We arrived in Toronto late Friday afternoon and checked into our hotel, which was located in the heart of downtown. Our room was on the 31st floor, with great view of the city, including the CN Tower, Lake Ontario, skyscrapers...and some not-so-pretty construction sites ;)
We were starving, and had some time to kill before dinner, so we walked through some of Eaton Centre and grabbed a late lunch at a delicious restaurant located on Younge Street. (Check out the cool history and importance of Younge Street here.)
As a fun departure from the norm, Marty planned our activities for Friday night. I love surprising others, so it was a fun change to have someone planning the surprise for me! After a brisk walk downtown, we reached our destination: The Second City!! I was genuinely surprised, because I didn't know that Toronto had one, and I gave Marty serious props for coming up with such a fun surprise! I had never been to The Second City before (although I've heard ALL about it), and I'm happy to report that I wasn't disappointed. The show's theme was "Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets" - it is kind of a slap back at the leaders of Toronto after a summer of controversial events, mixed with some pretty funny comparisons between Americans and Canadians (and hilarious stereotypes). 
a pretty view of the CN Tower during our walk to The Second City
After a fun show at The Second City, we had a delicious late night dinner at a quaint, romantic Italian restaurant called Verona Ristorante, located on King Street - a hip street located downtown, lined with funky restaurants and shops. It reminded me a lot of State Street in Madison; we can't wait to go back and explore more of this area this spring/summer, when the weather is warmer and we can dine Alfresco :)
We were greeted Saturday morning by sunshine (yay!), and decided to hit the pavement for some more exploring. We headed back towards Younge Street and Eaton Centre to get a better look. Although we had walked through a portion of Eaton Centre the day before, I had no idea how HUGE it was until we walked all the way through it on Saturday! Its four levels stretch two full city blocks, with more than 230 retailers and restaurants, and connects directly to the subway system. My pictures just cannot do it justice...
We stopped at The Pickle Barrel for a delicious lunch. It was a very funky place with cool lighting and "glowing" tables and bars.
The food was incredible!
After a fun afternoon in Toronto, we headed out to Guelph, Ontario for the Hillside Inside music festival. We were there to see two of our favorites, Martin Sexton & Ani DiFranco, but we discovered some great new music as well! It was a fun evening full of great music, food and laughs.
One of our favorites was Martin Sexton. We are looking forward to seeing him a few times this spring/summer, including a show with Dave Matthews Band in June!!
After so much activity and stress lately, it was really nice to spend some quality time together and explore new music, cities and food. We are really looking forward to going back to Toronto this summer when the weather is nice!
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