Oh, Toronto! How I miss you. No humidity. No work. No dealing with computer support people.
Today I want to share with you some of the highlights of my long weekend in Toronto. Although I paid my own way for transportation, lodging, and food, I received a lovely gift from the Toronto Tourism Board of the City Pass which let me check out many of the attractions for FREE! I also took the hop on/hop off tour bus to give my feet a bit of a break from walking!
The picture above is from the Distillery District. Great area of town to walk around, check out a few boutiques, get ice cream, and maybe get a late night dinner. Picture by Isabelle who was super sweet to meet up with me, take me to brunch and show me around a bit ;)
Next to the Distillery District is St Lawrence Market. If you've ever been to the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, that's what St Lawrence Market is like, but bigger! I was so sad my hotel did not have a little kitchen: I wanted to buy all the produce and meat and cheese and seafood to cook a big meal. Le sigh. I took some photos instead.
I always check out a few museums when traveling. One of my favorite exhibits during my trip to Toronto was Viva Mexico at the Royal Ontario Museum. My grandmother used to embroider intricate patters on pillows and table cloths, and my mom used to embroider wedding dresses when we first moved to the US: I can really appreciate the beauty of the handwork. These Mexican dresses were absolutely stunning!
Another museum I visited was the Gardiner. A museum dedicated to pottery!? Sign me up! I loved seeing the work of potters from decades ago next to modern pottery. It was a great inspiration for the pottery classes I signed up for in DC.
Another fun thing to do when visiting a new city is to check out cultural events. Lucky for me, there were several large events happening in Toronto the weekend I was in town. The one I checked out was Taste of Toronto. It was a blast to try out different dishes from some of the top restaurants in Toronto. That's also where I finally had my first poutine! With duck!!! The wait was worth it.
This girl was the cutest ever!!! And she gave out samples of Bonne Maman!
Do you ever forget how tiring traveling can be!? Remember to give yourself a bit of time to chill in bed, watch TV and plan what you will do during the day.
Another day, another museum! I absolutely loved the architecture of the newest addition to the Art Gallery of Toronto designed by Frank Gherry who actually was born just a few blocks away from the museum. I took a one hour free tour of the museum to get a quick overview of all of its collections and then spent some time walking through the modern collections.
If you have the time, wait in a long line and then another line and then another line and take the escalator up the CN Tower. The views were pretty spectacular. I bet the views are even better at night!
At the end of my last full day in Toronto I took a little boat tour around the islands. It was relaxing and a great way to see the city skyline!
Can you imagine living on one of the islands and having a private boat?
During my last day I had 4 hours and spent my time walking around Queen Street, people watching, window shopping and eating ;)
Alas, I wasn't able to take all these lovely policemen with me back to the US!
Thank you Toronto for a wonderful time! I shall be back.
