The Toronto Trip: Day 1

This year for spring break, I took the unconventional step of going somewhere not known for its warm weather. I recently spent two days in the city of Toronto with my Dad and older brother (Jacob) seeing the sights and sounds. Although it was a very short trip, I had a ton of fun seeing all of the iconic places and buildings in the city. Also, this was the first time I had ever been to Canada so that made this trip extra exciting!

Now I know what you are thinking, “Sarah, you are supposed to go somewhere warm for spring break now cold!”. Well, I am a rule breaker apparently. : ) Without further ado, here is everything that my Dad, brother, and I did while in Toronto!

The Toronto Trip: Day 1

Walking around the city you see a lot of cool things including where the Toronto Blue Jays play baseball! The city of Toronto seemed to be really proud of this baseball team, too. There was a lot of really cool Blue Jays souvenirs that can be found at different shops around the city which was a lot of fun to see!

Visiting CN Tower

Our first stop in Toronto was to the iconic and beautiful CN Tower. We were really lucky to have such a perfect day weather wise to visit CN Tower, too! The sky was a rich shade of blue and there wasn’t a single cloud to be seen anywhere!

After going through a security check, we went into the lobby to purchase tickets. When buying tickets, they give customers the option to go the standard 100+ floors or you could add on a few extra floors (I can’t remember the exact number) and that would be the very top of CN Tower. We chose to go to the very top despite my anxiety levels rising as I saw the ground become smaller and smaller in the glass elevator.

If you are feeling really adventurous CN Tower also gives customers the option to do something called the “Edge Walk”. With that they but a harness on you and let you lean over the edge of CN Tower at its highest point. Just seeing the photos of others doing the “Edge Walk” made me nervous for them. But those who are actually willing to do that are a lot more brave than I am so props to them!

The first stop gave us a view of Toronto from more than 100 stories high! It felt like being in the clouds!

It was crazy to see the city work below our feet while at CN Tower. Even more amazing was how far we could see into the horizon. There is no doubt in my mind we were probably seeing other towns that were beyond just Toronto, that is how tall CN Tower is!

After we had our fun at this height, it was time to raise my anxiety levels by going up even more within the building. This next level was the highest point people could go within CN Tower so if you are afraid of heights you might want to skip this next part.

While I was clinging as closely as possible to the middle of the building, my Dad and brother were having a great time looking around the city. After learning that CN Tower slightly swings side-to-side thanks to winds at 7mph, I decided I wasn’t comfortable being that high in a (slightly) swinging building. Pretty soon we took the elevator back down to the lobby and I felt a lot better.

The Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in a mall not too far from CN Tower so that was our next stop! It was exciting to have this visit planned since the whole family enjoys hockey, however, I think it may have been the most exciting for my Dad. He has watched hockey his whole life and loves so many of the teams that were featured in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was also exciting to see this museum because the Chicago Blackhawks (the hockey team from our home state) won three Stanley Cups in recent hockey history.

This is all of the memorabilia that the Hockey Hall of Fame had on display of the legendary Wayne Gretzky. It was cool to see his jersey, and to hear more about his time in the NHL. I never knew that much about his career other than he was very talented, but now I feel like I am truly invested in his spot in the NHL’s history.

As someone who loves to wear rings, I found these Stanley Cup rings very impressive! The detail that when into creating these rings must have taken a lot of skill.

One of the really special elements of visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame was seeing and being able to take pictures with this replica of the Stanley Cup! All of the names of the players who have won a Stanley Cup each year was etched on this cup just like the real one. Also, seeing how tall it is and what kind of craftsmanship has gone into designing this trophy was really cool!

The Hockey Hall of Fame isn’t just for trophies and memorabilia, it also has a lot of really cool virtual experiences! After seeing the replica of the Stanley Cup we headed off into the area of the museum where all of the experiential opportunities were.

One of the first things I tried out was the Sports Center broadcasting experience! It was so cool to see a replica of the official set and to sit behind the desk! I also loved how there was really a camera there recording the “news” that participants got to read off. Overall, it was just really exciting to see and I throughly enjoyed playing news reporter for a few minutes!

Despite the fact that the virtual hockey playing game was designed mostly for the enjoyment of kids who visit the Hockey Hall of Fame and with complete disregard to the fact that I have no known skills within the game of hockey, I decided to give this game a go! I didn’t score any goals, but I did improve as I went along! Anyway, I am ready to join the NHL whenever they need me. 😉

Window Shopping in Yorkville

Yorkville is the area of Toronto where all of the high fashion shops are located including Chanel. Of course, I just had to get my photo taken with these shops!

I didn’t go into many of these designer shops because (a) I can’t afford even a key chain from those places, and (b) I can only imagine what the workers there would think of me. Someday I hope to be able to shop at those kind of stores, but for now I am happy just taking a photo with the outside of the shop!

While in Toronto I also happen to see fellow blogger and fashionista Chiara Ferragni on an advertisement! If you don’t follow her on Instagram definitely go check her out! Her fashion is always so fun and colorful!

Walking inside one of the warm Yorkville malls, I was almost immediately greeted with this beautiful pop art painting of Jackie O! She is such a classy lady and one of my biggest style inspirations! There was no way I was going to leave without getting a photo next to this piece of art!

Pretty soon after getting my photo with Jackie O. I turned the corner satisfied and happy just to see another one of my favorite fashion ladies — Audrey Hepburn! Out came the camera again to snap another quick photo! Another fashion inspiration who was also very classy.

Who was right next to Ms. Hepburn? Another fashionably influential lady — Iris Apfel! If you haven’t heard of her before now, she was apart of restoration projects for several different White House administrations including the Kennedys! Today she is a model in the fashion industry.

This was the grand finale piece of art that we saw at that mall! It was cool to see Queen Elizabeth II featured as part of a collection of really amazing ladies!

That pretty much sums up everything we did in the first day of the Toronto trip! It felt like a lot and we walked everywhere, but it was a great start to the visit!

Toronto has magical lights hanging in the trees along the streets that turn on at night! I simply loved seeing them! The sun began to set so we headed back to the hotel to rest up for day two.

I hope you all enjoyed this recap of day one of the Toronto trip! A full recap of day two will be on Faintly Familiar very soon! Until then, enjoy watching the video of me not making any of the shots I took while attempting to play hockey!

Much Love,

Sarah