Day 5 - Up and Away

The boys bid farewell to London, Ontario this morning - a city that has been so welcoming to them. The boys enjoyed visiting Mr. Heywood's hometown and departed by saying thank you to his mother who had done so much to help make their visit special. The boys presented her with an SJBC sweatshirt with the words "Choir Mom" on the back, then gave her a huge group hug!

Then, it was on the road, headed to Toronto. It was quite the adventure maneuvering the bus through the busy streets of Canada's largest city. The boys arrived to the gym of St. Michael's Choir School in the heart of downtown Toronto and had a quick lunch before an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing at two other major Toronto venues.

The boys walked through downtown and observed City Hall - including a rather tame protest by city workers who started going on strike this morning! They then spent 90 minutes shopping at the Eaton Center, Toronto's largest shopping complex, the third largest in the country, and Canada's busiest tourist attraction with over 1 million visitors each week. The boys then walked for 45 minutes to visit the CN Tower, where they were able to take lots of pictures of the great view of Toronto from over 1,500 feet high! Perhaps the coolest thing for them was visiting the glass floor where they could see all the way down to the ground. Cool!

The boys headed back to St. Michael's by bus and met up with their host families. Boys travelled to their Toronto homestays via different methods - some car, some bus, some subway - in true Toronto fashion. Some of the boys who were being picked up a little later played a game of basketball with Mr. Heywood and some of the St. Michael's boys. Patrick Blee even made a basket from half court!

Anyway, the boys are safe with their host families and are hopefully resting up for their only performance commitment in Toronto - a choral exchange with the St. Michael's boys tomorrow morning. Happy Birthday to Benjamin Zimring, who turned 13 and received a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" while on the bus. Ben also made some great hoops during the basketball game in the gym!