Ok, so we have the CN tower and Eaton center covered, what is there still left to talk about you might ask yourself…? Lots of things that is my answer! Last year wasn’t my first visit to Toronto, but it always feels like like it, as you every time I come here I seem to discover new things. One of the“discoveries” I did this time was the Distillery district or known as the Gooderham and Worts Distillery until 1990 as this was the year they closed their doors for making bourbon and whiskey. Nowadays you’ll find theaters, a few artsy shops, some nice lunch options and a museum on the Distillery. What attracted me here (besides the nice lunch spots) was that the fact they have kept all the original buildings (although I’m sure that at some point it must have burned down like everything else in Toronto) and this gives lots of character to this part of town and the jazzy music jazzed it up :-).  We had our lunch at the “Brick street bakery” where we had some very satisfying sandwiches (I had the day special “meatball sandwich”, not sure what my bride to be had 😦  ). If you’re not really for sandwiches for lunch, I’m sure there will be something else to your liking in the Distillery district for every kind of budget). What you should also know about The Distillery is that it has been used in lots of famous movies like Chicago, The Farm (with Al Pacino) and X men. (you can find a more complete list on the following link). So basically you can even pretend that’s you’re on a movie set 🙂

 

If you are into food (like me) a visit to the St. Lawrence Market is a real must! Walking here felt a bit like walking in a cleaner version of Barcelona’s “Mercat De La Boqueria” (which is an amazing covered market). Just like at ‘La Boqueria’ you can buy as well as eat both local as foreign products, but also farmers selling their own products. On top of this you can also follow cooking workshops here, given by some of Canada’s best chefs! A stop at Placewares while at the market is highly recommended as they really have every kitchen appliance you can imagine at a normal affordable price (I was like a kid in the candy store, to bad I had keep my luggage weight in mind).  I can say for a fact that this market woke up a very big appetite!

Just like in every other city Toronto has a huge choice of restaurants of any nomination and cuisine, so I’m sure you guys won’t starve! Personally I didn’t try too many restaurants in all the times I was here, as I prefer eating the great food my aunt makes! She is a very good cook, I know when she’ll be reading this she’ll say she isn’t, but she is (she’s just modest)! She had two of my preferred cooks as examples 🙂 her mom and her mom’s sister aka my zia Livia (you might have already read about her in my post about her). However a restaurant that I hope to get to next time I’m in Toronto is restaurant ‘Nota Bene ‘. Why? Well a friend of mine (who now works at my favorite wine shop and studied at one Belgium’s best chef schools) worked there for a while and was so enthusiastically about this place that I just have to try it and I’ve also seen lots of positive reactions on this restaurant on the web…  (Last year it didn’t work out to go there)

If you would have the time, I can really recommend you to also explore the area around Toronto. One thing you just have to have seen are the Niagara Falls, they are only an hour drive away from Toronto… so to Canadian standard very close by. I have seen it both at winter time and during summer and the last is definitely better as during this gives you the opportunity to walk a bit and see the falls from almost every angle or do a little walk in the park. You could also take a boat or walk under the fall, but is all quite expensive to do…I mean once you’ve seen the falls you’ve seen the falls. The “town” at the falls is a bit tacky if you ask me, Vegas style, a lot of light, lots of noise, casino’s and junk food 🙂 not really my thing, but still an experience… what I do recommend is stopping at Niagara on the lake, which is the opposite of Niagara town.

Another great trip outside of Toronto would be through the Ontario Wineries (if you like wine obviously), you would really be surprised what beauties (referring to wine) you’ll find here. You can check the following link to know more about the wineries and plan a route.

Or a stop at Oakville (an upscale town at Lake Ontario) could be nice if you like to see some smaller towns… We had a nice dinner at restaurant Julia, which to my opinion was a place where you can eat well for a modest price and enjoy some local wines… what more do you need?

I could keep talking, but one has to stop somewhere… Toronto, Ontario or better whole Canada have all so many beautiful things to offer for you to discover  from beautiful nature to great cities with a European touch and Canadian friendliness . I recommend everybody to go there at least 1 time in their life!

I would also like to thank Gabby and the family for making our trip even more amazing. Thanks guys!

BTW: I didn’t know I had such big fans in Canada? These guys even had a Spinelli Sticker on their car 🙂