Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



You are here: Home / Archives for Culture

Interesting dinner

by

My husband is heating up the left overs from last nights dinner out. It seems that half the people staying in our home brought home a doggy bag yesterday since they servings were so huge at last nights restaurant so we have lots to choose from!

I’m going to finish my baby back ribs, and have some of the left over Pad Thai and Singapore noodles. Chris is having the Pad Thai, Singapore noodles and some left over pasta. Interesting combinations I guess, but it should be good.

I can smell the food heating now and my stomach is beginning to growl. I must go and eat – NOW!





I want to go back to the Dominican Republic

by

I think after my busy weekend and considering how dragged out I’m feeling it would be really nice to have a holiday. Ok, I can dream can’t I?

If we were going to take a vacation I think it’d be nice to go to the Caribbean. My husband has been to Europe (I haven’t), but he’s never been to any of the Caribbean islands. What a shame! My brother used to LIVE in the Caribbean and I feel very thankful that as a young teenage I was able to visit him for a whole summer.

Imagine that? A whole summer on a Caribbean island. What I wouldn’t give to do that once more!

The island I was lucky enough to live on briefly was the Dominican Republic. I also visited Haiti while in the D.R. I suppose I should expand my travel experiences and visit other Caribbean Islands but I just adored Dominican Republic, it’s friendly people, the mountains, the beaches, the food – everything. So, yes, I want to go back. Plus, it would be interesting to see how much the places that I remember visiting have changed since I was last there. I know there’s a lot more resorts there now!

We lived in the small village of Bonao in the center of the country. However, each weekend we’d visit popular areas of Dominican Republic such as the capital city Santo Domingo. I loved going to the markets, buying amber jewelery, embroidered clothing and tasty treats like tamarind balls. Yummy. A sweet and sour treat that’s absolutely delicious.

Also, when I think of fantastic ice cream I always remember the ice cream I had while in Dominican Republic. Their vanilla ice cream was the best I’ve ever tasted and believe me- I’m not a fan of Vanilla ice cream, but I’d eat D.R. vanilla ice cream again. Oh and the chocolate ice cream too … it had a hint of nutmeg spice in it I believe. I’m a chocolate lover and I swear that was the best chocolate ice cream ever.

If you ever go to the Dominican Republic you should visit the beaches of Puerto Plata, Susua, and the city of Santiago as well as the capital Santo Domingo. The island has a rich history and culture. I’m sure that you’d have an enjoyable time there between the resorts, fantastic beaches, tasty food and I believe, some of the friendliest people in the world.

I love the island and I suppose it’s no wonder I do. It was a teenage fantasy to live on an island like that for a summer. I learned how to Salsa and meringue while there, and my brother hired one of the local residents to teach me Dominican Spanish which I still remember how to speak to this day. Why wouldn’t I want to go back.

You can learn more about Dominican Republic and all the Caribbean islands if you visit the first link in this post. It’s a guide to the Caribbean and it has great information about each islands culture, geography, activities, and all of the island attractions. You’ll even find information on how to get to the various Caribbean islands, hotels and resorts on the Caribbean guide. It’s definitely a site worth bookmarking if you’re trying to decide which island to vacation on.

For now I’ll just dream of my time in the D.R. and hope that I’ll soon be able to plan a vacation there with my husband. I’d love to show him the whole Country since I think I’ve been just about every where in the Dominican Republic.

Ohhhhhh what a weekend!

by

I’m supposed to be in Niagara Falls right now.

Chris’ brother came to visit from Chicago and our house has been full of people since Saturday. Chris’ brother, T, brought his daughter and son, as well as a friend of his daughters so that was four extra people, then Chris’ younger sister came to visit with her husband and their young daughter. Include Chris and I in that total and that makes nine people milling around our tiny home!

On Saturday evening we went to The Taste of the Danforth. Never try going to the most crowded street festival you’ve ever been to with nine people! OMG we spent more time losing the teenagers and looking for them than doing anything else. I was so terribly disappointed since this was my first time going to the taste in three years and it was a disaster.

After we got back from the Taste of the Danforth more people came to our house! A few old friends of Chris and his brother showed up and we sat in the garden and talked, and drank until the wee hours.

On Sunday we were supposed to go to Ontario Place, The beach, a beach club, dinner and then the CN tower. Well … it rained for a good portion of the afternoon so we made it to the Beach Club and sat on the patio under under umbrella’s by the lake. It was actually pleasant even though it was drizzling for at least two hours while we were there. We then ended up going to a nice restaurant in the Beaches called Quigley’s. I had a few of the baby back ribs I ordered (very large portion sizes) and yum, all of the home made very delicious fries that came with my meal. I doggy bagged the remainder of my meal, and so did a few of the others we were with so we have lots of left overs to graze on this evening.

Our plans changed, again, as usual … and we were supposed to do the CN Tower today and Niagara Falls, but I just wasn’t up to it. I’ve been getting sicker and sicker over the last couple of weeks and two days of house guests, staying up late, drinking when I shouldn’t and being more than a little bit over stressed must have made me feel worse because I had a terrible night last night. I don’t know how many times I was up to the bathroom. I felt so ill, nauseated, in pain, fevers, chills … there was no way I was going anywhere today – including the doctors appointment I was supposed to have at ten a.m.!

I’ve spent much of the day lying on the couch groaning in pain. I’ve only just come back to life and it’s already after 7 pm!

I did have fun getting together with our friends and family, but considering how ill I’ve been it was too much for me. Plus I shouldn’t have drank anything! Not that I drank a lot mind you. Two drinks on Saturday and three on Sunday. That’s not too bad, but considering I don’t really drink much anymore that was enough.

I took photos of the crowds at the Taste of the Danforth and some lovely shots while at the beach – including one of my husband when he went swimming. He climbed up on some rocks and mooned everyone! LOL Yeah, I got a snap of that!

I’ll post some of the photos over the next few days.

Time for Taste of the Danforth

by

Toronto is a wonderful city to live in. Beginning in May and clear through to fall there’s something to do almost every weekend. There’s the Toronto Street Festival, The Gay Pride Parade, Food Festivals, Caribana, the Just for Laughs festival and my favorite event of all – The Taste of the Danforth.

We moved into this part of Toronto, Greek Town, The Danforth, in June of 2001 and almost every year since we moved here we’ve been going to The Taste of the Danforth.

Unfortunately we’ve missed the last two years because Chris’ brother always picks this time of year to come for a visit from Chicago. This year he’s visiting again, but I’m determined that he’s not going to stop us from going to the Taste of the Danforth this year.

It’s a shame not to go. We only live about 10 minutes away from the festivities. It’s so easy to walk back and forth to the festival that it’s almost a crime not to go.

The Taste of the Danforth is of course on Danforth Avenue in Toronto. Several blocks of the Danforth are closed off and all of the restaurants and stores set up tables and serving areas outdoors. It’s a time to experience the culture of the area and taste the many foods of the various ethnic groups that live in this part of the Beaches and The Danforth village.

The area is mainly Greek so there’s naturally going to be a lot of Greek foods, but there will also be foods from India, Spain, China, Thailand, Muslim foods, Irish and even vegetarian foods.

The Taste of the Danforth is always held on the second weekend of August and it runs from that Friday evening at 6 pm until Sunday at 6 pm. In that time period there should be well over a million people wander the Danforth, tasting foods, stopping in beer and wine tents, putting their kids on children’s rides, and listening to live bands. This year along with a number of musicians and bands there will be performances by Second City and some of the performers from “We Will Rock You” the Queen and Freddy Mecury related theater production that’s running in the Canon Theater in downtown Toronto.

As I said I’m not going to let my brother in law stop me from going this year. He can sit in our garden if he doesn’t want to go. I’m going. The only thing that will stop me is my own health and I’m determined to go no matter what so I’ll have to be awfully sick if I don’t attend this year.

If you live in the Toronto area come on down! It’s worth the trip.

Save your money and drink filtered water

by

I was just discussing how wasteful I think the purchase of bottled water is on my other blog My World.

I’ve never understood why people buy case after case of bottled water. Recent news reports have stated that tests and investigations have shown that the bottled water that is often marketed as spring water is really just local water.

So that means that you are paying more per liter or gallon for bottled water that’s the same as the water coming out of your tap than for gasoline for your car. Think about it!

if you really don’t like the taste of your local tap water why don’t your try one of these new portable water filters. I think they’re a fantastic idea. Just fill the bottle with tap water and it gets filtered right away. Yummy.

You won’t be throwing away plastic bottles that may or may not be recycled. You’ll save money and you’ll still have decent water to drink.

Meta

Search this site

Tags

blog blogs camera Canada Chris computer crohns dinner dog Family flower flowers Food friends funny garden Gardening Green Thumb Sunday Health and Fitness Health Fitness and Beauty holiday home Home and Lifestyle house husband IBD Inflammatory bowel disease Internet Music neighbors pain photo photos plants puppy Shopping sick sleep spring Toronto TV Video visit website Wordless Wednesday