First full day in TO was nice.  Got to take the GO Bus from Stokeville into downtown.  Not a bad ride, but the HOV/Bus lanes don’t seem very efficient or well planned out.  They get you passed a lot of traffic, but quickly leaves you trapped or having to merge back in.  There are toll sections too, but I never bothered to figure out how they work since I wasn’t driving.

Swung by City Hall to check out the farmer’s market.  Nice option in the middle of the city.

Walking by some bikes, the angle of the Kawi caught my eye and I stopped to take a closer look.

Kickstand wasn’t even on the ground!

It should have gone over!  Most likely hit by the van.  Looks like the only reason it was even upright was because the handle bars lined up.  I kind of wondered how close the van came to knocking down both bikes and the scooter.

After lunch out on the patio in the sun at Bier Markt, I went over to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Not a huge hockey fan, it was still a nice visit.   Especially sitting down and watching the Summit Series.  Lots of drama and tons of political overtones.

Stanley Cup!

Some random art exhibits on the way there:

One of the shots from the Earth From Above series.  I’ve been following this gallery around the world.  First time I saw it was in London on my very first Europe trip(apparently in 2005).  Great shots… Both makes me want to get into photography and reminds me why I probably never will  – no eye for the shot and certainly no patience to finally get it.

Eventually made it to The Distillery District.  More vibrant than the last time I was there.   It had promise before, but it definitely fleshed out.  Similar vibe to Granville Island, but more… artificial somehow.

Sat around and had a coffee at Balzac’s.  Nice seat, a few birds zipping about.  But what I didn’t notice was that I was sitting under the sign – where the birds hang out when they’re not scrounging for scraps.  Naturally, they decided to poop on me – top dead center of my head.   At least they were little birds and the poop was dry.

Met up with my cousin for dinner at the Mill St Brewery.  Decent meal and I packed up some left overs for the train ride.   Got dropped off at Union station, got my seat and set up for my next 4 days: