A Timid Toronto

Although we were unbelievably lucky with our trip to the Falls , my dad and I weren't as fortunate weather-wise in Toronto.  We caught the city feeling a little shy as it hid amid the fog on that chilly St. Patty's Day.

We found the CN Tower, standing at 1,815 feet (and 5 inches), disappearing into the hazy sky.  It is currently the tallest tower in the world.

It was confidently rocking an obnoxious "now you see me, now you don't" kind of attitude. The tower would reveal its full self, but as soon as I would try to catch it on camera, it would vanish again into the atmosphere's haze. 

I was also looking forward to meeting my first Great Lake, but our first encounter wasn't really what I had in mind... As we walked around the deserted shores, we found Lake Erie looking a little, well, eerie. 

It, too, was camouflaging into the fog. The visibility was pitiful over the lake.  It was definitely the off-season in Canada's largest city, but I didn't expect to find such a substantial city so deserted. 

But we continued to wander and explore as we tried to catch the elusive tower in all its glory. For about 2 seconds we contemplated paying $30 to ride up to the top of the tower, but then we remembered that we are Connollys and $30 is a lot to pay for panorama of solid clouds.

We left the outskirts of the city and wound up downtown where things got a little more colorful and a little bit warmer. 

Being the Irish kin that we are, we felt we should celebrate Saint Patrick's Day in some form or fashion.  So, decked out in our green garb and on the search for a local eatery, good beer and satisfying food, we found what we thought was a quaint, local English pub, The Friar and the Firkin. 

When we arrived at the Falls the next day, we realized our little joint actually wasn't so little or local.  It's actually all over Canada and it served as our dinner that night, too. 

Soon enough the sun was setting on Toronto. We didn't really expect the visibility to improve in the dark (plus, I forgot my jacket), so we called it a night and drove back to the hotel. It was the first time in years that I was in bed at 9 p.m. and also the first time ever that I had to use conditioner as lotion, which I also forgot. Let me tell you, contrary to the popular belief, it's not very effective.

So, although I wouldn't really recommend Toronto in March, our lucky experience at Niagara made it all worthwhile--dry skin and all.