Toronto : Wednesday 27- Saturday 30 July 2017

Wednesday 27 July 2017

In the morning Alex had prepared us the best pancakes on the planet, she had gone to the local market in the morning, bought fresh berries and made these absolutely delicious pancakes, when combined fresh honey and fab maple syrup the pancakes were divine. So well stocked up we went off to meet Maida, our Santiagan friend.

Alex's pancakes

She had arranged to take us on a walking tour through the interesting parts of Toronto. The first place that she'd love to spend time was the Toronto Reference Library - a modern design.  It had 5 floors, with spaces designed to read, have meetings, study and even spaces for children. It also had a coffee shop too. It was a cool place.

Toronto Reference Library, 798 Yonge Street

 Then we walked through the a really posh part of Toronto, through Lawerence Park and Yorkville - where they have very luxurious apartments and quite a few showbiz personalties - like Drake, Mike Myers and Keanu Reeves, apparently live.

Yorkville is one of Canada's most exclusive shopping districts. Recently Bloor St. was named one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world by Fortune Magazine. In 1960s, Yorkville flourished as Toronto's bohemian cultural centre. It was the breeding ground for some of Canada's most noted musical talents including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot.

From there we went to get to know the gay neighborhood, "The Village" as the locals call is centered at the crossroads of Church and Wellesley Streets. The area is packed with cafes ( mind you this is true of every street in cities in Canada), restaurants, gay-oriented shops and hot bars and nightspots. Even the pedestrian crossings are painted in the rainbow colours.

Maybe it's time to introduce Maida... well, she is the daughter of my good friend Carlos Celedon, who made my integration into Santiago and Chile so much easier. Carlos and I used to meet up Sundays to watch NFL games and I met Maida there. She then moved to Toronto in 2015 and so I contacted her so we could catch up. What does she do there  - her boyfriend and her run a dog walking service, which appears to be doing well and she is also a Reiki healer.

Maida and Mathew

Continuing our tour with Toronto we took the tram and went to Kensingston Market for lunch. This is a small neighborhood with small restaurants from different parts of the world, but especially Latin Americans. We had some sangrias and shared a poutine - squeaky cheese on top of fries and covered in gravy.  

Kensington Market

We then moved to Downtown and Ely and I had a disagreement, one of many during our tour. So I went off to see Star Trek, the movie to cool down and Ely went off to shop. Did you know apart from Downtown, Toronto is quite often used as movie sets as alternatives for New York, Chicago- examples - Capote, Chicago, Good Will Hunting and the Incredible Hulk.

Toronto Town Hall - episode of Star Trek the Next Generation

That evening we had a date with  Keiisha, my niece at the Banjara Indian Restaurant in Bloor Street ( Banjara), which turned out to be a very popular one with queues out the door. It was so nice to see Keeish, it had been 4 years since we saw her last. The food was excellent.

We finished a lovely day exhausted.

Thursday 28 July 2016
This morning we were both weary from days travelling, all the walking and the heat of the summer. Alex had again made us breakfast. She is really a lovely host.

 We decided to have a relaxing day. We needed to do some shopping to prepare for the rest of our trip so we went to Mountain Center Co-op, an environmentally sustainable outdoor cooperative, working only with products that donate 1% to the environment .

We then decided to go across to Toronto Island. The islands sit in Lake Ontario and were in fact moving sandbars moving with the currents and over time formed the islands. The British surveyed the islands in 1792 but the native peoples had used the islands for years as places of relaxation and leisure. Ferries cross to the island and we took one of these and there we rented a bicycle.  We made a mistake in renting the two cart style, definitely the most uncomfortable to ride and cycle.  We had lunch on the island, returned the bike and fell asleep on the grass exhausted.

At about 5:30 we returned to Toronto, and as we got off the boat there were about 100 young people looking for Pokemon, it was hilarious. There were groups of friends walking together without speaking a single word to each other obsessed for Pokemon.

In the evening we went out with Theo and Alex to have Ethiopian (Rendez -Vous)  super-rich food, really delicious a mixture of Arab and Asian

food. We each ordered a plate and it was served on a giant pancake.  We finished the night having a few beers at a bar near their place.

Friday 29 July 2017
Another day another place to explore in Toronto. This time we went to 'Old Toronto', especially the St Lawrence Market District. Before Toronto became the metropolis it was know as Town of York. St Lawrence Market Complex had shops, theater, markets, and food - lots and lots of food.

Valencay Goats Cheese produced in the shape demanded by Napoleon
- cave aged - pasteurized- absolutely delicious - try it if you can get it.  

 We first visited the Old Brewery which has been converted into trendy restaurants and shops . It was a disappointment. We then walked to the market, and when we got there we were famished. The next part was difficult - deciding what to eat? So first we took a quick tour of the first and second floors of the market to choose what to eat - it was tough call - look at all the photos above. Eventually we went for Chinese as it looked really appetizing and it was reasonably prized.

Stuffed we began to walked around the market again, the scale of food available was impressive -, w meats, fish, seafood, species, nuts, honey, cakes, and especially cheeses. At the cheese store shown in photo we stopped to admire the variety of really mature cheese. There was one in particular that caught our attention  was this amazing fermented goat's cheese - Valencay - which is flown in from Berry, France. - v. expensive. I managed to charm the owner to give us a tiny bit for us to taste - it was heaven.

Being piggy wiggys we bought some cup cakes before leaving the market and scoffed them down. They were of course incredible. We then went off to Maida's place for tea which is situated on the east side of Toronto. We were treated to Chilean wine. Ely was happy being able to speak Spanish . We were joined by Matt - Maida's boyfriend and more wine was drunk and unfortunately we had to leave before we really got comfortable as we were hooking up with Keiisha and her boyfriend at 7.

We went to a noodle bar and finished off the evening eating and drinking more.

Saturday 30 July 2017

Our friends Theo and Alex took us out of town - we went to Elora and West Montrose and the surrounding area of Ontario - the countryside. Elora is about an hour and a half north west of Toronto by car and the surrounding area is dominated by vast tracts of farmland , mainly managed by Mennonites ( they dress like the Armish but not the same group ) - they originate from Anabaptist religious orders from Europe, formed before the Protestant Reformation in 1525. Unlike the Armish, Mennonites do drive cars, the men don't generally wear beards, they do have electricity , do speak German. To read more about them see Mennonites in Canada. 

When we arrived in Elora, we went to the local farmers market, where Alex and Theo often come to buy fresh farm produce. After that we went for a walk through the Elora Gorge Conservation area, and the town - ending up at the Shepherd's Pub for a hearty lunch. Elora was founded by Capt William Gilkison, a Scotsman who had resigned from the British Indian Army. He had served in the war of 1812, came over and bought 14,000 acres of land around the Grand River. Roman Catholic missiones had arrived in 1600 to convert the local indigenous people - like - people of the Neutral Nation - not sure what happened to these people afterwards.

 After that we went to the Kissing Bridge ( as couples could kiss inside without being seen)- a covered bridge in West Montrose ( settled by the Scot's from Montrose, Scotland. The bridge, the last of it;s type in the region, constructed entirely of wood ain 1880-1881,  was beautiful and the surrounded area serene and attractive. It is still in use. 

Elora, Ontario on the Grand River.

West Montrose Covered Bridge( The Kissing Bridge)
stradding the Grand River

We had a fantastic day with Theo and Alex. Calgary tomorrow.

 Saturday 30 July 2017 - off to Calgary

On the way back we went straight to the airport for our trip to Calgary for 730pm flight.. The flight took about 4 hours to and with  the time difference we arrived at 10:30 where we were met by my brother Hari.

As we were hungry Hari took us to a famous burger joint in Calgary called Peter's Drive In , and too true the burgers and onion rings were amazing. All the burgers are 100% chuck beef with no fillers and are never frozen. In addition they bake their own buns for the burger. My brother had booked us into an apartment near his home , so he dropped us off and we'd see him the next day.