Our Anniversary Weekend in Toronto

We had a wondeful time and the weather was perfect, actually almost hot on Sunday. We stayed at the Royal York Hotel on Front Street. Built in 1929 there are 1500 rooms with the last 400 added in the 50`s! There were lots of old interesting pictures on the walls of one floor. It included a small hotel hospital with an operating room, a radio station, and a huge exclusive library to name a few.

The lobby is beautiful. Some pictures turned out too dark of it so here`s one from the brochure and two that were okay.....

This floor is where a lot of the historical pictures are displayed. I`d love to find a book about this place with more pictures.

Inside the elevator....

The hallway to our room.....

Our room on the 9th floor....

The bathroom ...

Views from our window.....


Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip have stayed and their last visit was 2002 in her Golden Jubilee Year.They of course stayed on the top floor I imagine.


We went to the Art Gallery of Ontario and took in the Andy Warhol Supernova Exhibit. Strange man!
We saw a Woodhouse origianl, a Picasso and many other great paintings. Unfortunately not as many as usual though because they are doing renovations and a lot were in storage.

Afterwards we walked around and a Chinese parade passed by....


We stopped for a drink and lunch at the "Village Idiot" pub....


Later we drove around a bit. Woops!!! This is blurry but we accidentally found ourselves going in a very wrong direction on a one way street....luckily we turned around quick!

Back at the hotel we were ready for dinner....
After looking forever for parking and having no luck we realized there was valet parking for our restaurant available.
Spuntini Restorante http://www.spuntini.ca/ was where we had dinner. A great little spot and we were really pleased with our choice though it isn`t a quiet intimate type place if that`s what one is looking for. Luckily we had a reservation because this is one busy little eatery! I didn`t take any pictures inside though because I wouldn`t have felt comfortable clicking away.
Great decor and loads of pictures in the entrance to look at of the owner with all the stars who have been here.....

We both had a Shiraz wine and I had Insalta Caprese for my appetizer while hubby chose Carpaccio Di Manzo for his. My main selection was Penne Calabrese and his Gamberi and Scallops.
For desert I had the most perfect Mango Cre`me Brule and hubby had Dulce Leche Cheesecake. The Spuntini web site explains what each dish is made up of.
The prices are a surprise here. We had two glasses of wine each plus a bottle of Portuguese water and all this food for a little over $100.

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotal at EPIC. I could easily learn to live this way....

Exquisite dining and food presentation....

Time to check out so we decided to take in some more sites and stop for lunch along the way. We went to the Duke of Argyle. Nothing fancy on the outside but very nice inside. We had Fish and Chips and .....this is no fish tale...the battered fish was 12" by 4" ! Huge piece of fish and of course I was too busy eating to think of taking a picture.

We then went to an Antique market which was amazing but way overpriced. So we decided to go back to Queen street and walk around and popped into a couple of the little antique shops there. I bought these for the walls. Some look a bit orange but they`re actually pinks and mauves. $1 each and when I asked about the price of this big one, she said it was a gift because it had a little chip in it. At first I thought she meant it had been a gift to her but got a chip in it. Then I realized she meant to me! How nice is that? :)

We drove through Rosedale and saw some incredible Victorian stately homes. Didn`t want to take too many pictures there though because there were people out and about most of them. As your entering this area of the elite there is a sign posted to please be quiet in this residentual area.

This one had a really striking fall pot arrangement. Picture doesn`t do it justice. The one I wish I had of took had ornamental cabbages in the two pots with something else and greenery flowing down. They were amazing. I`m going to search out an internet picture if I can and save that idea for next year.
Rosedale takes you onto Young Street which is the longest street in the world.
There are lots of little gourmet shops and upscale stores this end of it.

It was a fantastic time. We weren`t able to stop by my daughter`s though because she went to her boyfriend`s Mum`s Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.
Now it`s time to go and watch the apple pie for my family dinner today doesn`t burn. With me baking it, there`s a very good chance it might!
This is where I found it http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001441extra_thick_apple_pie.php
Here`s what it`s supposed to look like....

Later.....
This is what mine looks like. It`s on the dark side but at least not burnt. I glazed it with egg white. Maybe I shouldn`t have LOL. Oh well, I make a good stuffing.

Next weekend we`re off to hubby`s family dinner next. His parents are away on a trip this weekend until then.