A Trip to Toronto, Eh?

Did you know Tyler's corporate office is in Toronto? And did you know that part of his work contract is that he has to fly out to Toronto about once a month? Well he ended up having two events at work that would require him to be gone for two weeks, so instead of him flying home on a Friday and then having to fly back on Sunday, I decided to fly out to Toronto for the weekend and we got to explore the city! It was perfect timing too because Terry and Craig are homeless (ok, not really, but they sold their house and their South Jordan house won't be completed until next year), so they stayed at our house and watched the kids while we were gone. 

I have to say, this little get away was one of my favorite weekends with Tyler. We had so much fun and it was so good for the two of us to get away for a little bit. 

Let me start from the beginning. I few out on Friday. I was so scared because it had been so long since I have traveled by myself. If you have ever traveled with Tyler you would know that he takes care of everything. He is so efficient and is multiple steps ahead of you, so traveling is a breeze (for me, anyway). But this time it was so stressed out because Tyler wasn't with me, I had never been through the new Salt Lake Airport, and I had to go through customs when I got to Toronto. Luckily Tyler gave me step by step directions, so I thought I would be ok if I was brave. 

My flight was good, despite being in the middle seat. The guys sitting on my right slept (snored) the whole time and was kind of gross, but other than that it was fine. I made it through customs unscathed, and found my way outside to Tyler. I was so relieved when I saw him!

We drove to Vaughn where the corporate office is and checked into our hotel. I got a tour of the office, then we went to dinner. 

Vaughn is unofficially the "Italian district" so we went to this amazing Italian restaurant that felt like was owned by the mafia. I couldn't pronounce our dinner, but it was so yummy!!

The next morning we were off to explore downtown Toronto. We took the subway down town and our first stop was to the CN Tower which offers an amazing 360 view of the city. 

We thought our kids would love this. "Turning Red" is a cute Disney/Pixar movie set in Toronto. 

And this is a replica of the CN Tower made out of Legos to show Caden since he loves Lego. 

Look at these amazing views!!

We bought the city pass, so our next stop was the aquarium which was right next to the CN Tower. It was pretty fun to look around. 

My favorite part of the day might have been the St. Lawrence Market. It was this huge building that had so many different kinds of food, raw seafood, fresh fruits and veggies, and desserts. We walked around and ended up getting dessert, some sort of meat pie, a huge stuffed burrito and Poutine (french fries with gravy and cheese on top). Poutine is like a unique staple food you have to try when you are in Canada. 

Then we walked around China town and stopped for gelatto at some cute little place.

We rode the subway back to down town for our next event

We booked a dinner cruise, but we were a little early, so we walked around for a little while. 

The dinner cruise was so fun because we had window seats with an amazing view of the skyline. Check out these pictures... aww... we're so cute!!

The next day we were up early for our drive to Niagra Falls. We stopped at Tim Hortons, which is a coffee place that is literally on every corner in Canada. 

Niagra falls is about a 90 minute drive from Toronto. I heard people say the view is better from the Canadian side. I didn't know what to expect, but Niagra falls may have been my favorite part of our trip. So there's two falls: the one on the left is called the American falls and the one on the right is called the horse shoe falls. Both of them were so incredible to see. 

If you ever go to Niagara Falls, buy the boat pass... it's totally worth it. The boat takes you right up to the falls, and you get really wet, but it is amazing to see the falls so close. 

I loved going in October because all the fall colors were so pretty. 

We walked around for a long time. I really could have stayed there all day because the falls were just that cool. 

We bought "Journey behind the falls" where we could go in the tunnel that takes you to a spot where you can get a unique view of the falls. 

Before you get to Niagra falls there is an amusement park next to it. We decided to ride the go carts, and it was so much fun! 

They had a Ferris wheel, mini golf, and a few other things. If we ever went back with our kids we would have so much fun there. 

Then it was time for our dinner. We booked dinner at this nice tower restaurant that slowly went around so we could get a 360 view of the falls and the city around it. This dinner was so good and so much fun!! We timed it perfectly and had a sunset and night view of the falls. 

At night they light up the falls, so that was so fun to see. 

Our dinner was so, so, so good. And we even splurged and got dessert. 

One of my favorite things about this trip was Tyler telling me how cheap everything was because of the exchange rate. Our dinner which was over $200 Canadian dollars, was not that expensive because of the exchange rate!

We went up to the top of the tower and lucky for us, they had fireworks. We were so high that the fireworks were beneath us!

Our last day was only a half day since I had to fly home. We decided to go to the Casa Loma Mansion. This is a huge Mansion built around 1915 for Sir Henry Pellatt. The castle was never fully finished because Pellatt lost a lot of his fortune during WW1 and the depression. 

For our last stop, Tyler's co worker recommended a Katsu Japanese restaurant. We walked in and the host didn't speak English. We had no idea what we were ordering, and there was not enough water, but my goodness, the food was AMAZING!! I couldn't even tell you what I ordered, but it was yummy! We will definitely be going back there again. 

To top off our trip we stopped to get a bubble tea. I have no idea what we ordered here either, but the funniest moment was watching Tyler take the first sip. Bubble tea has little tapioca pearls and we had no idea what to expect, so it was a little surprising when we slurped up a pearl and started chewing. Once we got used to it, it was really good. 

Tyler dropped me off at the airport and we said our goodbye for a few more days. 

Toronto was such a fun trip. I really loved spending time with Tyler exploring so many new things. Toronto is so fun because it was American enough that I felt safe, but foreign enough that it gave us a chance to see different cultures and people. I hope I can go back with Tyler again soon, because it really was a great trip, eh?