Toronot was totally awesome. We had such a good time. There was enough to see during the day - we did not do everything that we had planned. Missed out on the CN tower becuase the weather was cloudy and so we did not think it was worth it to go up when we would not see anything.
But we did manage to see "Fort York" which was almost the basis of the beginnings Toronto. We walked along the water front - something that I feel would have been much nicer if it had not been raining and cold...i think i lost feeling in one side of my face!! OOPS!

Niagra Falls was a total highlight. We blew our budget and went on an organised tour - the magicbus! It took us to Niagra Falls itself - which are just wonderful. Totally gorgeous. They do not freeze themselves but the mist freezes all the area around - and it looked totally gorgeous (check out the photos on facebook!)
After there we went to a few other really nice places in the area and ended the day by doing some wine tasting at "bee20" - whihc was lovely. I particulary enjoyed the "ice wine". This is where the grapes are frozen over 3 consecutive nights to a certain temperature. On the final night they are hand picked and juiced. Normally just to get about 3 drops of juice from each grape. It take 30 times more grapes to make the ice wine. It is so sweet and so delious. If we were not travelling for the next 8 months we would have bought some!!

We made some friends in Toronto too. Our hostel had a bar (woop woop!) and as you might expect we frequented that on a few evenings. One such evening was a charity night that had a band playing. They were really really good - and got chatting the the main guy and his wife who was playing the accordian and the tin whistle. So Aryon was playing somewhere else with other people the next night. We went to see them - Kevin Quain and the Mad Bastards...and it was just toatlly amazing. different from any music I have ever heard before and they did it live. It was in the most gorgeous and intimate setting I have ever experienced. Absolutely amazing! I cannot tell you enough how special it was. And to think that we were lucky enough to find it!

Even better - Aryon and Lindsey are moving to Ireland and hopefully will be coming to Scotland so we will be able to see them play again - and catch up for a beer or two!

So our next place to stay (where we are just now) was Chicago. We took the overnight bus and had to endure US immigration again. And arrived into Chicago at 5am. OUr hostel is a fair bit outside the city centre (oops - sorry stu!) but it is really nice. Quite quiet at the moment, but we have our own room and it is fun :) We went to the zoo today. But yesterday we walked along the waterfront...in probably the coldest day yet - oh man...i got wind burn on my legs through my jeans! Not a happy camper!

This evening we are hoping going to enjoy some blues music! But enjoying being able to chill out for a while first!
...and looking forward at the moment to our 48 hour train journey as we cross from Chicago to Seattle. It will be epic - but it should not be too bad! Maybe even quite fun, so long as we have a plug for the computer...and even better if they give us wifi :)

That is all for now :)