Toronto Part 1

Arriving in Toronto, I met my host Christian at a party celebrating Saint Jean-Baptiste Day, a holiday mainly celebrated in Quebec. It was at this party that I learnt about the cultural differences between English and French speaking Canada, and also witnessed some Quebec style debating between them. We drank wine and ate cheese with crackers, and then took an uber to Christian's neighborhood to get a drink, not before leaving my backpack in the car and having to call it back. That really would have ruined my holiday... 

At the bar I got to witness more arguing debating, this time about tipping culture. A nearby drinker also got involved. It was quite heated and while one side said 'I'm not arguing as friends' the other shouted 'I am!'. Regardless, they were friends again in the morning.

I stayed with Christian and his cat for two nights and he showed me some of downtown Toronto.

This is 'Pink Soup' made from pickled beetroot and spinach, with a hard boiled egg on top. Looks vibrant and tastes great!

The distillery area of Toronto, where you can find lots of cool little shops and have some drinks too. I had some sake and truffles.

Part of the distillery district. This is the building that was used as the exterior of the prison in the movie 'Chicago'.

The distillery also has a few museums and a craft market. We learnt about glassblowing and saw an exhibit that wasn't allowed to be touched, but had been touched all over evidenced by how many finger shaped holes it had pushed into it.

Don't know what the exhibit was about, but I'll take a photo anyway.

After the distillery we went to a local market and had a peameal pork sandwich at the Carousel Bakery.

Porky!

On my second night in Toronto I was lucky enough to be able to watch a Shania Twain concert. I say lucky as this is supposedly her last tour. When other artists say that I don't really believe them but as she hasn't toured in over ten years anyway, I'm inclined to trust her. The show was great!

 We explored some more of the city on day two, spending our time people watching and eating.

The CN Tower

 After our morning of exploration, I took the train to the other side of the city to meet my friend Sarah and her partner Matt, who I spent two more nights with. You can read about that in Toronto Part 2.

Dan