Over my college spring break this year, I had the pleasure of traveling to Toronto, Canada for five days with some of my very best friends. On our voyage, I got to experience things I never thought I would do in my life. For starters, I traveled to the top of the Canadian National Tower, famously known as the CN Tower of Toronto. It is 22,000 stories to the top of this incredible building. The view includes all of downtown Toronto which is what they call the entertainment district and a beautiful overlook of Lake Ontario in all its glory.
The entertainment district was home to the Steam Whistle Brewery, a pilsner beer that is only native to Canada. There, we witnessed the process of brewing beer while sampling the freshest beer I have ever had. And when I mean fresh, I mean it was brewed six minutes before we consumed it. It does not get fresher than that. After the tour, my friends and I planned out our next tourist stop, which brought us to the Ripley's Aquarium of Canada.
The aquarium was one of the best I have ever been to, by far. An interesting aspect was a slow-moving pathway that brought you half a mile through what the aquarium calls rainbow reef. The reef was home to thousands of fish, stingrays, sharks and aquatic plants. I loved that the interactive portions of the aquarium were not just made for children, but for adults to enjoy as well, such as crawl-through tubes that made it seem like you were under water.
The following day was St. Patrick's Day. Toronto was home to so many people of different nationalities, it was actually beautiful. On a day that would be considered only for the Irish in America, was a huge celebration for everyone in our hostel. The hostel contained a bar downstairs called The Cavern where everyone rejoiced and drank the night away. There, we befriended a comedian from Chile, an author from Ireland and a fellow college student from Australia. It was actually my favorite night of the entire trip.
On the last day before we began our nine-hour drive back home, we made sure to stop at the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We arrived just as the sun was rising and before any other tourists. The water raging down the falls created a huge mist that was so cold on our faces but made the experience all the better. I stood there in awe as I tried to take in I was actually standing at Niagara Falls, the Niagara Falls. With my best friends by my side, we took in the beauty we realized we would probably never see again. Canada stole my heart.
