what's in Toronto?

You might not think of Toronto, Canada as a vacation spot but if you never go for a visit you will be missing out on some pretty great stuff.

1. The Tallest Building in the World. Yes, there is some controversy over what is considered a "building" but you won't find a higher observation deck in the world than the CN Tower in Toronto. Most interesting for me was the glass floor where you can walk out and look down past your toes to the ground...over a thousand feet down. It is a freaky, mind bending experience.

2. AGO. The Art Gallery of Ontario. This public institution has an exhibit right now of some of Bernini's work, the 17th century sculptor, considered the best ever. You can get right up close to these sculptures of two popes and a cast bronze crucifixion scene. With especially the popes you can see the veins on their temple and the wrinkles on their forehead. What would it be like to have the wrinkles on your face immortalized in stone. Wooohooo.

3. Casa Loma. This is an amazing castle built by a Canadian who lived in the castle for only ten years until he lost his wealth due to some bad land speculation and other sundry business deals gone bad. Quite an amazing place to tour.

4. Roti. That's what I had for lunch at a quaint local restaurant run by a Korean lady and her son. See the picture. The Roti was curry chicken with white potatoes and sweet potatoes served in a large tortilla shell. I've had Rotis in the Caribbean before but this one was most excellent. We were hungry before going through Casa Loma so we asked two people on the street what was a good local place to eat. They both referred us to this little restaurant. The people know.

5. What you can get for free. The castle tour valued at $15 apiece (Canadian money) was free because a guy in a Toronto information booth felt generous and gave us four tickets for our party of four. The Art Gallery of Ontario was free after 6 pm. We arrived at the door at ten til six so that was pure luck. An art gallery employee encouraged us to try to sweet talk our way into the "members only" exhibition of Bernini and that gave us the confidence to go for it. Yes, they showed us grace and generosity and let us in for free, ($15 value per person).

On the way to Toronto we stopped at Niagara Falls, which by the way is free unless you go on "The Maid of the Mist."

The exchange rate in Canada is tilted in favor of the American dollar but that may not last long.

Bottom line, we got completely out of the country, visited a city of 4.5 million people (there were a few of them that we didn't meet personally) saw some great sights and had some great experiences. Also the company was awesome, MKH, AMH and his girlfriend BG.