Our apartment in downtown Toronto

Here's a few pictures of our flat in Toronto.  If you wan't to check us out on Google Street view just email/facebook us or leave a comment & we'll send you our address.

The flat is in the St Lawrence Market area in Old Town Toronto (according to the street signs...).

We're on the top (9th) floor and are only a few minutes walk from the streetcar (tram) and the financial district.  

This is the view from our balcony looking West towards the financial district.

View from the balcony

 Plenty of room for guests to stay on the sofa bed!

Livingroom / Dining area with Kitchen in the back

 All furniture courtesy of our Swedish friends at Ikea...

Livingroom & balcony

Bedroom

Bathroom

We have ordered internet and should have it this weekend so updates should be less sporadic.  

May and June update

As promised, here is our highlights of May and June.

At the end of April Trevor and Priscilla's boat 'Water Rats' went into the water at the Outer Harbour Marina and a few days later we moved in!  The boat became our home for the next couple of months.  The boat is 35ft long and has two bedrooms, a kitchen diner and living room.  It wasn't much smaller than our house in Padfield!  We loved living on the boat, although the first couple of weeks when the rain came down, were quite testing.

Kate started work with Kobo, an eBook company in the west of the city, at the beginning of May.  Not long afterwards David started work for High-Road Communications - a PR company in the heart of downtown Toronto.  The journey to work started with a 2 mile cycle ride to the Streetcar (tram).  This did not amuse Kate at first, but after a couple of days of aching muscles and sore bums, we both started to enjoy the ride!  We even took to cycling for fun at the weekends!

Water Rats

 One of our bike rides took us out to Tommy Tomspon park which is a peninsular that runs parallel to the city with the marina sandwiched in between. Had it been a clearer day we would have been able to see the US at the other side of the lake!

The Marina and downtown Toronto from Tommy Tompson Park

 Whilst on the boat, we encountered a fair few thunder storms which are actually pretty cool experienced on a boat! Neither of us had ever seen a storm like the one below.  The thunder boomed across the sky and the lightening flashed for nearly an hour before the storm actually hit the marina!

Epic storm

Just as the rain started

 At the end of May we took a break from flat hunting and took part in Doors Open Toronto where we got to go into places which are normally closed to the public.  We started with a tour of Corus Quay, a new media centre at the water front before heading to the Harbour Comission, the old Roundhouse, the Campbell House, Old City Hall and the Gooderham building.  For more details see http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/culture/doorsopen2011.nsf/BuildingsAll?OpenView

The Harbour Comission

Gooderham Building

 On June 5th, David turned 30!  We celebrated the onset of old age with a Mexican meal out on Queen Street West and a comedy club on the Friday night.  Below is a picture of David wearing his 'reality vision' glasses and enjoying some local wheat beer at the comedy club.  

David @ the comedy club

 On the day of his birthday we took and  trip to the Toronto Islands.  We took our borrowed bright pink mountain bikes over to the Islands and had a lot of fun exploring and lapping up the sun.  The views were stunning and the ice-cream was tasty!

Downtown Toronto from the Toronto Islands

Birthday Muffins!

 At the end of June we decided to be proper tourists and we took a day trip to Niagara falls by Greyhound.  We went on the Maid of the Mist, walked behind the Horseshoe Falls and had a lovely Italian meal in Niagara.  We also walked over Rainbow Bridge into the US and took a walk along the cliff edge on the US side.  It was a great day & we had a lot of fun.

Niagara Falls

Maid of the Mist

Very wet!

Maid of the Mist approaching the Horseshoe Falls

So, we're almost up to date!  The next instalment will be about our new apartment and it will be uploaded very soon.

Finally, an update! (March & April)

So, it's about time that we actually updated our blog.  Sorry it has been such a long time, we've been so busy!

Well once we arrived back in Toronto from our Via rail journey, we spent March and most of April staying with Trevor & Priscilla (David's Aunt & Uncle).  We really enjoyed our time with them and we're very grateful for their help & support whilst we looked for jobs. It was a great time to get to know everyone and savour Priscilla's awesome cooking! Phoebus the cat was always a friendly buddy whilst filling out online applications. He does require a lot of attention though! After a chance speculative letter Kate got a part-time job in April teaching German at Hansa Language Centre.

Here are the highlights of March & April.

We spent a weekend staying with Molly & Patrick and they showed us round the city.  One day Molly took us on a guided tour of the Harbourfront, China Town and Kensington Market.  

Toronto Harbour Front

During our stay they also took us to a really cool Sushi restaurant on Queen Street West, where Kate tasted proper Sushi for the first time!

Sushi Queen with Patrick & Molly

After our stay down-town with Molly & Patrick, Priscilla kindly let us borrow her car for a couple of day trips.
The first trip we took was up north to an area called Severn Sound.  We took our Rough Guide to Canada and pottered from place to place enjoying the fresh air and beautiful scenery. This area is part of what is called 'Cottege country', it's where the city folk escape to the country to enjoy the wildlife and the peaceful lakes. We did a round trip of the area and enjoyed spring poking through the ice.

Severn Sound

Molly had recently graduated Humber College with an Advanced Diploma in Film Studies (Well done Molly!). She kindly invited us both along to see the student screenings of the year's projects at the TIFF Lightbox down-town. We all got dressed up and enjoyed the varied projects that the students had worked so hard to create. Of course Molly's were the best :-)

Molly's Film Screenings @ TIFF Lightbox

 They even let us in to the after party - after asking David for ID! David was quite flattered but insisted that it was quite hard to be so bald and so youthful.

The After Party

Later that month on a wet and windy day we headed down to the Steam Whistle Brewery for copious beer tasting and jolly company. Walking away with a free glass and bottle opener we merrily wandered back to the streetcar embracing Toronto's many rain showers.

Brewery Tour

 On a slightly better day, we took a wander down Queen Street West following a self guided walking tour in our Toronto guide book. This end of Toronto is full of trendy folk far younger than us and often better looking too; but the shops were great and the atmosphere too. We have character anyway...

City TV building on Queen Street West

Exploring Queen Street West

 Another of our day trips included a visit to the Cheltenham Badlands and the local cidery. This area looks like something from an episode of Star Trek or some strange land slide. It was a curious place, but very geologically important. I think God thought he'd have a change and make the area some mad red colour with blue stripes. Works for us.

Cheltenham Badlands

 More to follow very soon....