Toronto or Melbourne?

[Yossarian]

With a decent tailwind London is only ~5 hours from Toronto.

The Hall of Fame is weird, knowing nothing about the game but with a couple of hours to kill I poked my nose in, was like entering a cathedral in a particularly devout part of the world, loads of reverence on display.

Heading back with the family next month, looked at a Basketball games, fuck me sideways, the cost of any seats that are close enough to actually watch the game, would be around £750 for the 4 of us, we'll watch in the hotel bar instead...

Toronto Marlies games are good fun if you want to see some hockey and Leafs tickets are crazy expensive

Toronto Marlies

www.marlies.ca

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Thanks, sadly not playing whilst we are there, (only there for 2 full days).

 

[ice-is-forming]

I haven't been to Toronto, but I'd like to.

AverageJoe

I'm in Melbourne quite regularly. It's an experience.. there's a really good club - drug scene with lots of great art, music, quirk , coffee, pubs and the comedy festival etc. It's got a great 24/7 tram system and the city is awake all night. Great food and markets, very multicultural.

The ocean is there but it's not a beach city. It's not far to the mountains, plus only something like $200 AUD return to cities in the other states. Darwin, Perth, Cairns etc..

The weather is unpredictable but for me that just adds to the enjoyment.

iona was there recently ( she may have a less biased view than me )

 

[AverageJoe]

He's gone.

To Sydney.

 

[ice-is-forming]

He's gone.

To Sydney.

Sydney's okay too.. it's only a 7 hour drive away from Melbourne

 

[Gromit]

Sydney's okay too.. it's only a 7 hour drive away from Melbourne

Only took me three days.

We stopped a lot.
Dog on a tucker box, Ned Kelly's Last Stand etc. etc.

 

[Gromit]

He's gone.

To Sydney.

Nooooo.

By law they make you have ice in whiskey. Even a single malt.
It's criminal.

 

[Monte]

You are capable, so start a thread.

NHL

Leafs fan. Favourite player Nylander. Watching tonight's game on NHL66 | NHL Streams 1-1 after 1st period. Matthews getting the Leafs goal.

www.urban75.net

 

[spring-peeper]

Toronto.
To watch the Leafs.
Just lost 3-2 at home to the Islanders.

Ottawa just beat your sorry excuse for a team 4-3.

I'm from around Ottawa, but in my heart I will also be a Montreal fan.

 

[Monte]

Ottawa just beat your sorry excuse for a team 4-3.

I'm from around Ottawa, but in my heart I will also be a Montreal fan.

5-3 in the end. Empty net goal with 5 secs to go.

 

[spring-peeper]

5-3 in the end. Empty net goal with 5 secs to go.

grrrr @ hubby - he lied to me

 

[spring-peeper]

5-3 in the end. Empty net goal with 5 secs to go.

What time is it at your place?

 

[redsquirrel]

I certainly much preferred living in Victoria to Ontario.

As said up above Melbourne is not an Australian beach city (though there are some nice beaches within reach if that is your thing). It's a very cool city, loads of places to eat, chill, get coffee, two terrific art galleries, a really really great film centre (ACMI), and lots of interesting bits to explore.
It's also very easy to get around the city with the tram network (free to use in the CBD when I left).
For day trips there is Healsville animal scantily (go for a wee with a platypus), the Great Ocean Road, Sorrento. And if they are there for a year visits to Sydney are doable.

I liked Toronto, and the Niagara Falls are amazing (although the town is pretty dire), but a lot of Ontario I found pretty depressing. Other places (New York, Montreal) are close enough to visit.

 

[nightowl]

Visiting Toronto in the summer with a couple of days down at Niagara. My early must-do list for Toronto at the moment includes CN Tower, baseball game, the islands, Rouge Park, Kensington market, Chinatown.

 

[Pickman's model]

Visiting Toronto in the summer with a couple of days down at Niagara. My early must-do list for Toronto at the moment includes CN Tower, baseball game, the islands, Rouge Park, Kensington market, Chinatown.

The ontario art gallery worth a visit, some very interesting things in there

 

[Gromit]

Visiting Toronto in the summer with a couple of days down at Niagara. My early must-do list for Toronto at the moment includes CN Tower, baseball game, the islands, Rouge Park, Kensington market, Chinatown.

CN Tower.
Can I suggest how to best do this?

Find out when sunset will be for your visit.
Book the 360 restaurant now for that time'ish.
You no longer have to pay for admission to the Tower.
You get to see the view by day.
Sunset
And the view at night.

Food was very good when I went.

A visit to the Steam Whistle Brewery beforehand, as it's nearby. It's quite cool to the see the brewery below you afterwards.

 

[Chz]

A close one, for me. I lived in Toronto for 25 years, and I spent a few weeks in and about Melbourne. To live in forever, I would probably choose Melbourne. To visit for a year? You really, really have to factor in where else you can get to. There is nothing of interest to fly to in a couple of hours from Melbourne. From Toronto, you could drive to NYC, DC, Chicago, etc. if you wanted to and they're a very brief and cheap flight.

I know that sounds backwards, but someone going somewhere for just a year is going to be far more interested in all the experiences they can pack in, whereas I'd be more concerned about the local schools.

ETA: Toronto winters aren't that bad. Global warming means that anything below -10C in the city itself is rare. And temps between -1 and -5 or so feel warmer than a London winter can because it's bone dry. It's the brutal summer heat waves I'd be more wary of. It's at the same latitude as Nice and can easily get that hot and humid. A/C when I was growing up was nice to have, but in the 2020s it's an essential.

 

[nightowl]

I was a bit naive when I first started planning the Toronto trip in terms of not realising just how long it takes to get to other places in Canada that don't look so far away on the map.

 

[spring-peeper]

I was a bit naive when I first started planning the Toronto trip in terms of not realising just how long it takes to get to other places in Canada that don't look so far away on the map.

We use hours when talking about a long trip.

I'm 1 hour from both Montreal and Ottawa. No clue how far it is.

 

[Chz]

I was a bit naive when I first started planning the Toronto trip in terms of not realising just how long it takes to get to other places in Canada that don't look so far away on the map.

I remember my high school chum had some distant relations over from Switzerland. Asked what they were planning on doing next week they said they might "drive around the Great Lakes".
After explaining that Lake Superior alone was twice the size of Switzerland...

 

[nightowl]

I remember my high school chum had some distant relations over from Switzerland. Asked what they were planning on doing next week they said they might "drive around the Great Lakes".
After explaining that Lake Superior alone was twice the size of Switzerland...

Gotta love the look of the four-day train journey from Toronto to Vancouver

 

[Ming]

CN Tower.
Can I suggest how to best do this?

Find out when sunset will be for your visit.
Book the 360 restaurant now for that time'ish.
You no longer have to pay for admission to the Tower.
You get to see the view by day.
Sunset
And the view at night.

Food was very good when I went.

A visit to the Steam Whistle Brewery beforehand, as it's nearby. It's quite cool to the see the brewery below you afterwards.

Stay at the Marriott. The sports bar on the ground floor has a set of viewing windows into the Blue Jay's stadium and it's right next to the CN Tower. I stayed there on a patient transfer from Vancouver so work payed for it!

 

[Idris2002]

you're within striking distance of many other brilliant bits of North America, including two of the greatest and undercelebrated cities, Montreal and Ottawa.

fify

How about moosefactory?

 

[petee]