Toronto Weekend

As usual, we had itchy feet. Naoyuki really wanted to go to Palm Springs for the Short Film Festival but neither of us wanted to take off that much time. I suggested Toronto instead and he found a great weekend deal at the Toronto Hilton, in downtown Toronto at the corner of West Richmond and University.

We left about noon on Friday and stopped by one of our favorite places, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton. We have been two of three times previously but we had never been to Hendrie Park where we found roses, medicinal plants, and a shady woodland, among other things, nor had we been to the Rock Garden which is totally spectacular. A very good visit, although it was rather hot (upper 80s, low 90s – we’re such wimps now!) for all that walking around outside.

Our room at the Hilton was quite nice (27^th floor with a great view of the CN Tower) and because Naoyuki earlier had joined up for the Hilton Honors program we got to visit the Executive Lounge (up on the 32^nd floor with nice north and south views) for complimentary nibbles and cocktails. Afterwards we did the 15 minute walk down Adelaide Street to Nami for really good sushi. Then back to the room to crash.

Saturday we had breakfast (Executive Lounge, again), then walked up past the Ontario Parliament Building through Queen’s Park to the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, which had a first rate exhibit of Chinese porcelain made for export during the 16^th through the 19^th centuries. It was our first visit to the Gardiner, which is a very modern, newly renovated space. We very much enjoyed the Gift Shop (and came close to actually buying something, which we almost never do) and might have tried the restaurant if we hadn’t had other lunch plans.

Lunch was at Fire on the East Side with my longtime online friend J. and M., J’s new(ish)-dating-since-March boyfriend. J. and I have a long-time, shared passion for men’s bodybuilding and M., as another chat friend says, “puts us all to shame.” It was fun to have a chance to talk about the sport face-to-face with people who are equally knowledgeable about it and interested in it.

After lunch Naoyuki and I paid a (relatively quick) visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), which is currently undergoing renovations. Some cool work by Chuck Close and an impressive collection of Henry Moore sculpture but most of the exhibit space is shut down (and almost all of the collection in storage) while the AGO undergoes a massive renovation project. We look forward to visiting again after the construction project is completed in 2008.

Then it was back to the Hilton for a quick workout in the fitness center and then off to the Distillery District for dinner at Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill, which (unlike another restaurant in the district) was quite pleased to see us, even without a reservation. Good food and a very attentive wait staff made up for prices that were a tad on the high side (it’s a popular destination with tourists and wedding parties, it seems.)

And then…

KOOZA!

The new Cirque du Soleil show under the Big Top in Toronto’s port district was really quite spectacular. The costumes and the music are always great, of course, whatever the show, but the focus here (besides the clowning around) was on acrobatics and athleticism. I can’t tell you how many times I said “HOW did they do that?!” and “Oh My God, you’ve got to be kidding!” Which, from my point of view, is the mark of a great circus!

A great way to end a great Saturday!

Sunday was more low-keyed but still entertaining. We went to China Town so that Naoyuki could shop for exotic fruits and vegetables, then up to J-Town (a collection of Japanese-owned stores selling food, groceries, and other products) for some groceries and a wedding present for my baby brother-in-law and his bride-to-be. Plus back downtown for a return visit to the Textile Museum of Canada and another couple of quirky-yet-beautiful exhibits and a trip to our favorite of all gift shops, where we found a piece of Panamanian Kuna cloth to go with the pieces we picked up on our Panama Canal cruise last November and December (2006).

And, yes, in case you hadn’t noticed, we very much enjoy the fact that we live only 100 miles away from Toronto!