Yonge & Urbanite

After a day at Doors Open Toronto, I ventured down to Baldwin Street with a friend to grab a late lunch. The street is quiet, almost completely free of traffic, with a canopy of trees and lined with quaint restaurants and shops.

The other weekend I ventured out to explore Doors Open Toronto. My friend, who had reached out to me to join her, had the Bata Shoe Museum high on her list so that was our first stop. The line was long, like around the corner long, and it wasn't even noon. Luckily we ventured to the front and the very friendly security told us that the line was moving very fast, and people along the line agreed. So we joined the line and were in within ten minutes. First we explored the permanent collection, which houses a collection of celebrity shoes on the upper floor, and historical shoes on the bottom.

Celebrity Shoes. Top: Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Left: Lights and Justin Bieber. Right: Barbara Streisand. (They had shoes from athletes and notable political figures too, but oddly enough I didn't find a politician's old flip flop quite as photogenic.)

While it was definitely busy, it was a great excuse to check out the museum I hadn't been to in years. Afterward we ventured upstairs to the temporary exhibit, Fashion Victims: The Pleasures and Perils of Dress in the 19th Century. I love the late 19th century, especially the fashion, and this exhibit was no disappointment, placing the gorgeous shoes in context with the social and economic trends of the time. You have a whole year to check it out, its on til June 2016, so I definitely recommend venturing to check it out.

Fashion Victims Exhibit (Tell me these are not the most gorgeous shoes you've ever seen.)

After the museum, we proceeded to wander through the University of Toronto campus, and many of the gorgeous campus buildings were open to wander through. We made our way down to Baldwin street, for a delicious lunch and gelato (posting about it soon!).

While the Bata was busy, it was definitely the highlight from a museum-dork like me. But if you plan on checking our Doors Open Toronto planning which buildings you want to hit ahead of time is a must. And you're willing to battle some minor crowds, it can be a great chance to explore the beautiful buildings of Toronto you would normally walk right past.

The May Two-Four long weekend marked the beginning of summer and patio season in Toronto. To celebrate the gorgeous weather I grabbed bite at the Bellwoods Brewery with friends. The patio is a mismatched collection of chairs, tables and picnic benches, and in the summer the front wall of the restaurant evaporates so that even the two floors inside are filled with the warm breeze.


We started off with a round of their Paper Tiger and insanely delicious food followed quickly. I couldn't resist indulging in an order of fries, served garlic mayo, but my friend ordered some slightly more substantial dinner dishes: fresh bread with flavoured butter; the assorted pickles and ferments; and the seared B.C. Albacore tuna. 



We finished things off by sharing an order of their apple fritters. Yes, we shared dessert, but we're not crazy. After filling up on fries and bread, it was all each of us could do to have one of the five decant fritters the dish provides.