A world of food in Toronto

/ Greg / 1 Comment

A trip to Toronto for me is always a chance to sample from a world’s worth of cuisines.  On this last visit, I managed to to squeeze in some pretty tasty Spanish, El Salvadorian, Mexican and Venezuelan meals.

Spanish: Patria

The food of Spain isn’t the only allure for me, it’s also the art of tapas that draws me in.  I always struggle picking something from a menu, so tapas works perfectly for me.  Patria, on King St. West, is a relatively new Toronto restaurant and was the place my sister picked for her birthday meal.  The food and wine were lovely, and we had a nice cross section of tapas.   Marcona almonds, chorizo, manchego, pan con tomate, roasted peppers, some interesting Spanish wines, and much more…. good times!

Tapas at Patria

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Hockey night in Toronto

/ Greg / 1 Comment

I’ve spent a lot of time in Toronto.  Leisure visits, countless in/out trips for work, a longer consulting engagement where I had an address and actually received postal mail for a period of time.  I know Toronto well enough that on the Yonge-University subway line, for most of the downtown stations, I can tell you which subway car to get on so that when the train stops, you’re right across from the station exit you want.  But up until this recent trip to Hogtown, I had never experienced the quintessential Toronto event – a Leafs game.

I had been in the ACC one time before for a Raptors game, but I still got to the arena early so I could look around.   It’s a really great rink.  I would soon learn that even from the upper deck, there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.  I wanted to catch a little bit of the pregame warmup from a good seat, so I made my way down to the lower level:

Centre ice at the ACC

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The ruins at Tulum

/ Greg / 1 Comment

Work commitments and plans for other summer and fall trips have seen me toughing out the entire Canadian winter without a southern respite these past three years (that might have to change in 2015).  Each winter I end up going back over pictures of trips to Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico to find a desktop image to at least warm my heart during the coldest months.  Doing that this year reminded me of a great day trip I took the last time I was south.

The trip to Mexico a couple of years ago was perfectly timed.  I had started a new job and I was getting worn down during the last few months as a part-time student on the path to completing my CMA.  For those reasons, a week at a resort with ample margaritas close at hand was ideal, even if not my usual travel approach.  Part way through that week, it was time to explore some off resort sights, and the ruins at Tulum were only about a thirty minute drive away:

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Toronto to start 2014’s travels

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Kicking off my 2014 travels is a trip to Toronto for the better part  of next week.  It’s another mixed work and vacation trip: a couple of days with my sister (her wine club and a new Spanish restaurant will occupy much of our time together) will be followed up by a few days on course at U of T.  I’ll be taking in a slice of Canadiana one evening as I see my first Leafs game, which is a bit of an embarrassment given how much time I’ve spent in Toronto over the years.

No matter how many times I get back to Toronto, there’s always something new to discover.  On this trip, I think I’ll be spending a bit of time wandering around in search of public art yet undiscovered by me and a journey to a couple of neighbourhoods I’ve yet to visit.  That being said, if the polar vortex still has its grip on Hogtown, I may just elect to find a cozy coffee shop or bar to while away the hours with a good book.   There’s something liberating about a couple of vacation days in a place that feels so much like home and a place you know you’ll keep making return visits to.   With crossed fingers that Mother Nature allows my travel plans to proceed as planned, here’s looking forward to Toronto and the start of a great year of travel!

A night with the Broad Street Bullies

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When I was growing up, although I was a Nordiques fan, I had a soft spot for the Philadelphia Flyers.  Mostly that was due to the fact that I was a big Ron Hextall fan.  As a chubby kid whose dad had a nice set of goalie pads, I found myself in nets a lot, and loved trying to play like Hextall.   Fast forward 25+ years, and on my third visit to watch the Flyers play, little did I know that the game on this night would feature something very Hextall-like:  a full blown goalie fight.  More on that later.

I got to the game just as the gates were opening so I could take in some of the warmups from ice-level.   Slipping past an usher, I made my way down to just behind the Flyers bench as they took the ice.  On the left, the view of the Capitals warming up at the other end.  On the right, Steve Mason warming up with former Halifax Mooseheads star Jakob Voracek looking on:

Pre-game warm-ups
Pre-game warm-ups

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Favourite experiences of 2013

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Travel, whether near or far, never fails to reward me with stories, sounds, smells and a whole host of memories that I cherish… memories that I wouldn’t trade for any material possession.  Some travel experiences are small things – a chance conversation, a taste of something my palate hasn’t had before, or just a feeling from being somewhere that moves something inside me.   Looking back at 2013, these are the five experiences that were the most memorable.

1. Sea to Sky Highway road trip

It was a sunny Sunday morning in June, we had picked up a cute Fiat with a sunroof and about twenty minutes after leaving downtown Vancouver, we were on the Sea to Sky Highway.  To say that it was a scenic drive would be a massive understatement.  Perfect blue skies, snow-capped mountains and crystal clear water formed the backdrop to this road trip.  Whistler was the end destination, but it was the journey that is burned in my mind.  I felt alive and giddy behind the wheel anticipating what was around the next bend of the highway.

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Best eats of 2013

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My travels in 2013 gave me some very memorable eating memories.  Here are a few of the many great things I ate while away this year.

San Juan: Mofongo

Having now tried the national dish of Puerto Rico, I wonder where mofongo has been up to this point in my life.  This is a dish made with fried green plantains that are mashed with olive oil, garlic, some fried pig bits and then filled with meat.  While in San Juan I tried two versions.  The one on the left from Cafe Manolin, a 50’s style diner, was filling and delicious as I waited out a torrential downpour.  The one on the right from Restaurante Airenumo was a more upscale version and the best meal of the five days in Puerto Rico.

Mofongo
Mofongo

Vancouver: Vij’s

Vij’s was a bucket list restaurant for me.  For years and years, I’ve known I would eat here once I got to Vancouver.  This meal was perhaps the best overall meal from the year of travel.  Exceptional service and feeling like you were dining in someone’s home only made it that much better.  The food was sublime: flavourful, perfectly spiced, interesting and inventive.  Making this the perfect evening was getting a chance to say hi to Vikram Vij himself.

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Looking back on 2013

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By any measure, I feel pretty fortunate to have had the year of travel experiences I had in 2013.  Seven separate trips covered a bit more than 37,000 km in the air and a couple thousand kilometres more by train and car.  There were a few return visits to favourite locales and a couple of trips to places I have wanted to visit for many, many years.

Pittsburgh

Ahhh, February in Pittsburgh (you won’t see the city selling that as part of their tourism pitch).  This travel year started off with an unexpected work trip to Pittsburgh, a place I’ve been a couple of times before and of which I am very fond.  I think it’s truly one of America’s most underrated cities.  The limited down time on this trip had me reacquainting myself with a favourite sandwich and taking in a Penguins game with Sidney Crosby’s three points leading the Pens to victory.

Toronto

An early spring trip to visit my sister was next up.  This trip was mostly a time to catch up, quite a bit of that being done at her wine club over some great wines.  I’ll admit something few Canadians will – I love Toronto (minus its current mayor) and really enjoy visiting the city.  A first trip to the Distillery District and a stop for a peameal sandwich, a must on every visit, were a couple of the highlights.

Favourite 2013 travel photos. Toronto, ON. March 2013

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Public art in Philadelphia

/ Greg / 3 Comments

On this trip to Philadelphia, I decided to skip going to one of the traditional art museums in the city for a bit of a different experience.  The city has something called the “Museum Without Walls” which is a program of the public art around Philly.  There’s an iPhone app with commentary and maps for all of the city’s public art installations.  With some great weather days, I got a healthy dose of fresh air and interesting art while walking off those delicious cheesesteaks.  Here are some of my favourite pieces from the city center area.

Across from the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Lenfest Plaza is “Paint Torch” by Claes Oldenburg.  I really liked Oldenburg’s installations I’ve seen in Denver and Seattle so was excited to see this one before heading into my conference across the street:

Paint Torch

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