Up far too early, but made it out of our room in good time after settling a humongous bill. Despite that, we’ve really enjoyed our stay at this huge but lovely hotel. The service levels generally have been excellent.

Our transfer vehicle was timed for 7.15 a.m. 7.25 came and went, and, not for the first time, I began to fret. And, not for the first time, I needn’t have worried. A large minibus turned up and we had the whole vehicle to ourselves for the 90 minute journey to Calgary Airport.

Some final pictures of the hotel:

Within 5 minutes of leaving, the driver stopped to allow us to take some pictures of elk sauntering alongside the road. First time we’ve been able to see these fantastic animals.

We were soon out on the Trans Canada Highway heading east, and took some final pictures of the Rockies as we left them behind. 😮‍💨

Arrived at the domestic arm of the airport in plenty of time. As we were travelling Business Class, our bags were checked in within 5 minutes. Through Security reasonably quickly – my bag was inspected as I’d forgotten that I’d left my spare phone in there – but we passed that to make our way to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge.

Not impressed, to be honest. Tatty, tired, disinterested staff and not much in the way of food. Apart from that, it was great…

Made our way to the departure gate, only a short walk from the lounge, and onto the plane in a few minutes. Wide seats and decent legroom. Oh, and a charging point for the phone…..

The flight was scheduled for 12.05. At 12.06, the plane backed off the stand. Doesn’t happen often, does it?

Smooth and uneventful flight with great service.

Landed at Toronto 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Only problem was – we had to wait 20 minutes to get onto a stand.

Longish walk to baggage claim. Carousel 4 was indicated. We waited. And waited. And waited. For close on an hour. Apparently Toronto is notorious for its appalling baggage handling. Another sign of staff shortages again, I imagine.

Then came an announcement that Carousel 3 was the place to be. Behold! Jean’s bag was first off, with mine 2 minutes later.

Daringly (again), we opted for the train into the city centre, as it was far cheaper than a cab would have been.

Apart from having to lug our bags around a bit, this worked very well. In fact, the hotel was literally across the street when we exited the station.

Took a while to check in, but we were then on our way up to Room 12123 on the 12th floor of yet another enormous Fairmont hotel.

The view from the window was a tad different from the Rockies!

Welcome to downtown Toronto!

We’d crossed two time zones during the flight from Calgary, so we were now two hours ahead of where our bodies were expecting. We were knackered anyway as a consequence of our early start, so room service was again invoked. Had to hang on the phone for about fifteen minutes – it was Saturday night and a full hotel – but once ordered, it only took another twenty minutes to arrive on a wheeled table, served by a courtly elderly gentleman. Classy. Very welcome it was too.

We have no specific plans for tomorrow, but I imagine a trip up CN Tower and a bus ride around Toronto City will feature large if we can book them – we are here for three nights. I will do my best to keep you posted.