Let’s dance!

Time for a little bit of music and dance again! Starting with a performance of the National Ballet of Canada: the famous and passionate story of CARMEN. The National Ballet is aiming to attract more young visitors, and organized a membership programme for 16 to 29 year olds. Accompanied by my age buddy (i.e. my 29-year-old friend LOL), I made my first entrance at the Four Seasons Theatre. Thanks to our So You Think You Can Dance experience in watching (and judging) modern dance, we had a great time 🙂

Over the weekend we had the illusion of being on holiday in Brazil. The so called Dundas West Fest took place in little Portugal, a festival on the streets full of food, nice little market stalls, and of course music and dancing people! Loud sounds of Portuguese and Brazilian music were audible during the whole day. That’s what I like so much about Toronto, all these multicultural neighbourhoods where you can really experience a different culture.

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Celebrating summertime

Not only have we embarked upon our first summer in Toronto, it was also the first time we had friends coming over from Amsterdam during this enjoyable season :-). (Although dog sledding and skiing were unbeatable Canadian experiences). And that meant, experiencing Toronto in a new way! The last weeks we’ve spent our free time in parks, on little beaches (blogto.com/sports_play/2011/07/the_top_five_beaches_in_toronto/), at the Toronto Islands, on patios (patios.blogto.com/) and at the pool. What a life hehe. I love summer!

high parkpool

And there are more great ways of enjoying this time of the year. What about watching the Torontonian baseball team playing in their stadium (and sunny weather equals an open roof: tanning at the same time… Uhhhh YES please!!). Let’s go Blue Jays, let’s go! And they play almost every day  (toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=tor).

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Last winter we already visited the Niagara Falls, and we’ve been in the region around Niagara-on-the-Lake before too. But visiting the winery of Peller Estate (peller.com) last week was an absolute highlight. Delicious (ice)wine, food and surroundings, WOW!

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I always love to explore cities by bike. And not only the Dutchies enjoy cycling through Paris and New York, cycling is hot!! In Toronto we have Bixi bikes, a perfect way to get around for only 5 dollars a day. After this experience I even subscribed for a year, because I like the Bixi bikes more than my own city bike LOL.

bixi bike

Canadian driver’s license

Whoop whoop! As of today I’m allowed to drive in Canada! Yes, my good old pink Dutch driver’s license isn’t valid here, don’t ask me why.

Can you imagine, almost eleven years ago I got my driver’s license, as proud as a peacock LOL. And I had to do it all over again, including a theory test, a few lessons and a road test. YAY… not! Fortunately, I passed 🙂

So watch out Torontonians, this Dutchie’s going to hit the road again HOORAY!!

driving

Holiday in the Netherlands

For more than three weeks I was almost acting like a tourist in my ‘own city’ Amsterdam. Touring around on my bike felt so familiar, but yet so different because I was just visiting and somehow I realized more than ever how much I like this city! Three weeks full of seeing friends and family, lunches, dinners, birthday parties, baby showers, housewarmings, celebrating the coronation of the king, and spending hours on the terrace. Not too bad.

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But… Being back in Toronto feels SO good! And the best part is: S U M M E R  is in the air!! Who wouldn’t be happy if the sun’s shining after a long and snowy winter?! All terraces and patios are open again, the parks are green, the beach is waiting for us… Let the summer begin!

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Funny enough, at the same time temperature rises, Toronto has the (ice) hockey fever. The Toronto Maple Leafs are for the first time since 2004 back in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Almost every Canadian on the street, man or woman, young or old, is wearing a blue or white Maple Leaf shirt with names on the back like Lupul, Kessel or Van Riemsdyk. Even the entire staff of our supermarket is dressed as a hockey player. And of course the CN tower is blue coloured for this special occasion. All together, is it a BIG happening that takes places in the Air Canada Centre, right under our house! Half the city is watching outside the stadium, and therefore it is inevitable to stay indifferent about it. While writing this, the Leafs have just lost the game… I’ve never expected to be disappointed about a lost ice hockey game (during summer time!). Am I getting Canadian? Hehe..

hours beforebefore the gamelive on televisionCN bluebusy on the streets

Downward Dog!

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Warrior, Child’s pose, Pigeon, Cat, Cow, Plank and back to… good old Downward Facing Dog! Yes man, that’s yoga! And yoga is popular. There are almost 700 studios in the Greater Toronto Area. That’s a lot!

Since a few weeks I’m into yoga too. Searching for the perfect match I am trying out different studios, classes, teachers and types of yoga. There are so many possibilities, and everyone has their own preference (personally, I’m not a big fan of chanting ;-), but maybe you love it!). One thing I know for sure, the Downward Dog becomes easier after a while. I like yoga!

And… CUT!

Just living in Toronto, I was watching a movie and realized it was shot in Toronto! Soon I found out that Toronto is a ‘hot spot’ for film locations. Very often, streets are fenced off in order to shoot a film, music video or TV series. Did you know that for example American Psycho, Brokeback Mountain, Cocktail, Cruel Intentions, Good Will Hunting, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, John Q and Mean Girls are shot in this city too?

Why did I never spot a famous movie star?? Maybe I have to be patient and wait for September, when the Toronto International Film Festival (tiff.net) takes place. Or… Be aware of filming notifications (that are cooler than ‘The Listener’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ hehe).

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Pop-up!

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Pop-up sales are HOT. Together with the UK and the US, Canada is one of the most enthusiastic performers of pop-up events. And together with my friends I am one of their most enthusiastic supporters 🙂

Pop-up events in Toronto vary from plain sales to artisanal night markets with DJs, vintage clothing, street art, jewelry, food and drinks. Perfect start for the Friday night out! Thanks to these events we discovered a lot of great designers like Fredrick Prince (fredrickprince.com), Shop for Jayu (shopforjayu.com) and Wild Moon Jewelry (wildmoonjewelry.com).

Next time, we’re in again!

Discover the slopes…

Our trip started at the most fairy-like airport I have ever been to: Mont Tremblant. A wooden building that looks more like a cosy chalet than an airport. White minivans were waiting to take us to our hotel in the pedestrian village along the scenic route. Accustomed to the European slopes, just the one mountain was a different experience, but the snow was perfect and the Canadian environment and especially the views were magnificent. Due to the Washington break (a holiday for American kids) the tranquil, innocent looking village turned into a true party place by the time dusk set in. Thanks to our blue jackets, the DUTCH PROMO TEAM didn’t have to pay any entrance fees hehe.

After three days of skiing, snowboarding, consuming (favourites are wine, ginger ale, cheese, nachos, burgers, caesar salad, oysters and pork ribs), filming with the Go Pro and dancing, it was time to move on to our next destination: Montréal. Driving past all the Québécois slopes contributed to our awareness of being in Canada instead of the Alps. And then… Paris in North America! Our stay in Montréal was way too short, we’ll be back!!

Mont Tremblant airportMont Tremblant villageDutch promo teamMont Tremblant CHEESESkiing SlopesWOOHOOMontreal old townMontreal dinner1Montreal dinner2

Just an ordinary week…

After a period of strikes Toronto’s biggest pride is playing again: the Maple Leafs! Hockey (ice hockey that is) is the bomb in Canada, and it’s a fun and crazy experience to attend a game, especially when seated at the 10th row… The crowd goes wild!

One thing I really don’t miss from the Netherlands is the rain. YUCK! Nothing better than a sunny, cold day in Toronto: walking through the beautiful Trinity Bellwoods Park, having lunch at Nadège, doing a little bit of shopping (SALE!!!) and having dinner with friends. This week it’s time for Winterlicious, Toronto’s biggest winter culinary celebration where lots of local restaurants offer fixed price menus. Going local is the way to go. The perfect opportunity to go to this special (and way too expensive but totally worth it) restaurant you always wanted to go! Check out http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/winterlicious/2013/index.htm for more information. Bon appétit!

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Sightseeing in TO

Sometimes it feels like we have to do some more sightseeing in Toronto, so on a Saturday we took the car and drove through the city. We made one cultural stop WOOHOO, and went to Casa Loma (casaloma.org). You wouldn’t expect a castle in the city, on a hill overlooking Toronto! This had to be celebrated with a cocktail hehe.

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A woman’s got to do what a woman’s got to do. Meanwhile, still on my mission to discover all the best places in Toronto, so hereby an extension of my list of favourite spots. Great restaurant: Weslodge (wedlodge.com), coffee/lunch: R2 (blogto.com/cafes/r-squared-cafe-toronto) and Neuf (leneufcafe.com), interior design on Queen Street West: Design Republic (mydesignrepublic.com) and Stylegarage (stylegarage.com). More interior on King Street East and in Liberty Village: West Elm (westelm.com). Last but not least, fashion: Lavish & Squalor (lavishandsqualor.com). (EN)JOY!