Canada: Toronto

I can't believe I forgot to update my blog about my trip to Toronto this past June! I guess it was because everything was such a blur during that time. On that Saturday, I flew from Denver to Cincinnati for a friend's wedding and the very next day I flew to Buffalo where I met my parents. We then drove into Canada (O Canada!).

Since I was bad and didn't update this while I was traveling, it won't be as detailed as my other posts (and this is why I try to keep up with it during my travels! My memory is that of a fish...).

June 18-22, 2017

On the way to Toronto we stopped at Port Credit Memorial Park for some quick exploration and a bite to eat. The Mississauga Waterfront Festival was happening so we were able to watch some performances and enjoy the liveliness of it all. We drove into Toronto and my gosh was it beautiful. The buildings were so pretty, right along the waterfront. They were extremely tall and a gorgeous teal blue color. It was probably the most modern/clean city I’ve ever visited. It had the true city feel to it and it had so much to gander at. I really could not get enough of the buildings’ majestic blue colors. Unreal.

 

We drove toward our Airbnb and came across masses of people walking around and standing in line. There was definitely something big happening. Camera crews also surrounded the area. We later found out that the iHeart Music Awards were happening the night we arrived! Joe Jonas, Lorde, and many others were only a few blocks away from us. If only we had known, we probably would have bought tickets ahead of time. We arrived at our place in the early evening and Dad somehow thought our place was a high rise so he was really shocked when we ended up at a small condo with a balcony overlooking dirty streets haha.

The next day we did an amazing bike tour of the city. It was about 6 hours of riding in and around Toronto while learning about the history of the beautiful city. One of the coolest parts of the tour was experiencing numerous neighborhoods, each with their own vibe, character, and history. I would advise anyone who travels to Toronto to explore all the different neighborhoods.

  The Trumpoldts’ growing knowledge of Toronto thanks to the bike tour:

• Toronto was the capital of Canada for a while. It was originally located near Niagara Falls, but it was moved because when US won independence, the British were worried that the US would invade.
• The line “They paved paradise, put up a parking lot” from the song “Big Yellow Taxi" refers to a neighborhood in Toronto called Yorkville. A long time ago, this area was filled with Victorian houses. As Toronto continued to boom, a subway was built and demolished several of these houses. Residents petitioned that the remaining area not used by the subway be transformed into a park, but instead, the city built a parking lot. Ironically, the area was eventually turned into a park and is now called Yorkville Park.
• Toronto has the 4th largest population in North America (behind Mexico City, Los Angeles, and New York)
• Rosedale neighborhood: Started with Sheriff William Jarvis and his wife Mary. Mary frequently rode horses around the area and her path eventually became the street system. It’s quiet and away from the city noise, but still considered downtown. 
• Cabbagetown neighborhood: Irish influx. They grew cabbages in their front yards in order to have food to eat - everything else was too expensive. Houses now sell for $3.2 million.
• St. Jamestown neighborhood: Was supposed to be high-end, but turned into slums.
• Asians are the second largest minority. There are 6 different Chinatowns in Toronto.

The last bullet was very obvious to us. As we walked around we felt like we were in an Asian country rather than Canada. Some things I paid particular attention to, as always, were the transportation systems in the community. On a four-lane roadway (two lanes each direction), street cars ran through the middle two lanes. They stopped frequently (even when they were at

a green light) which stopped both lanes of traffic for both directions. Hmm seems like poor planning to me. That defeats the purpose of public transit! Anyway, I’ll get off my nerdy soapbox now. While visiting many bars and restaurants, we noticed that they served beer with the Blue Moon logo but it was called Belgian Moon. We asked why the name was different, but no one could tell us. We searched it on the omnipotent internet later and discovered it was because when Coors (owner of Blue Moon) and Molson (Canadian beer company) merged, Blue Moon began to be brewed in Montreal and they called it Belgian Moon. How about that!

We were really amused by the pedestrian signal that was displayed when pedestrians were to cross the street. These “walking men” always seem to be a little different in each country. In Toronto, the “walking man” had his leg outstretched further than normal as his first step which made it look like he was super energetic to cross the street. We took a particular liking to the symbol and decided to name him Jarvis (after Sheriff Jarvis from one of the earlier factoids). After that designation, we were the annoying Americans who would scream “JARVIS!!” every time the symbol popped up. It was quite comical :)

Before my family and I embarked on this Toronto adventure, I was told several times to order Poutine. What is Poutine you ask? Well it’s this:

 

Basically, it’s french fry goodness slathered in gravy and cheese curds. There are different varieties of it too. It may sound nasty (or at least it did to me when I first heard of it), but its dangerously delicious. Proceed with caution.

On a rainy day we decided to check out the Underground city – aka The Path. This was a maze of energetic busy-ness. Multiple people advised us to stay away because it was too complicated to navigate, but when the Trumpoldts hear a challenge, we are determined to attempt it. Once we walked down the stairs to the underground section, we realized how true those warnings were. We got lost twice in the first 5 minutes. *Facepalm* Eventually we figured out the system and it was lots of fun! The Path was full of businessmen and women, especially around lunch time. It was truly like New York City underground. It was very apparent that we were tourists because we were grossly underdressed with our shorts and t-shirts. Everyone else was wearing suits/ties (love!) and business dresses. It was the best people watching I’ve done in years. We then went and did some classic “Dave Trumpoldt Brewery Hopping” (and people wonder where I get it from….). We first went to Amsterdam Brewery which had an outstanding view of the waterfront. It was picture perfect. The waiter was not. He was very snide

and once we mentioned we were going to Mill Street Brewery next, he got all pissy, "If you want beer worth having you'd stay here." Danggg. The location of Mill Street Brewery was in the middle of the Distillery Historic District. Most of the buildings were made of brick and it had a delightful charm. We stopped by the famous St. Lawrence Market and had a Peameal (Canadian bacon that is more like the texture of ham) sandwich. It was to die for.

Something to note is a wonderful eatery called Tim Hortons. These are basically the McDonalds of Canada, except way better quality. We (and by we, I mean me) ate Tim Hortons for breakfast as many times as possible. The donuts were irresistible. They have donut holes that they call Timbits. I asked, “Can I have 1,000 donut holes please?” (no friends, I didn’t really ask for 1,000 donut holes, but a girl can dream!) “What are donut holes?” she asked. I never had to answer that question! It made her laugh and she immediately knew we weren’t from the area. Other Americans call these donut holes, too right? It’s not just me, is it?

One fine evening we decided to do a dinner cruise. This was the best part of the trip! A few weeks prior to our Toronto adventure, I found a Groupon and scored tickets for just $55/person.

That included the 4 hour ride AND dinner. Super reasonable pricing. We ordered some drinks as we waited for the boat to depart the harbor. Mom and Dad ordered a beer each, but the waiter accidentally brought them two each! That got the party started. As we cruised along the water we had absolutely outstanding views of city. It was incredible. I could take the cruise every evening and never get tired of it. Unfortunately, it started raining so we didn’t see a sunset, but it was still a fabulous experience. They even had a DJ on the second floor which had its walls open to the air. Dancing during a dinner cruise - quite the setup. Depending on the force of the rain, we would get spritzed a little bit. But we didn’t care. We were enjoying the moment. I love that about my parents. We always look on the bright side of things and soak it all up (literally in this case!) We were the only ones participating and requested sooo many songs. Dad and I had a dance-off and he won, no contest. Mom was busting out laughing the entire time. I just couldn’t compete with his “fish out of water” move. I stopped and just started applauding. After a wonderful cruise experience, we exited the boat and the staff helping us off the boat said, "Oh no, the dancing people are leaving!" I guess we made quite the impression on them. The only downside to this experience was that I suffered from food poisoning that night. It wouldn’t be a true travel experience without some quality time in the restroom!

 

The final night of our trip I went out salsa/bachata dancing as I traditionally do when I travel. This is quite honestly the best way for me to meet people. I made several friends that night who I still stay in touch with to this day :)