Monthly Archives: April 2022

Posts from the road

Inspiring Stopover in Toronto

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(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

My flight from Calgary to Toronto arrived on Saturday evening, just a bit too late to catch the last train back to Kingston. I decided to stay in Toronto for the night, and then head back to Kingston on Sunday afternoon. This gave me just enough time to visit some old (and new!) haunts in Toronto.

“My Roti” from “My Roti Place” – March 5, 2022 (Toronto, Ontario)

My hotel was downtown on Queen’s Quay, so I assumed that I’d have no problem finding dinner even though it was well past 9:00 p.m. (It took 1 hour and 39 minutes for my luggage to show up on the airport carousel, so not all of the pandemic kinks have been worked out yet!) I started to get worried though: ever since the pandemic, a lot of restaurants stop serving by 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. My first two choices fell into this category. I finally decided to take a chance on something called “My Roti Place”.

My Roti Place (Cameron Street at Queen Street West) – March 6, 2022

This ended up being one of those happy accidents that makes travel so enjoyable. The roti (almost like a rectangular soft tortilla) had an absolutely delicious filling. My filling was Paneer (an Indian cheese) in a curry called “Awesome Tangra Hakka Chilly”, but you could design your own with one of four levels of spiciness. I opted for “medium” (the others are “mild”, “serious” and “stupid”) and it was perfect for me. This wasn’t elegant cuisine by any means, but it “gave me a sense of enormous well-being” (to quote Blur, from their mid-1990s hit Parklife). And just like that, I have another “go-to” place in downtown Toronto.

I did have to check out this venerable record shop (Kops) on Queen Street West

The next day, the temperature eventually rose to an unseasonably warm 16’C. Far too hot for March 6 in Canada, perhaps, but perfect for a wander from Queen’s Quay to Kensington Market. I found some vinyl rarities at Kops on Queen Street West, a store that was around even when I lived in Toronto in the early 1990s. They have an outstanding selection (as in thousands and thousands) of high-quality 45s: you’ll have no trouble finding the song you’re looking for.

On such a warm day, a visit to Dolce Gelato in Kensington Market was almost mandatory

The vibe in Kensington Market was spectacular. I don’t think I’ve seen such a vital streetscape since the pandemic began. The Market can be pretty ramshackle in places, but it remains very low-rise and has largely avoided the creeping corporatization that has hit other parts of downtown Toronto (including parts of Queen Street West). While there’s been a bit of a shift from markets to restaurants, it’s still a great place to go when you are hungry (or plan to be soon).

And when I’m in the Kensington Market, a visit to Jumbo Empanadas is never a bad idea

I had a huge breakfast at the hotel, and wasn’t ready to face a delicious but weighty “pastel de choclo” at Jumbo Empanadas, a place (and delicious specialty) I’ve written about before. But the warm weather made some homemade gelato at Dolce a most satisfactory fall-back option. They have a lot of authentic Italian flavours, and it was wonderful to have some of their gelato again after a pause of several years. I really miss having gelato in Italy, and look forward to doing that again someday.

The “Hungary-Thai” Bar & Eatery in Kensington Market

I’ve written about eating Hungarian food in Toronto before but, oddly enough, it has always been at Hungarian restaurants. But as you can see, Kensington Market now has a “Hungary-Thai” restaurant that features cuisine from both Hungary and Thailand. I still wasn’t hungry enough to justify a visit this time, but I’m glad to see that Kensington Market continues to attract and support unique places like this.

This sunny and vibrant afternoon made me crave more of the energy that you can find in great city neighbourhoods. I’ve already made plans for another city visit…I’ll have some more Toronto photos (and some hints about where I’m going next) in this space soon!

Posts from the road

Last days of skiing in the Banff area

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(Canmore, Alberta, Canada)

For the fourth day of skiing, we went a little further afield to the Lake Louise ski area. I went skiing there in 2019, and was looking forward to revisiting the “Traumpiste” that we found in the area’s back bowls.

My only picture from Lake Louise. And the longest lineup we had for the entire week.

Once again, we had a very intense day of skiing. We were quite tired at the end of it. This was partly due to the amount of skiing we did, but also the conditions. There was a blizzard, so we really had to focus on what we were doing (and keep our knees bent just in case we hit some unexpected bumps).

Richard pauses halfway through some off-piste glade skiing on Goat’s Eye Mountain (Sunshine Village)

I am pleased to report that the Lake Louise resort renamed the “Brown Shirt” piste that I found troubling in 2019. It was such a shame that this great piste had such a dismal name. It is now called “Brown Cow”. Alas, the poor visibility meant that skiing this steep, unmarked and ungroomed piste was somewhat less than ideal. We didn’t return for a second try, despite knowing that all the fresh snow would create amazing conditions once the visibility improved.

And this is where we just skied to get to that spot. Lots of deep snow!

Our favourite itinerary for the day turned out to be a couple of black-rated pistes (#59 and #12) close to the main gondola. The visibility was OK and there wasn’t much traffic on these steep and snowy pistes. Without blizzard conditions, I can see how these could get icy and unpleasant very quickly.

Deep woods right beside the lower part of the Goat’s Eye Mountain chairlift

The drive home was an adventure, as the roads hadn’t been properly cleared. I was glad that we were in a heavy 4WD vehicle,

View of Goat’s Eye Mountain, from Mt. Standish (Sunshine Village). Glade skiing location on far right, just above the denser woods and marked trails.

We intended to return to Lake Louise for the final day of skiing. However, the roads were still dodgy once we approached Banff that morning. Even worse, traffic was getting backed up because of the sheer number of people who wanted to go skiing at Lake Louise (no doubt because of the previous day’s blizzard). We made a quick decision to turn off Highway 1 at Sunshine Village and ski there instead.

“The Great Divide”, as seen from Mount Standish (Sunshine Village)

This turned out to be a great decision. While the skies were once again overcast, Goat’s Eye Mountain was relatively untouched for the entire morning. I can’t say how much mileage we achieved, but it was a lot. And the conditions were really good despite the gray skies. We even managed a bit of glade skiing in the trees (see photos above).

One of Canmore’s many wild rabbits

While the afternoon didn’t quite live up to the morning, I was still pleasantly exhausted at the end of the day. The TP Town lift still had good soul and reggae music, and the heated seats were most welcome as the temperatures dipped to around -8’C.

Looking the opposite way (from the top photo) on “my” street in Canmore, Alberta

I left Alberta the next morning, and of course the sun shone brilliantly in response. But I was still very happy with how the skiing turned out. It’s great to rediscover something that at one time seemed lost forever.

Downtown Calgary in the distance, as seen from the departures area of Calgary’s airport

But that’s not the end of the trip! Stay tuned for the details of a brief but very enjoyable stopover on my way back home!