I was browsing one-way flights from Texas to Santiago, Chile several weeks back and I had found a great site (atiflights.com) for booking. Well I was wanting to come back on a Saturday night and was finding flights for around $850. For curiosity I searched flights on Sunday and was returned with a flight for under $700, so I jumped on it. The interesting fact was to go south I had to go north first.

I flew in to Toronto, Canada at 3:35P and immediately went looking for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) ticket sales desk. I changed some money, purchased the tiny TTC tokens, and set out to see a bit of the city.

I caught the Airport Rocket to Kipling Station from which I headed across town to the Taste of the Danforth festival. There I spent a couple hours walking up and back down Danforth Avenue sampling cuisines from all over the world, listening to international music, and watching a traditional Greek dance performance.

I ate Thai chicken satay, Ecuadorian potato pancake, Japanese salmon kebab, Greek baklava, and a banana that cost me less than thirty Canadian cents. The prices were not bad and, being the last day of the festival, many prices had been reduced. It was quite delectable and fun.

I then caught the Subway to Union Station where I hopped on the Spadina streetcar. I had a general idea of where it was heading, but in the end had to employ the aid of a local woman originally Ethiopia to get to Chinatown. She was incredibly helpful and willing to walk with me for several blocks. It’s a shame I can’t remember her name. I caught sight of the CN Tower, walked through a bit of Kensington Market, and ended up at a dumpling restaurant (not a smart choice only a few hours after the food festival).

At the end of the day I caught the Subway back out to Kipling and returned to the airport on the bus. Toronto is a very multicultural place. I couldn’t compare it to another place I had been. I felt safe wherever I went and all were friendly. Maybe that’s the nature of the city or all of Canada.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 22:00 pm and is filed under travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.