Canada with Michael and Amy - Toronto Part One

I feel the need to finish blogging about my sabbatical, to kind of round it out and give some closure.

So here goes. We arrived at last in Toronto to be met by Michael at the airport. It was such a joy to see him, and to finally get there after some of our misadventures with flights and visas and such. He led through the public transport system on trains and buses back to where they lived on the edge of St. James Town, to their apartment building on Sherbourne Street, one of the big streets that run all the way down to Lake Ontario. Amy had prepared a lovely gift pack for each of us, including slippers (which I still use) gloves and wooly hat, which got a lot of use during our time in Canada, and less so here in warmer Tauranga. Our next adventure began.

The first full day had a leisurely start. Michael and Amy took us out walking along Sherbourne Street, through Millionaires Row, and into Riverdale Park (I think) with beautiful bush with all the autumn colours Bonnie was looking for, Sumac trees, and black squirrels. We had lunch at a market where we tried Bashy Patties – cornmeal pastry with slightly spicey meat – yummy. 

Then we walked back across the Don River Bridge with magnificent views including down to Lake Ontario. All this was to help us orientate ourselves. To be honest it took most of our time there to even work out which way was the lake.

Bonnie, Michael and I then headed off to a local pub to watch the Rugby World Cup quarter final – All Blacks vs Ireland. I wore my All Black shirt but cheered for Ireland. I felt like All Black and South Africa had enough world cups and it was Ireland's turn. Michael was not happy. They had a great team and were ranked #1. It was a sad day for those in green.

That night Michael and Amy took us to the revolving restaurant in the CN Tower. A bit of a mission to get up there, but once we were up there what a wonderful experience. We were seated near the wine “cellar”. Lovely food. Fantastic views even down to Niagara. Slick service. There was a guy in a brown suit, on his phone checking stuff out. His phone apparently has an app on it that tracks how long people are at each table and how their service is going. His job is to ensure people don’t linger too long – 2 hours is the maximum time for each meal. After dinner we had an explore, and a good look at the views. What a great night. You can find more photos here and here.

Day two began with a late breakfast to one of their favourite diners. I tried poutine – which I thought was OK, but Michael was not happy with. The cheese curds were not squeaky. Not as good as Québec poutine.  We had a quick look around Cabbage Town, but it started to rain so headed home. We played board games in the afternoon – Bonnie won much to Michael’s surprise. At some point Michael and I went out hunting alcohol. Not so easy to find in Toronto as it is here – which is a good thing, unless you want to buy some. We did find “Breadalbane” street. My mother’s father’s family came out to Waipu from Nova Scotia on the Breadalbane. A cool find. Michael and Amy were keen to share their joy in all the different takeaway foods they had found, and that night we had Jamaican curry. Then we began watching “Being Canadian” – a comedic look at who Canadians are with Robert Cohen.

Day Three - a Monday was finer, and Amy was working, so we gave here the apartment and set off for the day. We walked through the University of Toronto – who Amy worked for, and through Queens Park with the King Edward VII Equestrian Statue, and on to the Bata Shoe Museum – which was surprisingly great. We spend a couple of hours learning about the history of shoes around the world, with some fabulous ones on display.

After exploring the shop we headed off to the Kensington Market – it was pretty quiet being a weekday (Monday). We bought tacos and sat looking out at a park where some of the cities homeless were camped. A sobering site.

It was cold, so lunch was quick, and then it was time to find Graffiti Alley – building covered in great street art. As we walked we enjoyed the large flower pots round the place, and the amazing decorations being set up for Halloween, which was still nearly a month away.

We caught the streetcar back. Michael said “don’t pay – I do it all the time” So of course two polite men boarded and checked for payments – we got pinged, told off, and they watched us pay. Next time – just pay!

Day four started in Toronto and ended in Niagara. It was a beautiful day – other days had been cold, and sometimes wet.But this was lovely. so once again we headed out. We found some hire bikes and rode down the hill towards the Lake. On our way we stopped at “Kim’s Convenience” which looked exactly like to store in the TV programme, which Bonnie and I have seen all of. It’s the actual store front, but the interior is different.

After some compulsory purchases we were back riding down to St Lawrence Market. It is a permanent market in a large brick building. We had a lovely time wondering around, getting lost, finding ourselves, and trying butter tarts and Portuguese egg tarts.

Then we set off again on foot, stopping at St James Anglican Cathedral. We arrived just before the weekly free organ recital and listened to some Bach. It was very cool. From there we walked to Berczy Park and te world famous Dog Fountain. So many cute dogs doing their fountain thing. 

From here we could also see the back of the Gooderham or Flat Iron Building, complete with a large Mural by Derek Besant, painted in the 1980’s.

From there we headed off to the Distillery District. Once it was full of distilleries, but now only one or two survive, and the rest of the buildings are full of up market shops. But there was some nice public art in the area including this Interfaith Peace Symbol.

Then we picked up a rental car from an astoundingly rude guy who did not use our names – he had them, sniffed the whole time, and was not keen on us coming back clearly. Nothing like the rental car place in Kim’s Convenience. It was time for a big adventure in Niagara. We went home, packed, and all set off in the gathering gloom around the lake on a highway with little of no view. But boy were there views when we arrived. That will be the next post – our time in Niagara!