It’s our last day in Toronto and even though it’s been less than a week, we were pretty ready to move on when we got up. I posted yesterday’s blog, we visited a bit with Joel and Tim and said our goodbyes as they got on with their day. I worked a little but had mostly done what I absolutely needed to so we were free to get on with our day as well.

We packed up some then took Zeus out for a walk and decided to get some more coffee. There were about 10 coffee shops – no joke – within a few blocks of their house so we definitely had choices. We landed on this one which claimed to have a nice ambiance and it did: part coffee shop, part art gallery.

Ash got coffee, I had a latte, and we shared a coconut biscotti that was great.

We went back to the house to finish packing up and left around 10:30am.

Our final stop was a neighborhood called Kensington Market – named for a bunch of cool shops on Kensington Ave (although this is Spadina Ave in the photo!) – that Joel recommended. It’s just outside of downtown and not far from where we had dinner last night, but a completely different vibe.

There were several ethnicities represented in the restaurants we came across, including Chinese, Thai, Korean, Greek, Malaysian, Jamaican, and a generic Middle Eastern one.

And cool views of downtown as we meandered.

We walked around quite a bit window shopping, but decided on this place for lunch, featuring chicken & waffles.

Of course, we had to try the chicken and waffles – as well as cauliflower bites. Both were great and satisfying.

On our way back to our car we came across this crutch around a street sign. Clearly someone had to take it apart and put it back together to get it there – although upon close inspection we saw little latches that would have made that easier than it sounds. So, the question is: why? For you to ponder.

We had decided earlier in the week that we would stay our final night at a hotel near the airport so it will be easier to catch our 7am flight. We checked into our hotel – Courtyard Marriott – dropped off our stuff, took the car back, and got a ride back to the hotel. I ended up working a few more hours with various things that came up. We had dinner at the regular Marriott next door because the food was better, and now we are done as it approaches 8pm.

So, I finish, as always, with some final thoughts on this trip.

1. Loved the unstructured time. This was one of the most relaxing trips I’ve had, ever. We did very little but don’t feel that we missed out on anything. We saw what and who we came to see and that was enough.
2. Niagara Falls was spectacular, and I highly recommend you get to it at some point if you’ve never been. That said, we both agree we have no reason to go back. The town itself was kind of a joke – like a bad version of Reno – so outside of the activities related to the beautiful Falls, there isn’t much to do there.
3. Toronto was fantastic and we would definitely go back. We love big cities with great downtowns and lots of unique neighborhoods and this fit that bill. And, it was incredibly clean, and we only saw a couple of homeless people the entire time.
4. I wasn’t crazy about working some every day on this trip, but neither was it horrible. I wouldn’t want to do it every time, but it was necessary this time around and I don’t have any resentment about it. Ash is always trying to convince me to do it more so I can travel more but it doesn’t really work that way, at least for me.
5. I really enjoyed meeting Ash’s friends, Joel and Tim, and appreciated their hospitality. We’ve invited them to our neck of the woods and hope the come!

And with that, we are done until the next time. We have some great trips planned already for the next couple of years:

• February 2024 – Puerta Vallarta
• May/June 2024 – Machu Picchu and The Galapagos
• June/July 2024 – New York City for Gay & Sober Men’s Conference, then Washington DC
• May/June 2025 – Bhutan
• August 2025 – returning to the Okavango Delta for another safari

Sound like fun? Join us!