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Our time in Toronto is coming to a close (we’ve been here for over a month…check out my Stories on Instagram). We’ve really enjoyed this city – it’s culturally diverse and exciting, with hints of Francophilia everywhere. While I’ve shared most of our adventures on social media, I’ll get into a bit more detail here for those that may be planning a trip. Mind you, we’ve been here during peak winter, but this one has been fairly mild. The only day where I felt like it was too much was when the polar vortex came through and it was -7 degrees (celsius) with a wind chill of -16. I made the mistake of going for a walk, and very quickly realized why Canadians sometimes wear ski masks – lesson learned. Speaking of lessons…if you haven’t learned to ice skate, I highly recommend doing so before you come or signing up for a private lesson in Canada. You DO NOT want to attempt to learn in a rink filled with Canadians. Just trust me on this. You can thank me later.
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Do you need to go to the top of the CN Tower? Absolutely not. It’s a tad expensive, and while the views are pretty cool, it’s nothing to write home about. However, since this post is geared towards kids, Henry wants you to know that he enjoyed it and thinks other kids will too (wink). One of our favorite views of the tower (and a great photo op) was from Grange Park, behind the AGO. You can make an entire day of visiting the museum and this park! We were lucky enough to catch the Yayoi Kusama and Leonard Cohen exhibits while we were there. It’s an incredible place with something for everyone.
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The AGO is so amazing and massive – we visited twice during our stay. It’s also a great starting (or ending) point to exploring the vibrant neighborhoods surrounding it. Chinatown is huge and was especially lively given that it was Lunar New Year! We attended the parade and had the honor of meeting the God of Fortune. He gave the kids red envelopes (known as 紅包, hóngbāo) which symbolize good wishes for the year ahead. Inside we found candy and…a photo of Justin Trudeau (lol). Random side note – I wish we had all brought more than one coat. I’m getting tired of seeing the same outfits in almost every image, and perhaps you are too? Well now you will be, since I pointed it out…great job Susan.
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Adjacent to Chinatown is the cool and eclectic area known as Kensington. In addition to all of the amazing street art and thrifting, some personal favorites were the vegan and gluten-free bakery Bunner’s, the well-curated bookstore Good Egg, and delicious bites at Egg Bae. We mostly used the transit system (aka the TTC) to get around, which was super accessible from our Airbnb in Leslieville. Not only is it a kid-friendly area, but you’ll see Pride flags on almost every home, which was so comforting to us. The tram stopped conveniently at the end of our street so we made good use of it! Apparently it’s a source of constant frustration for locals, but honestly it’s better (cleaner, safer) than most transit options in the states.
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There are many spots that I only captured with my phone, and a few that I shared exclusively on our private homeschool account. One of them is the Ontario Science Center, which is frankly one of the best we’ve ever been to. The sheer size of it is staggering – we made the mistake of thinking one day there was enough. There is just so much goodness to explore, so plan for two days there, if possible. Another place that I would happily return to is the Distillery District – but I enjoyed it solo. Start your day with coffee at Balzac’s, go shopping at Blackbird Vintage, have lunch at Cluny Bistro…there’s so much there. Of course, we could only do so much…we have a lot of love for this city and look forward to returning!
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