A Buzz?? Not likely though!
As one local barman put it, "All the locals leave as soon as they see Caribana weekend is approaching. And, to be honest, I would have left too if I hadn't been forced to work!"
Charming! But why??
According to other locals, the festival causes a huge surge in crime -- something exemplified by the non-stop sirens we could hear all weekend. The majority of bars and restaurants were dead.
As a result, the full-blown crazy weekend we had lined up was scaled back somewhat. Not even David Beckham's arrival with the LA Galaxy could shift our emphasis from visiting theme parks and sight-seeing, rather than the all-night parties that Toronto is globally renowned for!
I still had a fantastic time though and the highlights of the trip were:
Canada's Wonderland (often referred to locally as Wonderland) is the 330 acre theme park located in Vaughan, Ontario -- 30 kilometres north of Toronto, Ontario. It is considered one of North America's premier amusement parks, with more than 200 attractions.
With Canada's Longest Wooden Coaster - The Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Canada's First Inverted Coaster - Top Gun and Canada's Only Flying Coaster - "Tomb Raider: The Ride," the owners claim North America's largest variety of coasters can be found here. If roller coasters aren't your game though you can test your level of thrill by being spun 360 degrees on Cliffhanger, free falling 230 feet on Drop Zone, or be courageous enough to catch some 120 foot hang time on Psyclone.
The CN Tower, located in downtown Toronto is a communications and tourist tower standing 553.33 metres (1,815.39 ft) tall. While they were still building it in 1975 it became the tallest free-standing structure on land in the world. However, on September 12, 2007 (after holding the record for over 30 years) the CN tower was surpassed in height by the still-under-construction Burj Dubaia - a hotel, residential and commercial building being built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- which, take note folks, is most importantly one of forthy's future destinations!!
This is a must visit, and while the wait to get to the top is a looooong time - nothing can beat standing on top of the world.
The Toronto Blue Jays @ Rogers Center. Sightseeing around the city, I was amazed at the abundance of spare tickets for Saturday's Blue Jays game against the Texas Rangers. Over the course of the weekend, the Blue Jays defeated Texas in all three games, only to lose to the NY Yankees on Monday.
As it turned out, we were able to avoid the touts and managed to catch some of the action for free from the CN Tower (as this picture shows :)
Chinatown. Toronto has the second largest Chinatown in North America. And, driving by, there were dozens, maybe hundreds, of restaurants serving not just authentic Chinese, but also Vietnamese and other Asian fare.
The Hockey Hall of Fame is home to hockey's greatest players. With an unrivalled collection of photos, statistics, profiles, global coverage, trivia, games and Cyberstore merchandise.
Other worthy mentions are: The Hummingboard Center/Sony Centre for the Arts (below, top right) The Air Canada Centre (home of the Toronto Maple Leafs) (below, bottom left) Bravo! (below, top right) - the Canadian English language cable television specialty channel owned by CTV, and the Scotiabank theatre (below, bottom right).
Overall, this was a great trip. With over 2.5 million residents, Toronto ranks as the fifth-most populous municipality in North America (and the 46th most populous in the world).
Toronto also ranks as a city I'd highly recommend to visit. More shots from around the city are below, including the Roy Thomson Hall, home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (below, top left) and the view from the CN Tower (below, top right).
Finally, this part of the city offered arguably one of the best views of the city...
...And was a great place for a last lunch before catching a flight to the next destination: London...
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