As part of the trip's planning I had decided that we would use City Passes for tickets to Toronto attractions. Beyond sheer cost savings, I felt it would help with organization as well as ticket line-ups. It proved a good decision, and participating attractions readily accepted the tickets (I purchased them on-line prior to departure) and accommodated our visit. We used five of the six tickets included, skipping only the Casa Loma visit.

Toronto Zoo - After check-out, our first stop on Wednesday was the zoo. Friends had recommended that an early visit avoids lines as well as improving the likelihood of finding the animals more sociable before the heat of the day. Thus, we arrived just prior to opening at 9:00 am and, sure enough, there was no line and the animals were on the move.

We started out covering the Indo-Malaya and African Savanna pavilions. The elephants were out, tigers were pacing, hippos were in love, the giraffe was performing a stretch, Monica's monkeys climbed the ceiling and the lion even roared as we walked by. The weather really cooperated, and the temperature was perfect for the tour.

The zoo (somewhat resembling Toronto) is a bit "flung" and covers a pretty large area. I enjoyed the walk but by the time we got to the end of the Canadian Domain our crowd was in need of a grub-up. We snacked at the Africa Restaurant and finished through the Australasia and Eurasia exhibit areas. The pavilions, some doing important research on breeding, hosted a variety of animals in environments that seemed to accommodate animal needs (even camels... my favorite). At about 1:00 pm we said good bye and used the google direction to head for the science centre.

Ontario Science Centre - We parked (which I soon found out was comparative to my reaction time in the braking machine at the Science Arcade), snacked on carrots and granola bars, and headed in to the museum. We opted out of the Mars I-Max, having already booked a similar experience for the Aquarium in Boston, and jumped into the open exhibits. Before we even got through the doors, the kids found a floor which responded to their movements... they danced quite a jig there!!!

There were a couple of experiments that we had great fun with, perhaps because they were so interactive and kinetic. The kids enjoyed the Science Arcade (Peter found this!!!), with engaging hands on activities which were designed to show science at work (gears, pulleys, levers, etc). The sports exhibits, which included jumping, balance and climbing opportunities, also kept everyone busy. Environmental science was part of many presentations (Rain Forest / Water). Peter got "sneezed" on in the Human Body exhibit and also got picked from the crowd to participate in a presentation on electricity, where "young jedi" held a fluorescent light bulb up near a Van de graaff generator. Full marks for the exhibits, although we were a bit confused finding our way around.

We departed at supper time and headed to check in at our next hotel on Dundas St, closer to the downtown attractions scheduled for Thursday. After ordering up a pizza and rescheduling our CN Tower trip for first thing Friday, we had a great dip in the hotel pool / SPA and rested up after a long day in the city.