Funny Picture

Rising high in the sky, the CN Tower is like a thumbtack in a map and that thumbtack marks the spot for fun and adventure. Around the tall structure sits the Rogers Centre (former Skydome), the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the Steamwhistle Brewery at the Roundhouse railway park and still under construction is the Ripley's Aquarium of Toronto which will open this year.
The Tower is fun all by itself with the initial elevator ride, scenic lookouts, glass floors (you can see the glass reflection in the photo at top), revolving 360 Restaurant and the famous Edgewalk:  "CN Tower’s most thrilling attraction in its 35 year history, and the first of its kind in North America. It is the world’s highest full circle hands-free walk on a 5 ft (1.5 m) wide ledge encircling the top of the Tower’s main pod, 356m/1168ft (116 storeys) above the ground. Visitors walk in groups of six, while attached to an overhead safety rail via a trolley and harness system. Trained EdgeWalk guides will encourage participants to push their personal limits, allowing them to lean back over Toronto with nothing but air and breathtaking views of Lake Ontario beneath them." You can see a photo of a Snowbird jet plane pass close by the tower while EdgeWalkers are out hanging high above Toronto during the annual Canadian International Air Show on my post here.

See more photos of the area after the jump.

If you like to beat the big city crowds, have I got the place for you, wait for it, wait for it; the Toronto Islands in the season I like to think of as 'damn, it's not summer!' You won't have to fight the crowds jamming into a ferry, in fact you won't even have to waste time deciding which ferry to catch as they really only go to Ward's Island on the east side of the island chain.
It is fun to wander the paths and boardwalks that run throughout the extensive parklands. On our recent weekend tour we brought our bicycles to make the exploration a little faster and it worked out well because of the lack of snow. We watched a large crowd of athletes playing winter league play of Frisbee golf on the official disc golf course (I love the disc golf pull cart/seats). You can also go on the clothing optional beach at Hanlan's Point with a high probability that you won't see anyone on the beach, let alone an unclothed person. In addition to Far Enough Farm you can look at the empty Centreville Amusement Park which will re-open again in the spring.
I found the large metal sculptures fascinating. The dragons were set in the ground and several others leaned against the tennis court fence near the Ward's Island ferry terminal. Upon closer examination the sculptures were fitted with gas piping which leads me to believe that fire is somehow involved in their use. To the Google: Occasional Toronto says they were made by island resident Bruce Smith, and were included in the Rogue Wave outdoor art and sculpture festival which begins in September - I am unsure if it is scheduled for 2013 (if someone knows please leave a message).

Centreville Amusement Park sleeps in the winter but the nearby animals at the #Toronto Islands zoo keep company with a multitude of ducks during the off season. The animal collection is open to visitors year round from 8 am to 4 pm. Remember that in the winter season the Island Ferries only go to Ward's Island so you have to walk or ride your bike from Ward's Island to get to Centre Island. Also most, if not all, of the public washrooms on the Islands are closed in winter so plan ahead.

My fave was the peacocks - see more of the colourful birds after the jump.

#Toronto families and children took advantage of the recent snowfall to fly down the steep valley walls of Riverdale Park with all manner of toboggans and sliders. Some parts of the slope are so steep that it reminds me of a fiscal cliff. The large park sits on both sides of the Don River and the Don Valley Parkway - connected by a pedestrian bridge. On the west side, the park is also adjacent to the City's Riverdale Farm (free entry, open 9-5). Taking pictures I noticed that most everyone had ear to ear grins as they skimmed the surface of the snow and hurtled downwards. This is one of the premier toboggan hills in Toronto.

Top trends in Google searches for Canada showed that #Toronto was our country's most searched City in Google Maps for 2012. Take that Brampton - actually they weren't even on the list. The top searches can be found on Google's Zeitgest site: Zeitgeist search results for 2012. The top three most searched Canadian destinations were 1. Hotel, 2. Restaurant and 3. Camping. I did a double take there, I mean camping? How did that happen so often? You can explore the culmination of a year of searches on Zeitgeist - see where a the worldwide 1.2 trillion top searches brought online viewers. Do you feel lucky, punk? Because if you do please press the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.
Top searched Canadian cities in Google Maps: 1. Toronto, 2. Montreal, 3. Calgary, 4. Vancouver, 5. Ottawa, 6. Edmonton, 7. Winnipeg, 8. Winnipeg, 9. Niagara Falls and 10. Quebec City.


I looked at Google Web Search to see the top twenty Toronto tourist attractions and they were as follows: 1. CN Tower, 2. Toronto Zoo, 3. Toronto Eaton Centre, 4. Paramount Canada's Wonderland (not even in Toronto), 5. Casa Loma, 6. Royal Ontario Museum, 7. Rogers Centre, 8. Toronto Islands, 9. Air Canada Centre, 10. Art Gallery of Ontario, 11. Ontario Science Centre, 12. Hockey Hall of Fame, 13. Yorkville, 14. Distillery District, 15. The Beaches, 16. Kensington Market, 17. High Park, 18. Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 19. Massey Hall and 20. Molson Canadian Amphitheatre.

Google Trends shows that the search for Toronto tourist attractions peaks in July. I love summer too!