TO Toronto

If Vancouver gets a rep for being a city of laid-back-nature-loving-latte-sipping-yoga-devotees, Toronto is its hip-yet-stern-grown-up sister city. Or so it seems.

You see, I've never been to Toronto (I think I had a connecting flight at Pearson once, like fifteen years ago). I remember when I first met the other Canadian assistants teaching English in France (all of whom were from Toronto or its surroundings) and told them that I'd never been to Toronto. They looked at me in disbelief. Or maybe that was me reading into it too much because of my own insecurity on the subject.

But why would I have gone to Toronto? Only one of them had been to Vancouver. And apparently Lonely Planet agrees (note the Vancouver city guides and lack of a Toronto equivalent). But I jest.

It's just that other than Toronto being the "center of the universe," the CBC occasionally interrupting national broadcasts to update us all on the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 401, and being home to the world's formerly tallest sky scraper, I just don't know much about what it has to offer.

So this isn't so much a regular Wanderlust Wednesday, as it is a call for travel tips and suggestions. An opportunity and seat sale coincided, and I'm really excited to fly out on Friday morning. Have you been to or live in Toronto? What should I eat, drink, and see? I love architecture and my espresso black instead of with steamed milk. The touristiest thing I think I might do is go up the CN Tower... if I don't get struck with a fear of heights.

(photo by Stephanie Todaro via Design*Sponge)

Springtime Weekend

My balcony garden blooms with daffodils and hyacinths.

The first day of spring was Wednesday, although it has felt like spring for a few weeks already. The weather this weekend was way nicer than forecasted. Friday we barbecued for dinner for the first time this season. Saturday Peter and I met up with our friend Charlotte for our first walk of the seawall this year.

Peter's foot has hurt for a few days so instead of going the long way around the edge of Stanley Park, we cut past Lost Lagoon and saw swans mingling with the Canada geese and ducks.

Waderlust Wednesday: Eat, Gay, Love

Having returned home nearly two years ago, this is admittedly no longer a travel blog. Instead, it's become an outlet of sorts for my travel-themed writings and ramblings.For this Wanderlust Wednesday, I thought I'd share about someone who is currently writing a travel blog.

I can't remember how I happened across Jason Hudson's blog These Roving Eyes (probably via Jeremy & Kathleen). When I caught glimpse of this proposed itinerary, I immediately wanted to follow along, and was awed at Jason and his partner's bravery to pack up their lives in Toronto for a year-long worldwide adventure in celebration of their ten-year anniversary (congrats!).

My wanderlust has had me daydreaming all across the globe, but Jason and Jeff will actually be living it. They've only just left a little over a month ago, so you can catch up and follow along if you want.

Bon voyage Jason and Jeff!


(Map illustration by Paul Dotey via Jason Hudson/These Roving Eyes)

Asparagus cuit à l'anglaise

For dinner this evening I had steamed Canadian asparagus for the first time this spring. It was from Ontario, so I can't exactly call it local, but at least it had a smaller carbon footprint than the asparagus imported from South America in the dead of winter.

My favourite way to prepare asparagus is simply steaming it. (Tonight it was a side to a cross between spaghetti carbonara and this recipe.) Although you can dress it in Julia Child's Hollandaise sauce, I think less is more. If you just steam it turns bright green and you have a crisp delicious springtime vegetable.

Ever since reading French Women Don't Get Fat (I was curious to learn if I had an inherent biological advantage), I am always reminded of Mireille Guiliano's annecdote about how asparagus was white when she was a child in France--apparently they were grown in the dark!

As I was checking the spears to see if they were ready, I was reminded of a phrase my mum sometimes says.

cuit à l'anglaise (kwee ah long-glaze) : literally, cooked in the English style

Cuisiner à l'anglaise means simply to boil (and boil and boil again) in salt water. In my family though, it seemed to have more meaning. My grand-maman would used the phrase to mean vegetables that were too hard because they were insufficiently cooked to her taste. I always assumed it was also a dig at English cooking and that it had a connotation of French/English tensions (especially historically in Canada) and that cooking the French way was the right way. But maybe I'm reading too much into the expression.

My asparagus tonight was a little cuit à l'anglaise because I forgot to set a timer (it typically takes 8 minutes or less). But that's okay because there is little less appetizing limp, mushy asparagus.

(Photo by Esteban Cavrico via 10:10)

Victoria

This past weekend I visited my friend Kristen in Victoria. I got a different view of the city as Kristen and her boyfriend live on the other side of the Johnson Street Bridge, in Vic West. This visit solidified my impression of Victoria as a very walkable city; from Kristen's door, the walk across the bridge to downtown was less than fifteen minutes.

This trip to Victoria was more laid back that previous ones. I only snapped this one photo. I find myself attracted to capturing bicycles and doorways. This bike was parked against a storefront in Fan Tan Alley in Victoria's Chinatown.

Victoria has lots of alleys, squares and "secret passages" connecting its downtown district. Fan Tan Alley is the narrowest (only 90cm wide at its smallest points). In the spring, Jacky demonstrated that you easily touch either wall. You can visit it digitally here.

How To Pack Like A Rockstar

That's my suitcase on the left, it's famous!

The weekend before last, I met my friends Charlotte and Katie for brunch. Having not seen Katie in months (she's in law school), she mentioned that she'd heard Peter on the radio. Though I have the CBC Early Edition on every morning, I actually hadn't heard it (I must have either been hitting snooze or in the shower). When Peter recorded it, he didn't yet know when it would air, and we kind of just forgot about it.

Shaun Huberts, a fellow bass player who has toured with Tegan and Sara, turned his wealth of experience packing into the book How To Pack Like A Rock Star. Shaun lives up the hill from us and Peter had been trying to catch him to buy a copy the book as a Christmas gift for his parents (his parents bring at least one large suitcase each when they come visit for a few days). They'd been trying to meet for a couple of days when Shaun called Peter to see if he could help do a radio interview about the book.

My favourite part of the interview is when Peter qualifies his level of packing experience as "for the purpose of this." You see, Peter has also toured as a musician and is pretty good at packing. But even so, he says he learned a few new techniques from How To Pack Like A Rock Star.

If you want to have a listen yourself, click here (the interview starts at 1:30:00).

(photo via CBC)