We returned to Canada to see Toronto and to visit Reuben’s friend Aletta, who normally lives in London but was house-sitting in Toronto. I had met her before too so it was great to catch up. We had three days in Toronto and as well as seeing some of the city were able to do some forward planning for the next legs of our trip after we leave the USA. I honestly hadn’t realised before travelling just how much constant planning goes into travelling – it’s always a challenge for me to prioritise sitting down and researching and booking things when I would much rather be on the go exploring each place we go to!

 

 

On our first day in Toronto we went into the city and visited Casa Loma, a huge home perched on a hill overlooking the city. It was built by one of Canada’s richest businessmen, but was not finished when he ran out of money and was forced to leave the home. It has now been restored and it was a great way to spend a rainy day exploring the home, climbing the tower to see views of Toronto and learning more about the family.

 

 

 

 

The next day we went into the city in the afternoon and spent some time exploring the Distillery District. This is a former whisky distillery that has been turned into cute shops, coffee places and art galleries – great to wander around.

 

 

We then walked to an Ethiopian restaurant (got to make the most of having Ethiopian food available!) and then walked back to the CN Tower. We were able to go up and see the nightlights of Toronto and walk on the glass floor (not as impressive as the Willis Tower glass box!)

 

 

 

 

On our last day we went with Aletta to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, a world class drama festival that runs throughout the summer. We didn’t actually see a Shakespeare play – instead we saw a hilarious farce called “The Matchmaker”. We had a lovely stroll by the Avon river after the play and saw a lone black swan, Canadian geese and big white swans that I tried to avoid! It was a really nice outing and the play was extremely well done.