mybigadventures.com

As we had got in late yesterday, we had a slightly more leisurely morning. We did wake up quite early, but dozed for a while. I went down to Starbucks next door and got tea (I keep forgetting that you have to order ‘hot tea’ here, and you need to ask them to leave ‘room for milk’ as they don’t drink it like us Brits!) and chocolatines - they had even warmed up the chocolatines, so they were extra-tasty, chocolatey goodness! We had showers and then had a chat with Lorna, Audrey, and mum and dad via Skype, catching up and telling them about our activities.

We headed out, planning to withdraw some cash for the day. Started to use the cash machine, although found out that it would charge us a flat fee of $5, so changed our mind. Then changed it back again - instead, we decided to withdraw more, to make the fee more palatable. So, we nipped back to the hotel to leave the extra cash in our room safe.

Then, we headed out properly. We got the tram to the Ferry building and switched onto the F-line around Fisherman’s Wharf, getting off near the bike rental place we had seen before. Stopped to use the restroom on the way, only to end up waiting for 10 minutes as they had closed them for ‘cleaning’ and they were the only local loos! Some American bloke and his kid also tried pushing in, but an loquacious American woman started on him - quite a bit of excitement so early in the day!

Went to the bike shop and got hooked up with a tandem and snazzy helmets! The lady chatted on about some directions, but there were quite a few and, by the end, I couldn’t even remember which way we were supposed to leave the shop! Dani decided she would take the back seat, so I took the helm though I did find it quite difficult to get my leg over the bike frame - I blame the jeans - clearly, not biking gear! So, we set off on our ride - somewhat wobbly to begin with.

We cycled around towards the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping for photos a few times. We used the gorilla pod to take one of us and the bike, and a lady offered to take a photo when we got to a pier just before the bridge. Whilst at the pier, we had a little sit and a hot dog from ‘Let’s Be Frank’, a hot dog stand - it was very tasty. We then began the cycling part of the journey again.

There were some steep bits to get up to the bridge and, once there, there were lots of people in the bike lane, so Ben kept ringing the bell. A little further along, we got stopped by a bridge man, who told us that we were supposed to be cycling on the other side (pedestrians on one side, bikes on the other). I think the lady at the shop might have mentioned this - oops! So, once on the right side of the bridge, we got up some big speed. There were a few hairy moments, but we managed not to crash - result! It was a bit windy on the way across and, when we got to the other side, we decided to cycle back again, rather than waiting for the ferry. On the way back across, we stopped to take some pictures of a tall ship that was sailing under the bridge. We kept on zooming on, after a ‘Kodak moment’ and sped back down - it was distinctly warmer off the bridge!

We rode back towards Fisherman’s wharf, stopping at a Safeway (of all places!) on the way - Ben looked after the bike whilst I went in, getting some muffins, crisps and water - a mini crap run! Were planning to go across to the Golden Gate Park, but we realised that it was still a good distance away and it was already gone 5 PM. So we continued along, back to the bike shop - there were a few hairy moments when Ben zoomed downhill at super-speed, but I just closed my eyes! Returned the bike, suffering slightly from saddle bottom. It had cost $60 for the day.

Having dropped the bike, we decided it was beer o’clock - we went to Applebees for a drink, sitting on the balcony, under a heater - nice! After, we strolled to the F-line stop, having figured out where it goes now! Except the tram was packed when it came past! Managed to find a different stop by following the tracks to a different point. Made it back to Union Square. We looked around for somewhere to eat, but places seemed quite expensive. Decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory in Macy’s - but it was absolutely rammed! Totally rammed! As our feet were tired, we made it down a level, to Macy’s ‘Burger Bar’ and settled in. We had a pitcher of Budweiser and three mini-burgers each, with fries and onion rings - about $70, including tip. A little pricey, but we walked away - stumbled, might be more accurate - very stuffed! And so, to bed!

It's that time of year again - oh yes, the summer has landed. We've been a bit rubbish at planning a holiday this year, what with buying a house and everything and so are just playing it by ear at the moment, who know's where we might end up. Dani has a few papers left to mark and then there's the move to sort out, but hopefully we might get something sorted between then and results day. I'll keep you posted! 

We got started a little later today, having some leftover pizza by way of breakfast come lunch, before heading out a bit after 11. We decided to head for the old town in Toronto, with a plan to stop off at the St. Lawrence Market. As we walked into the old town district the first thing that became clear was that not many buildings looked particularly old, with lots of new looking glass strucures in place. The old bank of Montreal was particularly interesting as it has the old fascade but now forms the base of a large glass skyscraper. We had a walk through the St. Lawrence market but having already quite a big breakfast we weren't especially hungry for the variety of food on offer. Outide the market we walked over to the nearby post office, which was the first post office in Toronto dating back to 1834. There is a bit of a museum section which is free to visit on the inside, but it's also still a functioning post office so whilst we were there Dani bought Greg a birthday card and posted it! Having seen enough of the old town we were a bit short of a plan of what to do next, we settled on tea and a cake at Starbucks so we could use their WiFi to formulate a plan for the rest of the day. 

We had been toying with going up the CN tower for a view over Toronto, but given that the CN tower is one of the most iconic buildings in the skyline I wasn't especially sold on not getting it in any photos. After a bit of a browse of the Internet courtesy of Starbucks, we settled on a trip to Centre Island, one of the islands close to Toronto as it seemed to over a good view back of the Toronto skyline. The island is easy to get to with a number of water taxis available to take the trip or the main ferry which is just $10 each for a return ticket. The ferry only took 15 minutes or so, and from our position on the right side of the boat heading out, we had terrific views of the skyscrapers that make up the skyline. The main attraction on Centre island seems to be a childrens themepark which we weren't particularly interested in, we did however spot a bar with a baeer garden facing back towards the view... so that's where we headed. We ended up staying the rest of the afternoon having some drinks and then food with a perfect view back of Toronto. It was a great place to sit and watch the world go by with planes frequently taking off and landing in the nearby city airport and boats flitting about around the coastline. A weasel even popped by the beer garden at one point for a quick mosey about!  

It started to cool down around 8 and the ferries had become less frequent. Although I was hoping to get some night shots, we ended up catching the 8.45 ferry back to the mainland as we were starting to feel a bit cold and had an early start tomorrow for the trip to Montreal. Despite it not quite being darkl, the sun was just setting adding a nice bit of colour to the skyline. Back on the mainland we stopped of at the Nathan Philips Square, which we had been to on our first day, to take a look at the Toronto letters which are illuminated at night. It was dark by this point so the letters looked particularly impressive, changing colours every couple of minutes. I took some photos and then we headed back to the hotel to pack up ready for the train tomorrow.