I have had another busy couple of weeks exploring around the GTA! I have explored north, west and east of Toronto and had some more time to explore downtown as well.

North of Toronto

I had the opportunity to briefly check out a couple of places north of Toronto. I visited Newmarket for a great fair and I have also visited Markham on a couple of occasions. It has been great to explore some of the smaller towns surrounding the big city! I have a few more visits planned north of Toronto in November that I am looking forward to.

West of Toronto

I spend most of my time exploring west of Toronto. These past couple of weeks, I visited Oakville and Burlington again, which was nice. It is such a cool feeling when you start to recognize somewhere that you have been, and feel like you actually know your way around a bit. I guess the GTA is really starting to feel like home!

I also had the chance to explore a bit around Mississauga, an area I had only passed through before, and Ancaster, near Hamilton. I wish I had more time to explore these areas, but it has been a bit crazy lately! That being said, I will be travelling back to Hamilton in early November, so hopefully I will have the opportunity to check out that area a bit more.

East of Toronto

Recently, I also had the chance to explore east of Toronto for the first time. I visited Pickering briefly, and though I will not be travelling east often for work, I am planning some weekend trips to major cities that are a bit further out that way, so stay tuned for that 🙂  (Sneak peek: I am planning a trip to Ottawa next weekend that should be tons of fun!)

Toronto Area

I have also had the opportunity to explore Toronto a bit more, and I am liking what I have seen so far. I recently explored a bit of Scarborough and had the chance to check out The Bluffs, which were incredible. I also visited Riverdale Park, a great green space with a view of the Toronto cityscape. It was so nice to relax and take in the view. Every time I see the CN Tower, I get so excited and feel in awe of the fact that I am actually living and working in Toronto! It is still pretty surreal. I think the CN Tower is a good landmark that represents all of the opportunity in Toronto, and that is pretty incredible.

Though I have not had the chance to actually go up the Tower yet (I will at some point!), I have visited some popular sites in downtown Toronto. I went shopping at Eaton Centre the other day, which was neat to check out, and I also spent some time around Front Street this weekend, as we were hosting a UBC event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on the weekend. It was great to see some more of what downtown has to offer, and I am enjoying exploring Toronto so far, but there is still so much to see! Thankfully, I still have two more months out here, so I’ve got lots of time to explore it all.

What’s Next?

As usual, I will be spending most of my time over the coming weeks continuing to explore Toronto and the surrounding areas. Next weekend I will be travelling to Ottawa, as I mentioned, which I am really excited about. The week after I will also be visiting the Kitchener-Waterloo area, another place I can’t wait to explore. Stay tuned for all of these adventures, and thank you to those of you who continue to keep tabs on what I’m up to! I am incredibly lucky to be living this incredible life, and I am grateful for everyone that is a part of it. You know who you are. If you want to see a more steady stream of my adventures, you can follow my Instagram or search the hashtag #chiaratakestoronto. Love always <3