Last Saturday I used my Groupon coupon for a 1 hour snowshoeing guided tour at High Park which I only paid $25 for and is normally $50. Pretty good! It was snowing all morning until about noon that day, so when I arrived at High Park at 12:30 for my lesson, we had beautiful fresh snow and it wasn’t that cold either maybe about -5C. It was a really nice day because it was sunny and not windy. Absolutely perfect!

This is what it was like outside my condo while waiting for the streetcar.

Snowshoeing at High Park Photos

And this is what it was like when I finally arrived at High Park! So pretty!

Then we put on our snowshoes! What are snowshoes, you say? They are footwear to help you walking over the snow. Snowshoes distribute the weight of your feet over a larger area so that your feet do not completely sink into the snow. Snowshoeing is easy to learn, and is a relatively safe and inexpensive recreational activity.

We put the snowshoes on, had a quick 5 minute lesson and then we were off! There’s not much to know about snowshoeing because you’re just walking but in long and wide strides. You need to pretty much pretend you have clown feet!

Sammylicious TV: Snowshoeing at High Park (Video)

httpvh://www.youtube.com/embed/TQnOEnQA8Sg

Watch out for the part I trip! We were going down a hill and the snow was so soft, I slipped! Hahaha. Quite funny..

We went up and down so many hills, we were so dizzy, sweaty and hot after the hour. It was SUCH an amazing workout!

In all, the tour was very enjoyable and a great way to enjoy winter in Toronto without going far at all!

About Montreal Poutine

Poutine (French pronunciation [puts?n]) is a diner staple which originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada. Classic Poutine consists of French fries topped by fresh cheese curds and covered with brown gravy sauce.

While there are some delicious poutine that can be found in Toronto, I knew I had to try the authentic poutine on my trip to Montreal. I decided to pop into one of the little whole in the walls in Old Montreal for some yummy classic poutine with added mushrooms. Soooo good!

But if you’re in Toronto and wish to get some good poutine without having to go up to Montreal, you definitely can. Here are some hot spots which have been tried and tested and I recommend myself :)

1. Smoke’s Poutinerie
   218 Adelaide Street West, Toronto
   This place has both the home cooked feel and taste with some interesting versions of the classic such as Pulled Pork, Chilli Beef, Curry Chicken. There are many beef, chicken, pork or veggie options.
   http://smokespoutinerie.com/
2. Duggan’s Brewery
   75 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario,M5C 2B1
   The curry chicken poutine here was recommended by a friend and it was so fresh and deeeelicious.
   http://www.duggansbrewery.com/
   

About the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

The Royal Ontario Museum is the largest museum in Canada for world culture and natural history. It’s situated on Bloor Street, just north of Queen’s Park. It contains more than six million items, fourty galleries, and notable collections of dinosaurs, Near Eastern and African art, East Asian art, European history, and Canadian history.

The ROM began in 1912 and has since then experienced several expansions and updates. The latest update was the Crystal house, which opened in 2007 and houses the new main entrance to the museum, a gift shop, a restaurant, a cafeteria, seven additional galleries and Canada’s largest temporary exhibition hall in the lower level. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind and the crystalline-form is 25 percent glass and 75 percent aluminium and sits on top of a steel frame. It was an addition to the current heritage building, but does not touch the sides and provides a new fresh look for the museum (as seen in the photo above).

Here are some ancient (and undoubtedly beautiful) buddhas and East Asian art.

I really loved this part of the museum – all the cool rocks and stones!

But if I had to choose a particular part of the museum which I loved the most – it would definitely be the dinosaur collection!

This piece of art we came across was the funniest! Hahaha

The Ancient Egypt collection was probably the coolest.

Ancient Europe

If you want to check out the ROM – the best time to go is on Friday evenings (after 4:30pm) when it’s half price (sponsored by Sun Life Financial)!

The museum is a memorable visit and of great value even on full price.

Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Location & Directions

Bloor St W & Avenue Rd, Toronto, Ontario

The best way to get here is via TTC, just get off at Museum station on the University line and it’ll take you RIGHT to that intersection! You won’t miss it :)

Restaurant Review: Marche De La Vilette

This place was recommended my horse carriage driver. He said you can get the best french onion soups in town from this place. Upon hearing this, I was craving nothing but french onion soup. Oooohh, just thinking of the goodness *mmmm*

This place is small and extremely busy! I was lucky enough to steal a spot inside just as I arrived but soon after there were lines going out the door. Not only is this place a restaurant but a general store and a butcher too. Saw some awesome cheeses on sale as well.

 Marche De La Vilette Food & Restaurant Photos

As soon as I was seated – I knew exactly what I wanted. French Onion Soup! I couldn’t understand the menu at all, but I saw something that resembled onion and soup and quiche and got it and this is what I got. Doesn’t it look delicious!

French Onion Soup!

Quiche!

While this place had some great food – it didn’t offer the best service in the world. In fact they were quite rude to me probably because I didn’t know any French and they were just too busy to offer any service. I waited for ages for a bill then was just showed that they accept payment at the register…. Nevertheless – if you’re after good food (especially great French Onion Soup) then I recommend this place for sure.

Marche De La Villette

(Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

324 Rue St.-Paul Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Kensington Market is a well-known multicultural neighbourhood in downtown Toronto and is one of the most oldest in the city.  In November 2006, it became a National Historic Site of Canada and borders within College St. on the north, Spadina Ave. on the east, Dundas St. W. to the south, and Bellevue Ave. to the west. Kensington Market is located extremely close to Chinatown which runs from College St to Queen St along Spadina.

Kensington Market consists of many eclectic shops, cafes, and stores along Augusta Ave, Nassau St and Kensington Ave. Because of the narrow one-way streets here, many people travel via foot or bicycle.

Kensington Market Photos

Les Glaceurs is located in Old Montreal, close to the Notre Dame Basilica. They serve gelato, cupcakes and macarons in their brightly coloured shop! This place is hard to miss, with their matching colourful window!

Here are their beautifully created cupcakes!

Macarons!

Gelato!

This was the best tasting gelati I’ve ever had and it really lasted on such a hot day. I love that it didn’t just melt away quickly. I could devour this for a long time.

I love that you can sit down on the lounge and enjoy your dessert at this place.

The Notre-Dame Basilica is located in the historic district of Montreal (Old Montreal). The interior of this church is bold in colours and dramatic in detail. The intricate carvings and amount of religious statues are stunning.

The sanctuary is stunning to the least and also houses a pipe organ and various other prayer rooms (below).

Even the staircases is full of detail.

There is another room which is for weddings.The lighting in this room really contrasts the main room but does not lack in detail at all!

Celine Dion was wedded here in 2000. The basilica used have free admission, but now charges $5.00 for those who wish to view the building and are not attending a mass.

The Notre-Dame Basilica is an incredible building. You absolutely cannot miss to see this for yourself in your life. There is just something very different feel to be in inside. There were a lot of people just sitting around and soaking up the atmosphere.

During Doors Open Toronto, I visited Osgoode Hall which is a landmark building in Toronto which houses the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada. It also was a Law School until 1969 when the faculty was relocated to the campus of York University.

Osgoode Hall is beautifully constructed. With stained glass and stunning architecture it is a must visit for Doors Open. During Doors Open you can visit many of the rooms in this building – the court houses, library, and meeting rooms.

Beautiful interior design!

Love the details on the poles and the arches!

Here’s me dressed as a judge at one of the court houses! Hehehe.

Lots and lots of law books!

One of the very many meeting rooms.

The Canada Life is a historic office building located at Queen and University. The building is the headquarters of Canada Life, Canada’s oldest, and at the time largest, insurance company.

The fifteenth floor Beaux Arts building stands at 285 feet (87 m), 321 feet (97.8 m) which includes the weather beacon. The building is known for its weather beacon which was installed in 1951. The way it works is that beacon flashes green for clear weather, red for cloudy, flashing red for rain, and white for snow. There are also lights affixed to the support tower indicate variations in temperature. The information is updated four times daily, seven days a week and is received from Environment Canada’s Weather Centre at Pearson International Airport.

The top fifteenth floor offers spectacular 360 degree views of Toronto and is only open to the public during the annual Doors Open Toronto event. Make sure you get there early because there’s a line to go up the elevator!

Here’s me with a model of the building! Hehehe.

Doors Open Toronto is an event that takes place every year that showcases 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and/or social significance to the public. The best part of Doors Open is that admission is free! In 2010, Doors Open Toronto took place during the weekend of May 28 – 29th.

The first place that we visited was the Elgin & Winter Garden theatres and are the last surviving Edwardian (the period covering the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910) stacked theatres in the world.

Over time, the condition of the building deteriorated. At one point, the windows were broken so that birds could fly in and out and dirt and dust covered the walls and seats. It was only in 1981 that the Ontario Heritage Foundation bought the structure and began restoring the two theatres into it’s original beauty. The building was closed in 1987 to be fully restored and then reopened in 1989.

It is interesting to note that most of the walls and theatre backdrops were painted with watercolour. They knew that they could not use soap and water to remove the dirt and dust off because the paint would also be removed so they used dough to blot and slowly restore the beautiful paintings.

This is the entrance to both the Elgin and Winter Garden theatres.

Here is a panorama I took of the Elgin theatre. Click to see it in it’s full size! It’s so beautiful!

This is the Winter Garden theatre which is absolutely magnificent. The ceilings were covered in real leaves. During the restoration, they were replaced and some faux leaves were also placed. You really did feel like you were sitting in a winter garden!

Here is a model of the layout of the theatres. Very cool!

Here shows that the Elgin theatre is on the bottom and the Winter Garden theatre is stacked on top.

I hope that I get to watch a musical at either one of these theatres.