On our last full day in Toronto, we went to the “Toronto Islands”:http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/parks/island/index.htm, a short ferry ride from a quay that was a short walk from our hotel.
The park on the Toronto Islands is almost magical: immaculately clean despite the heavy use that it gets, and beautifully landscaped. Jack and I took many photos, and revelled in the picture perfect postcard greens and blues of a gorgeous late-summer day.
They had reasonably cheap bikes for rent, so I took my first real bike ride in over 25 years. The pink clunker that I rented was a good choice for a reintroductory ride, since it had neither gearing nor hand-brakes to confuse the issue. The island had no serious grades which required gearing. The coaster brakes on the bikes barely worked, but we kept to a sedate pace on the nearly empty paths, and had no difficulty. My starts became less wobbly after the first half hour or so, and I was surprised how intensely I enjoyed biking.
One highlight of the day was when we saw a bicyclist with a pack of teacup pomeranians following him. These dogs, clipped in a variety of punk hairstyles didn’t seem to realize that they were the size of a large kitten. One chased a goose while we watched and ran back proudly to the bicyclist after successfully vanquishing his foe. It was hilarious. As the bicyclist pulled away from us, I saw that he had even more pomeranians in the basket of his bike.
The islands, originally sandbanks, wrap around narrow lagoons and channels, linked by many bridges. We saw flower beds, marinas, cottages, a small amusement park, a concert venue, several restaurants, many sandy beaches (including the clothing optional one), and a children’s nature center. As Jack said, if I lived in Toronto, I would try to get there at least once a month.