Downtown

We took an afternoon and went into the heart of Toronto to show the kids some of the sights. There is a LOT to see, and we barely scratched the surface, but we hit some of the highlights. When the kids are older, we'll do more (like go see a game, and take a tour of something)

When Brian comes with us sometime, we'll go inside. I've been, but Brian and the kids never have - it's the Hockey Hall of Fame!

Look what we see! It's the CN Tower!

We walked through the lobby of the Royal York - (a little history. Way back in the day, like, the Upper Canada days, Toronto was named York. The district is still called York Region, and there are a lot of historical things with York in the name. When the kids are a bit older, we'll take them to Fort York, which was a pivotal place in the war of 1812)

The Royal York hotel - Brian and I honeymooned here

The kids in the Royal York

Guess where the Queen stays when she comes to town? They have a special suite on the 2nd floor for her

Gorgeous and ornate

Lobby

Brooks loved this little display of the English Civil War in 1644 this is the Parliamentarians against the Royalists

The girls loved this display of crystal everything!

There is a "mall" attached to the hotel, and underneath it (underground mall connects to subway system)

A bit of history about the hotel, and the land it's on. "...The Royal York has upheld the finest traditions of a grand hotel and remains the largest in the commonwealth"

There are doormen, all dressed up, as "old fashioned doormen" would be (with white gloves and everything:-). They saw us looking around with the kids, and brought us colouring books and crayons to take home.

A double decker bus:-)

Reflections

It is exceedingly difficult to get the whole thing in one camera angle. Here I am basically laying on the ground. It is 1815 feet tall, and from it's completion in 1975, until recently (2009) it was the tallest freestanding structure in the world. It remains the tallest in the western hemisphere, but China and Japan have built competing and taller structures in 2009 & 2012. When the kids are older, we'll take them up to stand on the spooky glass floors.

Looking up!

It's very very tall!

The Rogers Centre, formerly the Sky Dome. I still call it the Sky Dome, because I hate that stadiums don't have names anymore, just sponsors :-( It has a retractable roof, and is where the Blue Jays play, and the Argonauts -Canadian Football League. I've seen many a game there (the Raptors played there briefly too, before the Air Canada Centre was completed . But they now share the ACC with the Maple Leafs hockey team). The Maple Leaf Gardens was replaced with a brand new ACC when I was a teenager. Boo for corporate "takeovers".

My *favourite* part of city life. Pesky pigeons

The Royal York, from "down the street" It has the green copper roof