With it being reading week last week, we thought it the perfect opportunity to finally do some more exploring of Canada after several weeks of lectures.
Luckily for us, London is only a couple hours away from Toronto, so we jumped on the coach to go and explore the city for the day.
Definitely one to tick off the travel bucket list if you haven't already...
We started the day by having a little mooch around central Toronto. We found this main shopping street, Queen Street, which is bustling with people, traffic and of course, shops.
Very aesthetically pleasing shops, at that.
The store in the picture above is a beauty brand which I had never heard of before called The Abnormal Beauty Company by Deciem. It is located in the Distillery District, which is a must-see part of Toronto; very Amsterdam-esque.
The shop is a combination of white shiny surfaces, wooden features and bare light bulbs suspended from the ceiling. It is almost a boutique version of a beauty store and features both high and low end priced products.
I picked up a new primer from the brand The Ordinary, which after using for a couple of weeks I would highly recommend. Plus, it only cost around 8 dollars!
Once we'd got our shopping fix, we headed over to another part of the city which had been recommended to us by friends: Kensington Market.
A very ethnically diverse and original part of Toronto which we both loved. It's packed full of incredible places to eat, making it very difficult to make lunch decisions.
We eventually opted for Burgernator which should definitely be on your list of places to eat if you ever visit.
Being a veggie, I went for the AK-Veggie burger, which includes a vegan patty, sautéed mushrooms, caramelised onions, homemade guacamole and the typical trimmings. My perfect combination of flavours.
Flo went for the Commander Burger, a beef patty with burgernator's signature sauce (amazing!) , cheddar cheese and all the salad trimmings. We shared a regular fries and onion rings, which made for a perfectly filling and indulgent meal.
We then went for a wander to walk off some of that food baby. We headed towards Chinatown, from which you can easily spot the famous CN Tower.
The second largest Chinatown in North America, the area abounds in vibrant colours and interesting buildings. You could wile away an entire day here.
The streets are lined with shops, selling anything from authentic dim sum, to Asian massages and clothing.
Oh, and let's not forget the bubble tea shops. I swear they are never ending, and fully stocked with every flavour you could possibly imagine.
The main part of Chinatown is Spadina Avenue, which is lined with these grand red sculptures. They mark the central 'streetcar' (i.e. tram) route which runs through the middle of the road.
We got a little snap happy in Chinatown, probably irritating some of the locals. But, as much as we may try not to act like it, we are tourists after all.
We'd also heard a lot about the Fashion District of Toronto, so headed in that direction, which afforded us some even better views of the CN Tower.
Toronto has some real gems on offer when it comes to street art. I fell in love with this sunflower design in one of the backstreets of the Fashion District. It's so intricately detailed and brightly coloured that surely it could put a smile on anyone's face.
We also spotted this Kate Moss portrait on the side of a building which, being British, we had to get a picture of.
After a lot of walking, we were both in need of a caffeinated pick me up. So we headed to Early Bird Coffee & Kitchen, also on Queen Street but much further down.
It was definitely my type of cafe. Serving fresh and healthy food, such as smoothie bowls and avocado toast, and willing to whip up any iced drink you may desire on a hot day in the city, you should definitely pay them a visit.
Oh, and how aesthetically pleasing??
I ordered an iced chai latte with almond milk; refreshing and deliciously spiced.
We then met up with the rest of our friends after a lovely day seeing some of what Toronto has to offer. With an early morning flight looming, we decided to head back to our apartment for the evening.
Lots of New York posts to follow...
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