Toronto, Redux

Last weekend we went to Toronto. Again. Back in 2009 we made the trip to the Great White North for a conference Bogdan was attending, and although Bogdan didn't have a ton of time to explore, I did and I was impressed with the city. I found it safe, a manageable size, and an interesting mix of shopping, culture, and diversity.

I looked back in my post archive and realized that I totally left my readers hanging on that trip. I posted about Niagara Falls, promised a follow up post, and never delivered. Sorry about (a-boot) that.

The best part about returning to cities that you've already visited is that you don't have that whole "I must see everything" attitude. Instead, you think back about what you saw last time, what you missed, and you decide very casually what to do. This is what we did.

Right after checking into our hotel we walked the couple of blocks to St. Lawrence Market and had a Ukrainian lunch thanks to one of the food vendors serving up Bogdan's favorite dishes with huge sides of sour cream. We then walked a few more blocks to the Distillery District, which is Toronto's "hip" new spot with shopping, galleries, food, and history. We loved this place last time, and we enjoyed the return trip. We met Bogdan's friend and his wife for dinner later that night and had  a great time picking fun at Canada (seriously, their money looks like Monopoly money) and sharing a lot of beer, poutine, and good food.

The next day we had a slow and leisurely morning, went to our first ever Anglican service in St. James Cathedral and then spent the afternoon walking and walking and walking. We explored the financial district, Chinatown, the University of Toronto, Bloor Street, and Yorkville.

Our friends brought us some cigars (and perhaps they were the kind that we can't buy in America), which we had planned to try the night that we hung out with them, but as the world currently shuns all smokers, we couldn't find a place or lounge to smoke them inside.

That afternoon we sat in a park, smoked our cigars and watched the obese black squirrels that appear to have overtaken Toronto. I had never tried a cigar before, and it was surprisingly tasty and good. I'm glad we tried them.

And so we spent Super Bowl Sunday night at an Irish pub in Canada not watching the game that was blaring and displayed all around us (I'm surprised they let us back across the border into the U.S. and didn't revoke our citizenship). Regardless, we had a very fun, if not a little exhausting, weekend in Toronto.