I don’t usually do travel updates here saving that for the travel blog, but since we took a very short trip and it was only because of where we live, it seems appropriate to share here.  I was our first real road trip from the new house and we learned a lot.

First, we had to figure out what to do with the dog.  While our marvelous neighbor Kim would have been happy to take care of Buddy for the 48 hours we would be gone, we really needed to test drive a kennel for our upcoming and much longer trips.  Given that we had great luck boarding him with the vet when we lived in KC, we chose that route and on Friday afternoon Buddy was happily ensconced at Periton Veterinary Hospital.  After my 2pm conference call blew me off, the car was packed and we hit the road bound for Toronto!

Now, Google maps will tell you that we are 182 miles from the flat that we rented so my brain translates that to a 3 hour drive.  But it was Friday afternoon and there was a border to cross so it was really more like 4 hours – the Gardiner Expressway was a nightmare! We don’t have traffic like that in Rochester. 

Eventually we made it to the flat on Simcoe Street and found it to be everything we needed: one bedroom, living room with couch and a small kitchen for making our own coffee and tea.  We headed out to wander the town.  We stopped at the holiday fair in Nathan Phillips square and snacked on naked poutine (okay, it was french fries but they were really good!).  We wandered the market stalls and watched the skaters before going to find some real food, which was more difficult than I would have predicted.  It was apparently “office party Friday” and every restaurant was either closed for a private party of had an hour wait because they weren’t closed for a private party.  We eventually found a place that worked, Red’s Wine Bar, and we enjoyed massive G&Ts from the “make your own” menu and some very passible steaks.   Then off to bed to prepare for our next day’s adventures. 

We slept in (because we could) and then grabbed some breakfast before starting the serious endeavor of the day:  Christmas shopping!  Those who know me understand how painful I find shopping in general but I tackled this challenge with aplomb:  wandering around a foreign city looking for stuff to buy family members isn’t the same as going to the mall to find deals on clothes for work.  That said, we did hit one mall if you can call the Eaton Center a mall.  No real shopping there but a chance to get out of the cold, see the enormous Christmas tree and ogle the brand new Aston Martin. 

Then back out in the cold to the St Lawrence Market before heading to the planned destination: the Toronto Christmas Market in the Distillery district. It was trying very hard to be a real European Christmas market and came pretty close.  We had 3 goals:  spiked hot chocolate, mulled wine, and at least one Christmas present.  And victory was ours!  We even managed a lovely plate of raclette for lunch.  

Laden with parcels, we trooped back to the flat to enjoy some local beverages before venturing out again for dinner.  I wanted my kitchy spaghetti mizithra at the Olde Spaghetti Factory but the wait was an hour and I don’t have that kind of patience.  So we hit the Keg next door for more steak (how does the Keg have a shorter wait than the Spaghetti Factory?) and called it a day.  

But the weekend was not done!  Although we didn’t have much time to spend in the city on Sunday, we had things still to do before crossing the border and retrieving the puppy.  So it was breakfast then a stop at Canadian Tire (for British car wax) and Ikea (for a new duvet cover) and then a record swap meet (for 9 gently used 70s and 80s albums).  Of course, no trip across the Niagara escarpment is complete without a winery stop so we headed straight for the Megalomaniac winery which had been a favorite of ours on a vacation trip years earlier.  They didn’t disappoint and a case of wine was packed into the back seat.  One final stop at Dillon’s distillery for some small batch gin and a variety of bitters.  Then we had to high tail it south to get to the dog during kennel pick up hours.  But we made it, with a full trunk, lots of booze, a happy (and clean) dog, and about 45K steps of exercise on Canadian soil.  Oh Canada, see you again soon!

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