Day 4

Eaton Shopping Centre

Well wanted to go shopping sometime! So Monday was spent shopping and looking around the Eaton Centre. The centre is very much the mall and centre of the shopping district with three floors of shops. Mostly big chains, but if you’ve never been to Canada or America, probably just as interesting and different as smaller independent shops.

Later in the afternoon we took advantage of the hotel being just across the road to the conservatory and explored this warm green oasis set in old Victorian glasshouses and free to the public. It’s not perhaps quite upto the Kew Garden or RHS standards, but very close. There are some wonderful plants and it is a place those who live in Toronto take full advantage of as wandering around you pass everything from individuals taking their tortoise for a walk, to reading a book or newspaper on one of in the many benches or even using the space as a ready made backdrop for a designer photoshot for a school project.

The Peartree restaurant wasn’t in the guidebook, but should be. it’s outlasted the Town Grill which we found to have closed permanently and Number Eleven didn’t seem to be in business, at least that night. Asking the locals they recommended the Peartree as it always has a steady stream of customers. The menu is simple, but offering a very mouth watering selection. I’d opted for steak feeling this was the last opportunity this holiday to have a decent steak while on this continent and bitterly disappointed by the previous offering (See Arrival / Day 1). I wasn’t disappointed. The steak was done to perfection as were the crisp cooked fresh vegetables and balsamic mushrooms. The dessert menu offered by the waitress was equally tempting and the meringue with toasted almonds and blueberrys was crumbly and chewy. Sorry does it sound like I like my food?

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