I Want My Meat, And I Want It Raw!
Written: Sep 27 '02 (Updated Sep 27 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Greek Town, Harbourfront Centre, Eaton Centre
Cons: CN Tower, Boathouse Grill, Wonderland
The Bottom Line: A good place to relax and yet ...have fun!
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| jetbluefan1's Full Review: Toronto |
Toronto is a beautiful Canadian city located on the shores of Lake Ontario just two hours away from my house in Rochester NY! A convenient drive to Niagara Falls, and Buffalo. The downtown area is located right on the shores of the lake, and the Toronto Pearson International Airport is just a little bit more out west.
The summer of 2002, we went to Toronto twice for a one night stay.
Novotel Hotel, North York -
This hotel is located in northern Toronto, in the town called North York. It is located down the congested Younge Street. Staff was friendly and the price was cheap. Only $194 American. This included a one night stay, four tickets to Wonderland, and a free breakfast buffet at the Novotel Restaurant: Nicole's Cafe. Rooms were a bit larger than usual, and they were also very clean. However, the beds were a bit smaller than your everyday hotel beds.
Days Inn, Carlton Street -
My Days Inn Review - http://www.epinions.com/content_69487136388
Staff was friendly, and the price was cheap for only $89 American per night. The rooms were quite a bit smaller than usual. There were only two elevators leading to all 23 levels of the hotel, so it took forever to get to your room. The television had less channels than usual, but the location was excellent. Just a walk away from Eaton Center, and the congested yet fun-filled street Yonge Street. Read my Days Inn review for more details!
Eaton Centre -
Eaton Center is what some people may call a mega-mall. There are three levels, and Eaton the Canadian department store is located there. For those of you who are wondering, the store is like a very large three level JCPenny, but with higher quality and more selections. Outside of the department store are smaller stores such as Roots Canada, Dalmy's. There are also many other clothing stores. There are a large selection of take-out food restaurants in the Food Court, and there is also a large selection of shoe stores.
CN Tower -
My CN Tower Review - http://www.epinions.com/content_76026908292
The CN Tower is probably one of the worst attractions in Toronto. Even though staff was friendly, the atmosphere was not. There was absolutely no air conditioning, even when you are waiting in line for one and a half hours with several hundred people! When getting to the top, the view was not good since it was humid outside. However, I can not blame this on the tower. We only ended up staying on the top for around 20 minutes, so we basically wasted our money and two hours of our precious time. Read my CN Tower review for more details!
Wonderland -
Wonderland is so called the largest amusement park in Toronto. It is owned by Paramount, and there are several roller coasters. Two of them are very unique. One is inverted, and the other is a coaster where you stand up! On this coaster, I thought I was going to die because my head kept on hitting a metal bar. The staff could have adjusted it but when I spoke up, they said "Don't worry about it, just enjoy the ride." There was also a water park, but there wasn't much there. Only about five water slides that were less than exciting, and a wave pool that had a rough bottom. The tickets came with our package from the Novotel Hotel.
Boathouse Grill -
This is a restaurant located right off Harbourfront Centre. You have the choice of eating outdoors, or indoors. As we decided to eat outdoors since it was such a beautiful day, we were jammed onto a small table with cheap plastic chairs. If I were to back up my chair to get up, it would hit the chair behind me from another table. There was trash all over the place, and the waitress game us attitude. I overheard her say this, "Them Americans are saying 'I want my meat, and I want it raw". She started chuckling and so did the table she was serving. My wife and I were not amused. The food was not what you would call "quality". I received pita bread with cold chicken and lettuce in it with a few cold fries. My wife received a tortilla and lettuce with disgusting purple dressing in it. We ended up paying around $20 Canadian (around $13 American) for our horrible meal. We ended up giving our waitress a $1.50 Canadian tip.
Harbourfront Centre -
After the horrible meal, we decided to take a walk on Harbourfront Centre. There, small cruise ships were leaving to go around Lake Ontario. There was music and people dancing from Korea since it was there independence day. Many restaurants are located around there since it is a large tourist trap. There were also out-door stores with items such as jewelry and clothing. The lake was beautiful, and it gave a small breeze for the area. Right next to Harbourfront Centre, there is a public beach.
Casa Loma -
My Casa Loma review - http://www.epinions.com/content_71071469188
We decided we would go to Casa Loma because we thought it may be interesting since history had a major roll there. It was home to Sir Henry Pellat. He was a financier, an industrialist for Toronto, and was also in the military. Casa Loma is one of his homes that he used to live in when he was alive.
Greek Town -
When we went to Greek Town, there was a festival going on. There was Greek music, and many Greek stores. Old Greek men saying with an accent "Win dis car by playing lotto!" Something that really disappointed me about the festival was that there were way too many people! It was like a traffic jam in Los Angeles! So my wife and I decided that we would escape this madness by going to eat some Greek food.
We ate at Mezes which means appetizers in Greek. There was a large variety of Greek food, including Souvlaki (pork or chicken, your choice), Pasticho (noodles with Greek sauce and meat), Spanakopita and Tiropita (spinach or cheese pie), and many other Greek foods. I ordered the Chicken Souvlaki dinner which was luscious! It came with a stick of souvlaki, Greek salad, rice and potatoes. For the appetizer, we ordered a combo of taramoslata, and tratziki. Taramosalata is made of fish eggs (but is a excellent dip for bread or pita), and tzatiki is yogurt and cucumbers with a little spice. It is used as a dip for bread or pita. It can also be used to put on your souvlaki, or even as a dressing for your salad. We ended up paying $60 Canadian for both of our meals and the appetizer. We ordered water, but the service was fantastic because the waiters came by just about every minute to refill your glass!
Conclusion -
Toronto is an nice place to go if you are looking for a nice little vacation. Wonderland, Boathouse Grill, and the CN Tower were not my favorite. However, there were still many pluses such as Harbourfront Centre, Greek Town, and Eaton Centre.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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