okaybee

Isn’t jet lag the biggest pain in the ass? It’s one of those things that I forget how much it sucks when I go on a trip but the moment I get home I’m like, oh shit how the hell did I forget how much this sucks?! I got back from an awesome trip to Toronto on Monday morning and I’m currently daydreaming about getting back into bed and being asleep by 8 pm. I’m such a granny.

      

If you’ve never been to Toronto, I highly recommend that you go. It’s a gorgeous city. I went over to visit friends of mine that I made when I lived in France. We all studied in France for a year and did lots of cultural things like drink beer, throw bikes into fountains and complain about the copious amounts of strikes. En français, naturellement.  My friends Agnes, Kev and Conor have been living in Toronto for between one and three years now, and Adam, Peter, Stephanie and Dave are from there originally. We’ve been threatening to visit for years so finally myself and my friends, Sarah and Collie, decided it was about time for a visit. So many names in that paragraph, sorry!

It was a pretty non stop holiday. I was collected from the airport and we headed straight for Niagara Falls. It is such an incredible sight! We took the boat out and despite our stunning pink plastic ponchos, we were drenched getting off the boat. Top tip – avoid Niagara town at all costs. It’s like a sad Disney World. Head to Niagara on the Lake instead. It’s a super pretty town with lovely cute shops and a gorgeous waterfront. That evening we headed to the Drake Hotel for dinner. By the time we were served our incredible food (oh hai lobster nachos) and amazing cocktails, I had been awake for nearly twenty four hours.  My head was getting dangerously close to resting on the table, so I headed back to Agnes’ home around midnight to get a good night sleep.

 

 

Or not, as I was awake at 5 am. You win some, you lose some. While everyone went to work or on a bus tour of the city, I went on a cultural excursion around the shops. Queen street has a great selection of shops, lots of vintage, some really incredible brands. I was in my element. My favourite shops was definitely Smoke and Ash. If you ever find yourself in Toronto, go there! Gorgeous jewellery, great clothing, and they sell Senso shoes, what else could a girl want? Also, you may have seen on my Instagram, this necklace I got in Brandy Melville. It makes me laugh so much!

I met Kev for lunch and a few drinks before we all got ready to go out that night. Adam lives in an apartment block with a gorgeous rooftop. So that night we had a huge barbecue and drinks while catching up. Later on, we headed to the Underground Garage. It’s a really great bar that had a live band, lights everywhere and hundreds of bras hanging from the ceiling. Odd but a lot of fun. After a while we decided we needed to change gears so we headed to a jazz bar called Joe Mamas. It was the best fun!

  

Friday morning after another lovely nights sleep (kidding, three hours total), Kev, Collie, Sarah and I took the ferry to go across to the islands. After renting two bikes and this two-seater pedal thing (aren’t I great at describing things) we cycled around the islands. The view was incredible. You can see the entire skyline of Toronto and we were really lucky to get a beautiful day. The islands themselves are amazing too. You have to go there because I literally cannot describe it and do it any justice. Also cycling does wonders for a hangover, just saying.

 

Afterwards, we made the drive to Adam’s cottage by the lake for a weekend of nature (mosquitoes), drinks, s’mores, excessive amounts of cheese and bread, music, water skiing and sun. It was the most picturesque place I’ve been to in ages. It was so nice to spend to the weekend chilling out by the lake, eating and drinking until my jeans didn’t fit anymore. Legit – the jeans I wore over on the plane didn’t fit on the way back. Who knew that was possible in five days?!

 

 

Myself, Agnes and Kev were up early the Sunday morning in order to get back to the city and have some time for a nice brunch and rooftop view before having to catch my flight. Agnes’ and I got a gorgeous brunch at  Le Select. The whole walk up to the restaurant we swore that we were going to eat healthy and not drink. Cut to 30 minutes later and the table was full of bread, fries, cheese and mimosas. It’s the thought that counts, right? We headed back to relax for a bit and collect my bags as it was nearly time to go. First, I had to get my rooftop view of the city. We headed downtown and met the others at The One Eighty. The food was incredible – fish tacos and crab lobster dip with potato chips, the drinks were ok, and the view was gorgeous! It was pretty quickly time to say our goodbyes – cue lump in my throat – and dash to the airport to stand in the longest Tim Horton’s queue ever. What’s a girl got to do to get a box of Tim Bits and an Iced Capp in under 40 minutes?!

 

All in all, an amazing trip and so good to catch up with my friends. I definitely recommend that you visit Toronto, there’s so much to do and lots of other places nearby that you can visit too. Woah this post has turned into a beast! I’ll do a separate post soon with some of my Toronto outfits. I’m going to sign off now but if you have any tips for people travelling to Toronto, leave them below!

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