Toronto, Thursday, 21-Jul-2022
I ventured further away from our room than on previous days to look at bluffs on the lakeshore. Melody didn't have any extracurricular activities at her conference this day, but she did join people for dinner.
It was still hot, but not quite as hot as the previous days. Still, we did window/shade management to keep the room from heating up too much. We then went our separate ways, Melody to the University of Toronto, and me to the subway.
Scarborough Bluffs
Going to Scarborough Bluffs was the first time I went onto a different subway line, this time going east for several stops. I got off, then got onto a bus for a little while, after which I started walking to one of the parks along the Lake Ontario coast. I eventually figured out a path to go down, which involved a wide arc; it was a good walk. Fortunately, I knew it would be hot, so I had my hat and some water.
After walking a big loop to get down to the Bluffer's Park area, I started exploring the part of the park that gave views of the bluffs.
I got my first view of the bluffs, then saw that there was a beach that went towards the base. I crossed the creek on some strategically placed stones, which put me on the beach. Because of the danger of falling rocks, you're not allowed to go under the bluffs, but they certainly looked impressive.
Several photos I saw when planning my excursion showed the cliffs being almost white. When I was there, they were definitely brown, probably due to the cloud cover. As I walked away, the sun peeked through a hole in the clouds. The bluffs got quite a bit brighter, so I could see how they would look almost white on a clear day.
Back on the regular paths, I got views of the bluffs from different angles. Surprisingly, here were few people milling around, but it was the middle of a weekday.
St. Lawrence Market
I was planning on getting lunch at St. Lawrence Market, so I started looking at possible routes. They all started with about a 30-minute uphill walk, some a bit further. One train went from Scarborough to Union Station, but I would have needed to wait a while for that. There were a couple of bus options, and I opted for one that was a bit less walking but took a little longer to get to the train station. As it ends up, it was the same route I took out towards the bluffs, just a bit further down the line.
The Toronto subway system consists of two lines. The 1 makes a big U; we had stuck to the west side of the U going to Union Station and when I went up to Casa Loma. The other line, the 2, goes east/west, and one of the stations where you can transfer between the two lines was near where we were staying. On my way back, I took the 2, then transferred to the 1 at the intersection on the east side of the U, then went south.
After exiting the station, I walked a few blocks to St. Lawrence Market. Since most vendors don't sell ready-to-eat items, I wandered around and found a seafood place. It was quite busy, but they were very efficient and I got my lobster roll quickly. After I was done, I picked up some dessert to take back.
Rest of the day
I let Melody know I was on my way, and we met up to go to the room (I had the key). We had our dessert, then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. She then went to dinner with some of her group, while I continued to catch up on things. Another uneventful evening.
