SATURDAY
The weather decided our day, thunder and lightning. Still under a heat warning, although it will be 7 degrees lower than yesterday and that was 3 lower than the day before, so we are moving into more bearable conditions. It pored until around 5.
And to be honest, Canada plays at 1 PM, we want to see it and everywhere will be packed. We even have a watch party here in the building.
And then it was over.
SUNDAY
We did a lot of nothing, miscellaneous chores and stuff got done. A couple of loads of laundry.
Baked a chocolate cake.
I wrote a long post on the Museum of Human Rights for Tuesday.
MONDAY
We noticed that BMO had a big soccer ball installed as sponsors of FIFA.
We had our first Summerlicious lunch booked at the St. Regis Hotel, Louix Louis restaurant on the 31st floor.
The tower has 65 stories and held the title of Canada's tallest completed mixed-use building for over a decade after opening in 2012, the Toronto skyline has rapidly outgrown it, now exceeded by the Pinnacle at 106 floors.
The building includes 261 luxury hotel rooms and 118 residential condominium suites. The hotel occupies floors 2-31, while floors 32-57 are occupied by condominium suites. It is the blueish building in the middle of this photo.
The name LOUIX LOUIS is a clever, double-sided play on words designed by the Navigate Group Brand Studio to mirror the restaurant's identity: equal parts royal French elegance and classic American grit.
They describe it as "The interior mimics the shimmering amber tones of a crystal whisky glass. This pays tribute to Toronto's local history as a historic global distilling hub while keeping the sophisticated vibe of a Parisian parlour".
We chose this because we would never think of coming here for lunch!
A really good view of the original Bank of Commerce building. Click here for its history, it is now known as CIBC, Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada.
Chilled Crab Vichyssoise: A seasonal, chilled soup topped with caviar, chives, crab, meyer lemon, and puff pastry
Roasted Halibut: Served with potato fondant, a bright pea and mint purée, cauliflower, and citrus beurre blanc.
Maple Glazed Quebec Duck Breast: Cooked medium-rare and paired with braised red cabbage, carrot purée, blackberry gastrique, and shimeji mushrooms.
Mango Passionfruit Cheesecake and sorbets
We needed to take a walk so went beaver hunting and found a couple before heading home.
Beaver spoiler alert!
From 3 - 6 PM our bus is now departing from outside the Royal York. Canada Day display, red and white.
Let's just say the Belgian team gained 80 billion followers cheering them on!!
TUESDAY
We both went for mani pedis this morning.
Group of Seven - we had planned on going to an exhibit of the Group of Seven, but we changed our minds.
John did manage to get a temporary parking spot while the garage is being cleaned tomorrow.
We got rid of the plastic plants on the balcony and John cleaned the balcony.
I put a few more things in the recycling bin downstairs.
I ordered and we received an power operated shower cleaner. My cleaning lady said she'd soon be able to work from home!
While I wait for my passport, I checked and logged in to Nexus as that has to be updated with new passport number. Not that we have any plans to go to the States!!
Now we can both apply for our UK visas.
WEDNESDAY
John bottled his wine and played golf, said it was hot!
I got the streetcar with plans to stop for mural photos, but that shifted and I thought I would do it on the way home. Then decided to get off at Bathurst and I poked in the stores along the way.
Picked up a couple of things in Loblaw's. Then to my original destination, my favourite plant store, but by then I was loaded down and only had room for two small plants.
Our plumber came and installed our bidet for ($150 cash). We have been talking about one since we were in Japan.
THURSDAY
Armed with our maps and spreadsheets, we caught the streetcar to Adelaide and Yonge to start our beaver quest. I will update our beaver post later.
Trying to find a beaver in the area...
Hand-painted concrete modular barriers separate a bike lane or pedestrian area from active vehicle traffic. These stylized structures are part of the City of Toronto Concrete Barriers Program, curated by StreetARToronto (StART).
The Queen & Richmond Centre East (QRC East) building, it has been beautifully restored into premium commercial office space and a lively coworking community.
The Robertson Brothers (1890s–1920s): Built in the late 19th century, the structure originally served as the primary factory and warehouse for Robertson Brothers Confections, one of Canada’s most prominent early chocolate and candy manufacturers.
As manufacturing moved out of the downtown core after WWII, the complex was carved up to house various commercial businesses, text/media companies, and creative studios.
The original century-old building at 119-125 George Street was a four-storey commercial structure built in 1927 for Nicholson & Brock, a prominent Canadian birdseed manufacturing company. It is now known as Celeste Condos, a 40-storey residential high-rise known for its distinct design, which incorporates and preserves the historic century-old brick masonry office facade at its base podium, transitioning into a contemporary glass tower above.
Our lunch spot, Anejo, Mexican. Way too humid to sit outside.
Inside St. Lawrence Market, you can finally get a beer! Beaver alert!!
The ribs weren't anything special.
John said this was a really delicious birria. I loved my ceviche, although it was light on seafood, the vegetables and sauces were fabulous.
We'd come back, but would do it at Happy Hour when everything is half price!
Bonus Canadian beaver added July 6, not on original quest.
FRIDAY
I updated my beaver quest maps and did some blogging after tidying up appliances.
While they were cleaning, I tidied out some drawers and got "like with like".
Since were were given an arrival time between 9:30 and 12:30 for the appliance guys, John went to use the simulator and 10, so we could split our waiting time. Lauren arrived right on time at 10 AM. She was busy until 4! They sent the wrong gasket so they will replace that next week. They also need to push the machines back so we can close the door. Yes, we could do it, but they should have checked that, and also if something should break/flood...
We adjusted the dishwasher rack to the way it was.
I went out at 1 to college Park, bought a straw hat for myself, went to Winners', Metro - bacon on special $3, Farm Boy, and $ store.
AROUND TOWN
UPCOMING
SUMMERLICIOUS BOOKED JULY 6 / 13
Jul 9 - Anejo lunch
Jul 10 - 12 City Hall Art Show
July 14 - golf
July 14 - passport pickup
Finish beaver quest!
July 18 - BIG on Bloor
July 20 - 23 Family and Blue Jays
July 26 - Leonard Cohen Reference Library tickets subway
July 31 - Black and Blue reserved
Aug 1 - Beatles tickets
TBD
Fan Coil - date of Jul 22 not agreed
Appliance Heroes - completed Jul 10 gasket Jul 15
New stove
COOKING
Saturday - pork stuffed green peppers
Sunday - salmon asparagus and parmesan roasted potatoes
Monday - out for lunch chips
Tuesday - curry chicken
Wednesday - ground pork tacos and homemade salsa. That is the last of the sample tacos I got last summer at Union. I wouldn't buy them.
I did get a good deal on the tomatoes, surprisingly, at Loblaw's. We're not big fans of hard taco shells, and this were oddly cheese (artificial) flavoured.
Thursday - out for lunch egg and onion sandwiches (John's request)
Friday - steak and foil package potatoes, onions, mushrooms
WATCHING
The Four Seasons - I watched it and enjoyed it. Three suburban couples vacation together each season, but tensions arise when one couple splits up and the husband brings a much younger woman on subsequent trips.
It is on Netflix so we're catching up on our lists before our contract ends.
I started Traitors NZ.
Unforgivable
Heart of Stone
Luther
Reptile
Restless
Cape Fear - our first Apple show.
READING
The Things We Leave Unfinished was a skip-the-line borrow. It was too much of a romance novel, I DNF.
House of Glass meh started all right, got bogged down in the middle and left me wishing it to end as I had pretty well figured out the plot, except for one small plot twister that seemed a little too preposterous.
Started Keep Your Friends Close and I am enjoying it, it follows What Kind of Parents Are You that i recently read.
"It was the best of tines, it was the worst of tines"?
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