Northern hospitality: Toronto & Niagara-on-the-Lake
Summertime’s the perfect time to take in Southern Ontario Despite the recent chill in US-Canada political relations (some tiff about a tariff), the weather and the welcome from Canadians themselves couldn’t be warmer at this time of year (and the exchange rate is pretty welcoming, too). For an ideal combo of bustling urban excitement and bucolic small town, try a weekend trip to Toronto followed by a few days in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the most beautifully manicured village in Ontario and perhaps all of Canada, home to fine wineries, top restaurants and top-flight theater. TORONTO: BEAUTY IN DIVERSITY Getting to Canada and getting around Toronto Fly direct from Tampa into Toronto’s Pearson International Airport via Air Canada (about 3 hours) or into Buffalo via Southwest or Frontier. (Remember: You will need to carry your U.S. passport and go through Customs.) An Aerofleet cab from Pearson ($44, $56 Canadian) will introduce you right away to a distinctive feature of Toronto’s skyline: the forest of skyscraping condo towers overlooking Lake Ontario. Once you’re settled in, the best way to get an overview of this multi-faceted city is to hop on one of the double-decker tour buses run by City Sightseeing Toronto. Toronto must-do’s Harbourfront: A lively, sprawling area of restaurants and recreation and water, water everywhere. Bonus: The bus tours mentioned above include a leisurely cruise from the harbor through Toronto’s network of beautiful island parks. CN Tower: Talk about an overview. Toronto’s “needle” — an 1,815-foot-tall communications tower built in 1976 — features a glass-floor observation deck, a revolving restaurant, and EdgeWalk, where you can walk the circumference of the Tower’s main pod, 116 stories up (while wearing a harness, natch). Casa Loma: A 98-room castle that was once a private home and is now open to the public (and catnip to movie and TV crews). Museums: Like thousands of tourists and Torontonians, we waited in line for hours outside the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) to see the mind-blowing mirrored installations of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (who’s got a show coming up at the Tampa Museum of Art this fall). We didn’t see much else of the AGO, but we do know it boasts an extensive collection of contemporary Canadian art and a stunning facade by Toronto-born starchitect Frank Gehry. Also recommendable: the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada’s largest, focused on science, art and archaeology); the Bata Shoe Museum (over 13,000 shoes and shoe-related objects — including, we hear, Napoleon’s socks). The Markets: Kensington Market’s not a market at all but a neighborhood, known for funky shops and ethnic restaurants. St. Lawrence Market is an actual market, a culinary mecca known for Canada’s much-touted peameal bacon sandwich (which those of us from south of the border would call “Canadian bacon”). The Districts: The Distillery District is a picturesque cobblestoned ’hood full of shops and restaurants; the Entertainment District is chock full of theater (Toronto is the third largest English-speaking theater center in the world). Its smartly programmed cineplex, TIFF, is home to the glittery Toronto International Film Festival. The Dog Fountain: This favorite landmark in Old Town’s Berczy Square features 27 breeds of dogs spouting water toward an elusive golden bone, as a disenchanted cat looks on. Where to stay in Toronto The most famous high-end hotel might be the venerable Fairmont Royal York, but we opted for another downtown gem: The Omni King Edward (aka the “King Eddy”), a 1903 landmark that’s been updated and polished to a high sheen. The gleaming lobby mixes period touches with over-sized contemporary decor (the giant black chess pieces make for great photo ops), and our Premiere room was spacious and comfy, with wing chairs, sleek glass-topped desk and a generously proportioned bathroom, all brightly lit marble. You can access the hotel’s Royal Club for an extra 30 bucks, and it’s worth it — ample breakfast buffet, afternoon snacks, evening hors d’oeuvres with cocktails and wine, all in a well-appointed lounge. The service throughout the hotel was impeccable and extremely helpful, in particular our warm, well-informed concierge Vanessa. (Minus points: No free WiFi.) Where to eat in Toronto Toronto is a fabulous food town, its breadth of cuisines a reflection of its multicultural populace. Thanks to the reliable Vanessa, we found a very fine Italian restaurant just steps away from the hotel: Carisma, where I enjoyed the best seared scallop appetizer I’ve ever had and my husband had pasta with freshly shaved truffles. (Vanessa recommended the dish because, she told us, it was truffle season.) Toronto has a huge Asian population, so it’s no surprise that David Chang’s Momofuku noodle empire has an outpost in the city. For lunch, we sat at a counter with an up-close view of the kitchen crew, chowed down on fantastic ramen and a perfectly cooked steak, then stopped by the little self-serve dessert market upstairs, Momofuku Milk Bar, where we could not resist purchase of a Crack Pie, Chang’s insanely rich (and addictive) cookie bar. We consumed it later in the day during a late-afternoon pause at Cawthra Park in the city’s colorful LGBTQ-centric Church-Wellesley District. Yum. A note on where not to eat: We left a screening at TIFF and found ourselves on a block of King Street that was full of restaurants. Unfortunately, we chose one called Fred’s Not Here. Won’t go into detail, but to paraphrase an online review, Fred’s Not Here and you shouldn’t be either. NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE: BEAUTY ONSTAGE AND OFF Where to stay — and where to walk Situated an easy 80-mile drive southeast of Toronto, NOTL is a popular tourist destination — you can tell just by the number of Bed & Breakfast signs. We stayed this year at Le Papillon, a delightful small B&B with delicious breakfasts and lively conversation every morning, and on our previous visit rented the charming and surprisingly roomy Swinton Cottage. Other accommodations range from the posh Post House Inn to the chic 124 on Queen (which has a terrific spa) to the venerable Prince of Wales Hotel,