Category Archives: Toronto

Hockey Hall of Fame – Home of the Stanley Cup

  By Anne Patrone | September 2, 2010 - 6:14 pm | , , , , , , ,
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The Hockey Hall of Fame, nestled in the corner of an underground mall in downtown Toronto, was an unexpected surprise for our family.

In all honesty, we’re not hockey people.  My kids had a brief flirtation with it for a few months, then decided all the cool gear wasn’t worth the early morning hours and endless drills.  But when I discovered that the Hockey Hall of Fame was just a few miles away from our hotel, I couldn’t resist a quick visit before heading back home.

I’m so glad we visited.

Filled with fabulous displays and interactive games (kids can try to score against a simulated goalkeeper), the Hockey HOF is well worth the entry fee.  There’s a wonderful locker room devoted to the Montreal Canadiens and exhibit devoted to the gold medal winners in the Winter Olympics.

And best of all, you can have your photo taken next to the Stanley Cup.

  
As in, the real silver-stashed-in-a-vault-every-night-and-oh-my-gosh-it’s-huge Stanley Cup.

The one the hockey players hold over their heads when they win the championship?  Nope.  Not the real one.

Which makes sense considering the players are probably exhausted and could drop it on the ice.

(Ouch! And wouldn’t that be an ESPN Sportscenter moment?)

We got there right when the hall opened and spent a couple of hours, though we easily could have spent more if we hadn’t had a plane to catch.  And if you’re a hockey family – plan on an entire day.

The Hockey HOF was a new edition to Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up, but we’ll still count it.

So 25 places visited, 475 to go.

Take me Out to the Ballgame – Canadian Style

  By Anne Patrone | August 26, 2010 - 5:07 pm | , , , ,
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The downtown area of Toronto is anchored by the Rogers Centre home to the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Argonauts.  It’s a gorgeous stadium with a retractable roof so you’re always guaranteed good weather.

Near shops, restaurants, and hotels, the Rogers Centre is also close to the CN Tower (which made the recent edition of the 500 List).  Alas, we didn’t go in it (because frankly, I didn’t realize at the time it held the distinction of the world’s tallest tower) and spent the day watching the Blue Jays pummel the Kansas City Royals.

Baseball doesn’t seem to be that big of a sport in Canada (or maybe we’re just used to the crowds at Yankee stadium) but we were lucky to score amazing seats off the first base line for bleacher prices.

Our seats at the game

Whatever the reason, my guys had a fabulous day watching the Blue Jays under the open roof.  From the hot dogs to the American (and Canadian) national anthem, it was an easy Sunday afternoon and enjoyable.

Toronto Zoo: Leopards and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

  By Anne Patrone | August 20, 2010 - 10:43 am | , , , , ,
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My kids are big animal lovers, so visiting the Toronto Zoo on our first day in the city wasn’t a big stretch for us.  But I have to admit that I was thinking – great – another zoo, how different can this one be from any other one?

The answer?

WAY different.

First of all, a foreign zoo is nothing like an American zoo with its barriers, glass walls, and distant viewing areas designed to keep idiots away from animals.  At the Toronto Zoo, you can get close – as in REAL close to the animals.

The point was hammered home when it came to the snow leopard exhibit.

At the Bronx Zoo (which we know and love), the leopards are not only separated by a little ditch but a railing.  At the Toronto Zoo?

They were near enough to touch.  The photo to the right was taken without a zoom lens.

And since we could see them – they could see us.

The leopard “barked” at my youngest, causing us all to take a VERY large step back.

Size-wise, the zoo is pretty big, but we were able to see almost all of the exhibits in half a day (and yes, there was a lot of walking) by heading in a counter-clockwise direction.

Maybe it was the cool climate, but I have NEVER seen so many large cats up and active as they were in Toronto (the enclosures are large, so they have plenty of space to roam).

Their large cat selection is amazing, but their Canadian wildlife section is also pretty impressive. Caribou, cougars, and a grizzly bear are worth the side trip (and hike) to the area.

So yeah! another fabulous day courtesy of Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up.

Twenty-three places visited, 477 to go.

Toronto as a Weekend Escape

  By Anne Patrone | August 18, 2010 - 3:46 pm | , ,
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At the corner of Danforth and Pape

As a weekend escape in the Northeast, you can’t beat Toronto.  It’s a vibrant city with a cool downtown area.  A sports arena centrally located, home to the International Hockey Hall of Fame and a fabulous zoo, AND it’s seriously close to Niagara Falls.

And then of course, there’s the Rush factor.

Not the rush of excitement or rush hour traffic (of which Toronto has plenty of the former and not much of the latter), but RUSH.

As in the band.

DH is a Rush-head.  Every album, every tour, every song lyric – you name it, he can quote it, so for him, Toronto was more than a nice place to visit – it was mecca.

First, there’s the obvious YYZ connection (which the non-Rushhead would assume was simply the airport code for Toronto).  And then there’s the fact that The Orbit Room is owned (and sometimes frequented) by Alex Lifeson, their lead guitarist.  Add in various landmarks (like the above corner of Danforth & Pape mentioned in La Villa Strangiato) and Toronto is a Rushhead’s dream vacation.

So like a good little wife, I planned a vacation over a long Memorial Day Weekend, 2008 to Toronto.

As with all vacations, I included some sights from Frommer’s 500 Places To Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up, bowed to my DH’s need to see some Rush sights, and threw in some baseball to make the kids happy.

The final itinerary was the following:
1.  Fly into Toronto & visit either Niagara Falls or the Toronto Zoo.  At night, head to The Orbit Room.
2.  Visit whichever place we didn’t see the next day, then catch up with an old friend who works at the University of Toronto.
3.  Catch a Blue Jay game at Rogers Centre on Sunday.
4.  Visit the Hockey Hall of Fame & swing by Danforth and Pape before catching our flight home.

A busy weekend, but do-able and it managed to knock off three from the 500 list.