Monday, October 09, 2006

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.

14 comments:

Bob said...

Well Tea it's really nice to see you are back and more importantly that you had a great time. That hotel looks amazing, I'm not sure you would have got me out of there again once you got me in. The apple pie looks great to me, if you have trouble getting rid of it you can send it my way. Thanks for sharing your break with us I really enjoy seeing where you've been.

Elise said...

Your pie looks fabulous!

Saur♥Kraut said...

What a wonderful time you had with wonderful food (very important) AND you got to share it with a gorgeous guy. How lucky are you?

Christine Boles said...

Wow! Such a lot of photos! And so beautiful!
Thank you for sharing them with us!

Rowan said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful anniversary weekend, the hotel looks very nice indeed. So glad you had a good time - and the pie looks fine to me.

Farmgirl Cyn said...

Your photos are fabulous! You two look so sweet together! And the pie looks delicious, by the way!

Anonymous said...

You two look like you had a great time. The pie looks good too, enjoy your family dinner.xo

Janet said...

WOW! You had a fantastic weekend from the looks of those photos! I love that hotel, the food sounds delicious, the little plates are beautiful, and your pie looks absolutely perfect to me! Congratulations on your anniversary.

Jeanne said...

I am so glad you had such a nice time.
Blessings to you and more years of love sweet love!
Be well my friend.
Love Jeanne

rel said...

Tea,
You can bake a pie for me anytime!
Apple is ok, blueberry would be better.lol
Don't ya just love those romantique get-a-ways to elegant old hotels, and goumet meals, and lots of sight seeing and picture taking. Gee, it just makes those endorphis flow!
I can hear the smile in your words, and see the sparkle in you smiles.
I glad you had a fabulous weekend.
rel

Diana LaMarre said...

What a wonderful anniversary weekend you had! I really enjoyed your tour.

What a magnificent old hotel that is.

The pie looks perfect. I am a big fan of egg wash on the top.

I also like those ornamental kales in fall planters. I keep saying I'm going to do one, but just never get around to it. If you find a pic on the net, please post it.

Heather said...

I love a pie baked a little on the dark side! The Royal York Hotel...sigh...how beautiful! Were the beds comfy??

Boxwood Cottage said...

Belated happy anniversary Tea!xox Great to see that you have had a fantastic weekend! Apple pie hhhmmm looks delicious!

Tea said...

Orange Blossom/Heather...yes the beds were really comfy :)

tea
xo