City Life

From Algonquin Park, I spent a week in Hamilton, known as the City of Waterfalls. I chose this location because it was one hour to Toronto and less to Niagara Falls. 

Hamilton is a port city on the western tip of Lake Ontario with a huge, forested ridge known locally as "the mountain". Once the steel capital of Canada, it is now in major gentrification mode as Toronto commuters move in, as well as a high concentration (nearly 25%) of immigrants from Italy, Poland, India, Portugal, and other countries.  It was a fun place to bike, trail walk, and sightsee but unfortunately, it rained on Canada Day so that was a wash! 

Midweek, I did a marathon 12-hour stretch in Toronto arriving on the 6:48 AM commuter train. I believe I walked all of downtown Toronto in a single day! For a city of 3 million people, I was amazed at how clean it was, and I only heard two car horns the entire day. It's a gorgeous place of old and new architecture, lovely gardens, and a pretty harbor front. 

Next up, the Falls and a quick visit to the US of A!