toronto, part 2

here is more of toronto...

the sunshine
summer in toronto was hot, very hot.  for a quick cool off from the sunshine we either went swimming at the local pool (my first visit there since i was a teenager) or the boys had water gun fight fun.

 



 

  
 
 
 

  

a summer shower, almost daily, also cooled us off!

the beaches
we visit this area every time i return home.  it is the neighbourhood stefan and i lived after we were married. queen street east has an eclectic mix of clothing boutiques, antiques shops, coffee houses and restaurants.  the local park is a favourite of kai's.  the beach is a block away and the breeze is beautiful.  the beach was swimming-friendly at this time so we went in (yes, we swam in lake ontario).  we ate at the beachfront restaurant and strolled the boardwalk for ice cream. 

  

 the wading pool had a hopscotch pained on it which we had fun with.  and the squirrels were abundant!

 

 

the danforth
this is another favourite neighbourhood. the danforth is toronto's greek neighbourhood. it is lively during the day as well as at night. cafes stay open late into the night which makes it feel like a piazza, where people (young, old, and families) dress up and go to be seen after having some greek food of course!   the greek restaurants offer up authentic greek food!

i  met up with some friends 'on the danforth' for dinner.  we laughed alot. we all grew up on the same street not far from the danforth and we are all still connected and enjoy each other. i love the rarity of that.  one of the things my mom taught me was the importance of friendship.  as immigrants to toronto, my parents and their friends relied on each other. the people i grew up with were friends of my parents but i always thought of them as family. for example, it wasn't until i was a pre-teen that i discovered my 'cousin' wasn't actually a real cousin. this is how close my parents were to their friends.  even now at 82 years of age, my mom takes care of sick friends, helps another run her bakery when an extra pair of hands are needed, and makes food for a neighbour whose wife is in hospital.  i'm glad she role modeled this for me.  now that both stefan and i are away from our families, i've tried to recreate that same feeling of family for kai through our wonderful group of friends.  i feel lucky to have the friends i do in toronto and vancouver.  they are one of the reasons i started this blog. to stay connected in this modern age of social technology.

   

from left to right: me, rosetta, rose, mary, antonella, chiara

toronto is known as the city of neighbourhoods.  in recent years, development has brought to life areas now known as the distillery district, leslieville, and west queen street west.  i took time to explore these transformed communities.

the distillery district

what was once the gooderham and worts distillery, this little district is now the centre for arts and entertainment.  along the pedestrian-only cobblestone pathways you can find art galleries, museums, boutiques, artist studios, bistros and cafes. 

west queen street west

queen street west has kept its diversity of culture and cool factor.  there is just more of it.  queen street west has stretched further west offering trendy restaurants, clothing stores, and chic house decor along with big box chains.

i'm glad to see this concert venue is still toronto's most loved of small stages!  i spent lots of time here!!!

i bought a necklace here but i'm still thinking about the other one i tried one!

just off of queen street in the queen's quay area, sugar beach can be found - it was once a parking lot!

leslieville
this east-end neighbourhood was my favourite.  it's filled with unique shops supporting local artists.  it was a fun and relaxing spot to spend a day.  we wandered past gourmet food stores, hip cafes, restaurants (we ate at the gio's really nice restaurant), chic boutiques, and loads of furniture/home decor stores.  there is lots of green space including greenwood park where we went for a swim. 

one of my longtime friends angie

        



inside the entry way of gio's really, really nice restaurant

that's it!  there was an abundance of photos, i realize. i am the designated photographer when i am with my family so this is to share with them but for those of you readers you stopped by, i hope you enjoyed my toronto highlights!