently, the provincial head of government decreed that if you didn’t already have historic status, it was too late. Many of those are now being torn down to construct mostly high rise apartments/condos. Almost no street that we are on doesn’t have some sort of blockage.

We stop by the CN Tower and Leon explains its origins. It is hard to believe it is 48 years old. We continue to meander through the city as he points out interesting spots and neighborhoods. This is precisely what we were looking for in a tour.

The CN Tower

Downtown Toronto

For building on the left - lots and lots of corner offices
on the top 10 floors

We make a stop at St. Laurence Market. This market opened in 1902 incorporating the former 1845 City Hall building. It was right on the waterfront. Today it is quite a ways from the water. There are 2 levels. We enter on the upper level. We start with a comfort stop which is located on the lower level. Then Leon ushers around some corners and essentially into a back room. There we see two holding cells from the jail that was part of the 1845 City Hall. Pretty cool. Also clearly showing is the original construction.

The St. Lawrence Market

An old holding cell from the 1800s City Hall

The original stone walls

We tour some of the stalls, then go back upstairs to see the stalls on the first level. If we lived nearby, we’d have a ball shopping here. Beautiful cheeses, meats, pastries, produce. This is a typical public market that we have seen in cities around the world. Loved it.

One of the neighborhoods we drove through is known as Cabbagetown. It largely features semi-detached Victorian houses and is recognized as "the largest continuous area of preserved Victorian housing in all of North America", according to the Cabbagetown Preservation Association. Cabbagetown's name derives from the Irish immigrants who moved to the neighborhood beginning in the late 1840s, said to have been so poor that they grew cabbage in their front yards.

We stopped at Casa Loma; a castle built in the early 1900s. The owner fell on hard times and the property was seized by the City in 1924 for back taxes. Today it is a museum and popular site for events and filming.

Casa Loma

We drove amid the University of Toronto campus, then headed towards the “New City Hall”. After our stop here, it was time for lunch. We had requested Poutine. Leon was happy to oblige, although he was not at all interested in having any. He located a highly reviewed shop. We each got an order which was delivered in a paper box. There were 4 two person tables and some stools at a couple counters. We chose the counters (the only space available) and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The flow of people picking up food at this spot was non-stop. The fries were crispy, the cheese curds plentiful, the gravy is really hot, so the cheese melted nicely. Definitely hit the spot.

The Distillery district was next on the list and our final area for this tour before we headed back to the ship. 

Back in our room, we discovered we had left a backpack in his car. We called him, he was stuck in traffic but would head back to the ship as soon as he could. It is after 3:00 pm. Back-on-Board times is supposed to be 4:00 pm with sailing at 5:00 pm. After talking with Guest Services, we learned that sailing had been delayed a bit due to a few passengers weren’t to arrive in Toronto until 3:00. Leon called when he was a few minutes away, I went down to retrieve the backpack and was back on board before 4:00 pm. 

About 7:45 pm, an announcement was issued that Northern Lights were visible on the Bow. We get bundled up and head to the Bow. Indeed, we’ve got Northern Lights. They are only barely visible to the naked eye, but when you take a picture, you can see them. Amazing. I’ve got so many photos; I can’t pick just one or two to show here. I’m going to do a separate blog just posting the photos. 

At 10:15 pm, we got a phone call saying the Lights were still visible. Russ is sound asleep, but I put clothes back on and head out. They are even better than earlier. Colors are richer, the sky is darker. What is amazing is that I have photos showing the stars against a red background. So very special. Perhaps a bucket list item of ours.