Toronto Recommendations

[farrellgirl99]

Not having bodegas or 7/11 on every corner is going to suck

It always freaks me out when stores close at like 9

But thanks for the heads up!

[kv]

sweet

[farrellgirl99]

just took advantage of Summerlicious and made reservations for lunch at Tutti Matti. Anyone ever been?

[Artemis]

just took advantage of Summerlicious and made reservations for lunch at Tutti Matti. Anyone ever been?

ME!! I've been there a couple of times actually. It's pretty good.

When it first opened, I went during Summerlicious too.

[Artemis]

BTW, Queen + Spadina will be closed for track construction, so do not drive around there.

Walking is fine though.

[Artemis]

Not having bodegas or 7/11 on every corner is going to suck

It always freaks me out when stores close at like 9

But thanks for the heads up!

only liquor stores and beer stores clsoe that early. there are 24hr shops and convenience stores.if you are staying in the downtown core, there is stuff open.

also, last call at the bars is 2am. All booze has to be off the table by 3am.

[Artemis]

If you're going to Kensington Market, look for the garden car....good photo op.

http://invisible-friends.com/2012/06/ke ... arden-car/

[Artemis]

Also in the market, The Hot Box Cafe. If you like to smoke pot, you can go on their "potio" and indulge hassle-free. Even if you don't, it's worth checking out for people watching. It's a preety cool vibe. They have smoothies and snacks too.

http://hotboxcafe.ca/HotBoxHome.htm

[farrellgirl99]

Wow, cool stuff. We leave tomorrow at 4 am I'm looking forward to it though!

[Artemis]

Waking up so early sucks;however, you will get a lot of kilometres covered(just getting you used to it before you cross the border. ) before the heavy traffic starts.

I hope you have a great trip and wish you a safe journey.


Which border crossing are you coming through?

As you're getting closer to Toronto you may want to tune in on the radio to AM 680 News for traffic updates.

It's all news, traffic, and weather. They even give estimated wait times for the border crossings.


*here's a site with border wait time. it says they also update on twitter too

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/bwt-taf/menu-eng.html

[Artemis]

So?

How's the trip going?

Favourite thing you saw or did?

[farrellgirl99]

It's going well! Tonight is our last night in Canada. We moved to an airport hotel in Mississauga. We had a fail day today cause we went to the beaches neighborhood to go in Lake Ontario but then a bad thunderstorm shortened our stay to 25 minutes But it was a nice beach.

Other than that we had a good time in Toronto. It's actually one of my favorite cities I've been too because it has a really nice vibe. Everyone was friendly and I liked how diverse the city was. When i go to some cities it always blows my mind how strictly black/white they are but toronto reminded me a lot of Queens in its diversity.

Pros: the blue jays game was fun (although the game sucked! they lost 1-0 and couldn't hit for shit), the peameal bacon sandwich at paddingtons was on point (although i like american bacon better), walking around Queen and King Street (loved the graffiti off of queen! i love street art so i really enjoyed the street art throughout toronto), all the food and beer so far has been pretty good

Cons: the CN tower sucked and was so overpriced but i guess its a tourist trap so what can you expect, and driving/parking sucked. we were driving everywhere cause we stayed far out on weston rd so parking was a nightmare. toronto has like no street parking compared to ny. driving in nyc is a nightmare too but you can park on the street pretty much anywhere. this was so restrictive and we ended up spending a shit ton on parking lots. and it seems like the whole city is under construction! but i guess theres nothing that can be done about that.

overall id love to come back and stay awhile. it feels to me like more of a residential/chill city than one with a lot of destinations/landmarks per say so i think it would be an enjoyable place to spend some more time just taking it in. thanks for the pointers and what not, they were very handy

now it's off to niagara tomorrow!

[farrellgirl99]

Just got back from Montreal tonight. It was a very nice city, and we stayed in a beautiful old apartment with a courtyard and balcony in the Mile End section of the city (i think) on Saint Urbain. Besides the weather being disgustingly humid, I enjoyed the atmosphere of the city.

I don't know if it was bc there was a music festival this weekend, but I was surprised by how hipster the city was. It was like Williamsburg x10. Not my scene at all, but what can you do.

Also, I tried a Montreal bagel...i dont even think it can be compared in the same sentence to a nyc bagel. no contest. it was like a thin pretzel.

[Hype]

Just got back from Montreal tonight. It was a very nice city, and we stayed in a beautiful old apartment with a courtyard and balcony in the Mile End section of the city (i think) on Saint Urbain. Besides the weather being disgustingly humid, I enjoyed the atmosphere of the city.

I don't know if it was bc there was a music festival this weekend, but I was surprised by how hipster the city was. It was like Williamsburg x10. Not my scene at all, but what can you do.

Also, I tried a Montreal bagel...i dont even think it can be compared in the same sentence to a nyc bagel. no contest. it was like a thin pretzel.

Yeah it's been ridiculously humid lately. (I'm about halfway between Toronto and Montreal most of the time).

It's best if you have two conceptions of bagel-ness (bagelitude? bagelousness? bagelity?) and don't expect them to overlap except insofar as they are flour-based cylindrical holed food thingies. But then, I had a really shitty bagel in NYC, so it's also probably just going to depend on where you go and when.

The architecture is really the best part of Montreal (which is one of the least French [i.e., most Anglophone] cities in Quebec). Less brutalist concrete nonsense than downtown Toronto.

[Artemis]

I don't know if it was bc there was a music festival this weekend, but I was surprised by how hipster the city was. It was like Williamsburg x10. Not my scene at all, but what can you do.

The Osheaga Festival was on. The Toronto hipsters with their suitcases on wheels made the trek over there.


Sounds like you've enjoyed your trips to Canada.

[farrellgirl99]

I had a Fairmont bagel cause I was trying to do it right. But true, they are very different tastes. But I guess being from here it's obvious what i would prefer

And yes, Canada has done me right. Really liked both cities, I could even see myself living there, more so in Toronto as the French was a bit intimidating in Montreal. I'll definitely visit again as soon as I forget what the 11 hour train ride was like

[Hype]

I had a Fairmont bagel cause I was trying to do it right. But true, they are very different tastes. But I guess being from here it's obvious what i would prefer

And yes, Canada has done me right. Really liked both cities, I could even see myself living there, more so in Toronto as the French was a bit intimidating in Montreal. I'll definitely visit again as soon as I forget what the 11 hour train ride was like

I walked into a café in Outrémont, intimidated as hell... forgot all my French, so I said: "Parlez-vous Anglais?" and the guy answers: "Of course. We have to."

To be perfectly honest, I prefer the old Toronto Jewish bakery-style bagels over Montreal bagels myself...they're much closer in flavour/shape to NYC bagels... but the damn bakeries keep closing, or at least the ones that provide bagels for the stores I can get to here.

[Artemis]

If you come back to Toronto I would recommend Porter Airlines. They fly out of Newark and land in the Toronto city centre airport. On my last trip to NY I flew with Porter and it was great! Flight time less than 1 hour. I paid about $300 with taxes. Porter often has a seat promotion. For such a short flight going the city centre airport route saves a lot of time. On previous trips to NY I flew out of Pearson airport and the lines to clear security were ridiculous!!

[mockbee]

If you come back to Toronto I would recommend Porter Airlines. They fly out of Newark and land in the Toronto city centre airport. On my last trip to NY I flew with Porter and it was great! Flight time less than 1 hour. I paid about $300 with taxes. Porter often has a seat promotion. For such a short flight going the city centre airport route saves a lot of time. On previous trips to NY I flew out of Pearson airport and the lines to clear security were ridiculous!!

Be forewarned though, once you get on that city island I am pessimistic regarding the options of getting off the island. There are no bridges and there are no tunnels.............................
...........there may be a boat.

[Artemis]

Anthony Bourdain in Toronto

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw1308 ... NWen29pe1t

[Hype]

Anthony Bourdain in Toronto

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw1308 ... NWen29pe1t

I thought his impression was pretty accurate. Toronto is an ugly city these days, but it has hidden stuff that's great. I like that he had the horse tartare at the Black Hoof that I've been thinking of trying.