Rest day - Toronto

Rest day – Toronto
28 km bike ride.
Hot, humid.

What a week-end to chose to be here. Oh, I might go all over the place and even tell some stories of the past with this post – just a heads up.

First, it's NXNE in Toronto this week-end. North by North East is a music festival. Ten years ago (or is it 12?), it was 350 bands from around the world, playing in 15-25 different venues (mainly on Queen Street), 5 bands per bar (9 pm, 10, 11, 12, 1, sometimes 2), over 3 days. You buy a wrist-band, and it's your cover for all these bars. You just hop from one place to another. Awesome. Well, it's here at the moment. I scanned the bands playing for that night, but nothing grabbed me. (Evan Dando, from the Lemonheads, was playing on Friday night, interesting).

I was first introduced to those festivals when I went to a triathlon training camp in Texas back in '94. The SXSW, 500 bands from all around the world, 4 nights, x amount of clubs, and fairly huge bands, is the original festival. A must to attend. Even though I was underaged, we were waiting in line to go see Beck. He just came out with his single “I'm a loser”, so he was getting fairly popular. We didn't have wrist-bands, so our chances of getting in were slim - especially being underaged too. So, as we're waiting, who comes out? None other than the legendary Johnny Cash. Freaky – just 10 feet away from me. He waves at the crowd, and then walks away.

Back to Toronto. It's also the World Championships for bike messengers on Toronto Island. I'd love to see that. But, no time. Oh well.

The day started alright. The ride into town is mainly downhill, but with some traffic. Somehow, my wallet fell out of my pannier (front), and I had to retrieve it after a car told me what happened. I'm a lucky SOB.

I found Andrew at the dog park near their place. We headed back to his house and had my first beer of the day – Mill Street Wit beer. Tasty, different, but good.

He dropped me off downtown on his way to work. First stop – Amsterdam Brewery. I heard they dont do tours – I was wrong. They do them on Saturdays. Argh. But, the girl let me take pictures of the place, and then took out a glass and offered me samples of all the beers there. So, I had the Natural Blonde lager, Dutch Amber lager, Nut Brown ale, Irish stout, and the Stong Framboise beer. Amsterdam Breweries also brew KLB (Kawartha Lakes Breweries), which makes the Raspberry Wheat Ale. A few of the kids from school have tasted that at my place. What a good beer. The Beer Store seems to never have it in stock – what a shame.

Feeling almost a little buzz, and being quite hungry, I headed to a spot the girl at the brewery recommended – The Bank Note. The meal I had wasn't that special (worth mentioning), but the desert was. It was a caramel and chocolate brownie cheese cake. Cheese cake with chunks of brownie inside, the crust was a thin brownie, caramel covered the cake, and a honkin' big chunk of brownie on top. Oh, and the beer I had with the meal had to be an Amsterdam beer. Mmmmmm.

I was then off to the CN Tower to check out the view. I want to climb those stairs. Being short for time (and I didn't ask), I opted to take the elevator – 22 km/h for 58 seconds. Goes pretty fast, and pretty high. The scenery was neat, so was the building, but the wait for the elevators (to go to the top top, or go back down) was not ideal – 30-45 minutes long. I went outside on one spot (all caged in), and the wind was pretty powerful. There's a glass floor on the first look-out, but it's poorly lit, and tons of kids hogging the spot. Not the best for pictures too. The floor in Calgary is actually better.

I then wanted to hit the Hockey Hall of Fame to see if I could get a picture with the Stanley Cup before closing time (whenever it was), but then I forgot that I wanted to hit the Steamwhistle Brewery before their tours ended at 5. Great thing about that brewery is that everyone gets two samples of beer just for walking into that place. Plus, you can go as many times as you want. Those 3 Fired Guys make a pretty decent beer. It was a good tour. I had a little spin-on when I left.

I checked out the HHOF, but it was closed. I did take a few pictures from the outside. I'm sure Riley and my dad will enjoy some stuff in those pics (but not the same things).

I was feeling a bit peckish, so I decided to go to Shopsy's – one of Toronto's oldest delis. I wanted to keep the snack simple, yet traditional. All beef sausage, fries with gravy, and a Steamwistle beer. Greg joined me as I was finishing my meal. We had to head out very soon, but we thought he had enough time to order a quick beer. His buddy Neil joined us soon, which he had to have a beer. At that point, 3 scantly-dressed, fairly decent ladies (nothing major special, but alright, a bit too skinny) approached us. What was good about them is they brought us free beer. They were the reps for Brahma beer. So, we had to accept the beer, knowing we'd probably be late to meet Anna and Andrew for supper. Ok beer. But, the beer drinkin' had to continue.

Next stop – the Mill Street pub (and brewery). Out of the 12-14 award-winning beers or so, they had a tester of 4 small glasses. So, out it came, and down it went. Keep in mind I had the Wit beer earlier today. All Fairly tasty. Organic Lager was first (very light, slight but pleasant bitterness to it), then the Stock Ale (very light tasting, refreshing), followed by the bold, copper Tankhouse Ale, and finished the sampler with the Coffee Porter. With desert, I had their Raspberry Ale – another very enjoyable beverage.

The meal was good. I was looking at something different – the lamb Greek burger. But, the waitress with the nice legs told me I wanted the Sirloin burger instead. I obliged. Good recommendation. Desert – a maple crème brule. Mmmmmm.

We then headed back to Anna and Andrew's place to get ready for bed. Tiredness started hitting me shortly after we left. I knew I had a long day ahead of me the next day, so some sleep would be nice.

I did feel a slight tickle in the back of my throat, and the occasional sneeze. I do hope the ride tomorrow kills whatever I have, and I get to keep this under control.

Too bad I didn't get to see Shawn once more, nor get a hold of Emily. Maybe next time.

I do have to hit the HHOF one day, and the IMAX downtown. Next time.

Well, almost time to retire for the evening.

A la prochaine chicane,

pp