Today was another driving day – downtown Montreal to downtown Toronto. Apparently 6 hours – although it took 6 hours including two fuel stops and a Tim’s break. A big sign at the border into Ontario stating the fines for speeding did give me momentary pause for thought. Apparently 40km/h over the limit on the highway only incurs a $295 fine. $295?!?! Good value I think!! :DThe only interesting thing on the highway was the extraordinary number of fire engines – they seemed to whiz by every fifteen minutes or so. I never once saw a fire, or any kind of accident, so where they were all going is a mystery.
Toronto itself is considerably larger than the other cities I’ve been to this trip, which is both good and bad. Good, in that there is a lot to see and do. Bad, in that negotiating my way into the downtown area was potentially difficult, especially on a Friday afternoon. But! My trusty little Garmin stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. Straight to the hotel and into the car park.
I walked around a bit in the harbourside area, past the Hockey Hall of Fame (which I’ll go into tomorrow) and of course seeing the CN Tower (also for tomorrow). It was getting dark and a bit cool, so I ducked into a seafood restaurant disguised as a ship docked at the quay. It all looked pretty good, and the service was fine. I was even asked, ‘Would madam like her sole poached or panfried? With potato or rice?’ To which I replied, ‘Panfried please, and with potato.’
Twenty minutes and half a bread roll later, my partially poached sole arrived on a bed of rice. The whole plate was swimming in water – not *really* my idea of authentic seafood. The waiter noticed that I wasn’t eating my meal, and asked if there was a problem. ‘Um, yeah. This isn’t what I ordered. Panfried and with potato? And... cooked?’
After another twenty minutes and the rest of the bread roll, my new and improved (!) meal materialised. Panfried, with potato, but still swimming in water. Hmmm. Edible, but not particularly enjoyable. What made it worse is that everyone else’s meals looked great! The hums of enjoyment coming from all around me just made me hungrier, so I ate half the sodding sole and picked at the potato. The vegetables were the best bit!
After disengaging myself not-so-politely from discussions about dessert, I headed back downtown. One Twix bar and a packet of crisps later, I’m a happy camper once again : )
Tomorrow – the CN Tower, Hockey Hall of Fame, possibly the Art Gallery and maybe some shopping. Oh, and Tim’s. Naturally. Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment