Toronto

I woke up early on our first full day in Toronto and visited Equinox Yorkville for a class - this is my 50th club and the first international one I’ve visited!



While I was working out, Andrea and Shirley went to Hudson Bay department store and we rendez-vous’ed back at the hotel. The plan was to visit the world famous St. Lawrence market which was about a 15 minute walk.



We specifically wanted to try a peameal bacon sandwich which was delicious and super tasty. We went to Carousel Bakery which was famous for them - Shirley really enjoyed her sandwich!



Also famous in Toronto are butter tarts and we enjoyed delicious Portuguese tarts two times!



In the market, we meandered and tried cheese, sausages, pasta sauce, and spread samples. We decided to have a few oysters - they were called Summer Love and Pink Moon - a photo of them below:



Then we went downstairs where there were more stalls and we were serenaded by a violinist and accordion player - a photo below:



Downstairs, we enjoyed cheese pierogies, coffee, and rested for a bit. A photo of the pierogies:



After the market, we took the subway, transferred to a shuttle bus, and climbed some stairs to visit Casa Loma. Casa Loma is a famous mansion and gardens and they were celebrating Christmas with a nutcracker theme, an aerialist, and various activities. A few photos of our visit:











Here’s a view from Norman Tower, after we climbed some spiraling stairs and navigated the top floors and long hallways:





Outside in the garden, they had these igloo bubbles where we listened to music and enjoyed Bailey’s hot chocolate:









Before leaving, we navigated the underground tunnels that were decorated with lights and music which led to Santa’s workshop.



We had a very thorough visit of Casa Loma and finally decided we were ready to head out. We decided to visit Mother’s Dumplings which is in the Kensington Market area. We had pork buns, pork and dill dumplings, Chinese broccoli, a pancake, tomato soup, and fried dumplings. A collage below:



The plan was to walk around Kensington Market, but it had started to rain. So we took cover at a dive bar where we enjoyed a round of drinks. Shirley decided she really wanted Vietnamese, so we walked to Pho Hung and had banh xeo and a bowl of pho. We weren’t that hungry, but wanted to take advantage of the accessibility as there is no good Vietnamese food in New York. A photo of the banh xeo below:



We then called a car and headed back to the hotel where we relaxed with Korean face masks and strategized about our half day tomorrow as it’s supposed to rain again. Despite the rain, we had a fun day of eating and exploring!