Blue Jays, Shoe Museum and Brunch Tour Weekend

This last week Luke’s sister Sophie was in town, so we ended up doing lots of new and cool stuff around Toronto. Here are a few of the highlights!

As a birthday present to Luke, Soph had offered to take us out to see a some of the local sporting action. Since we’d been to see the Maple Leafs before Christmas and caught the NBA All Star game earlier this year, we decided to opt for something new and headed to a Blue Jays game. The Blue Jays are the only Major League Baseball team in Canada, so they are hugely popular wherever you go in the country, especially after their successful 2015 season. We were sure to book our tickets early, and ended up close to the action.

Before we headed down to the game we brushed up on the basics of baseball by watching a couple of YouTube videos explaining the rules… that’s right, we had to Google the rules beforehand! Watching the videos made a huge difference and allowed us to enjoy the game in full. Down at the Rogers Centre the crowds streaming into the stadium were huge and once we entered the atmosphere was amazing. After picking up a hotdog and a beer we were ready to enjoy the game (even if the Jays did lose). Awesome birthday present, Soph!

On Saturday Luke insisted that we visit the Bata Shoe Museum (not even joking, unfortunately). After a delicious, decadent brunch at Wish we made our way to the museum on foot. The main exhibition told the history of shoes, from the earliest pair ever to be discovered, through to the power politics and religious symbolism of different styles of footwear throughout the ages. Along the way there were lots of bizarre styles, such as the solid silver shoes worn by Indian brides, red high heels worn by aristocratic Frenchmen in the court of Louis XIV, and the Japanese snow shoes that look more like two buckets made of straw. We also took in the museum’s collection of shoes worn by famous people, including the Dalai Lama’s cheap plastic flip-flops, the shoes worn by Terry Fox on his famous cross-Canada run, and, of course, Justin Bieber’s sneakers.

We also enjoyed the other exhibits at the museum. One detailed the complex history of men in high heels, from the courts of 17th century Europe to modern day rockstars and cowboys (and politicians who are a bit self conscious about their height). Another looked at clothing in the Arctic Circle, while the last exhibit we visited analysed the human cost of fashion in the 19th century. All in all, it was a varied and interesting place. Good choice, Luke.

The rest of Saturday we spent walking the streets of Toronto. We made our way slowly down through Kensington Market, stopping into a couple of quirky stores before having a drink at Ronnie’s Local. We then continued further South through Chinatown to Queen Street West before making our way slowly back to the apartment via Bar Volo for an afternoon drink and snack.

Sunday was Sophie’s last day in town, so we decided to head out for another walk - this time having brunch along the way. Since we had enjoyed our foodie tour of the Danforth with Culinary Adventure Co. so much, we decided that their brunch tour of King and Queen West would be well worth it, and a great way to explore that part of town. We met our guide at Portland Variety for a quick coffee before setting off.

Our first stop was Graffiti Alley, a 3km stretch of alleyway where graffiti artists are free to decorate the walls of the buildings however they choose. Its also where Rick Mercer films his rant every week, so Canadians reading this will be familiar with the place already. Along the way there are a lot of cool, building sized murals.

Then started our tour along Queen Street West, stopping for delicious treats at lots of spots along the way. Starting with a Buck’s Fizz and a Lobster Taco, moving on to a slice of Pizza, then an Italian doughnut filled with Nutella, after which we enjoyed fresh croissants with coffee and tea, before ending up at CheeseWerks for a Caesar, grilled cheese sandwich and slice of bacon.

We had a great time exploring Toronto with Sophie this weekend, and we can’t wait to do it again. In addition to all the things mentioned in this blog post we also ate out at a few awesome restaurants - having food from (nearly) every nationality while we were at it - and watched a ridiculous amount of Brooklyn 99 whenever we were just hanging out at the apartment. Lots of fun.

​Here are some more pictures from our weekend:

​(SLIDESHOW)

This time last year we drove around and learned about the history of Elizabeth's family and two years ago, we had a weekend full of acoustic performances!