Rachel's Birthday Weekend

Warning! Warning! Warning! This is an aburdly long post. You might want to read it in sections.

This past Friday was Rachel's birthday and it started off early with a blast off the bat of Yadier Molina to send her beloved Cardinals to the world series. The homerun at 11:30 pm on Thursday night and the ensuing celebration was a great kick-off to an amazing weekend.

Rach started off the day opening presents and cards. She received lots of money and other great things, like a copy of Three Nights in August and a luxurious sleep mask, which she put to use in the hotel that night.

That afternoon we headed off to Toronto. We've been wanting see the city for quite awhile now, so it was the perfect birthday adventure. We buzzed right across the border with very little trouble. Even with the rush hour taffic we made it to the Gloustersquare Inn in about 3 hours.


The inn was absolutely amazing! It is actually made up of three mansions all on the same block right on the edge of "the village." It is decorated with beautiful Victorian antiques and has amazing woodwork and stained glass windows. We were greeted by the innkeeper, who showed us up to our room on the third floor. We needed a sherpa to make it all the way up to the top (really, those last three steps were just plain mean-spirited) and we collapsed on the bed, which was super comfortable. The room was a bit small, but we had a private bathroom and all the comforts of home. We were more than a little tempted to crash right then, but there was too much calling to us out in the city.

We went to park the car in the underground garage a few blocks away and when we walked out onto the street we found ourselves right in the middle of the village. We went in to get a bite of deliciously trashy food at Zelda's. The place was kitchy to the extreme and we had fun people-watching while we ate. From there we took a walk around the neighborhood and took in the sights. It was good to be among our people in such a laid back and fun atmosphere. We just stumbled across a little crepery, and Rach loves a good crepe like nobody else, so we stopped and had a crepe filled with peanut butter and chocolate chips and topped off with whipped cream. It was decadent, but aren't birthdays supposed to be? We finished off the night with a drink at Slack's, which is the hip-and-trendy girl bar, where we sipped our cocktails and watched the pretty people come and go.


Day Two
Saturday morning, we were up early (i.e. 9:00) to grab a bite to eat from the Inn's complimentary breakfast. They had fruits, meats, cheeses, breads, and quiches. Not your standard free meal. Rachel then headed off for her other birthday present, a massage at the Inn's spa. Charles, the masseuse, was beyond belief! Rachel likes a vigorous massage, and very few people meet her very high standards, but Charles was so thorough her muscles were actaully a little worn out afterwards. She is still feeling good several days later.

After the massage we took the recomendation of our friends Dustin and Aimee (see the post on Indian food) and rode the subway down to Chinatown. It was a mindblowing experience, one of those things that reminds you how big this world is and how little you actually know about it. Standing in the middle of the street, you could really convince yourself you had just walked into the Far East.

The signs were all in Chinese and the open air stores extended almost out into the street. The sidewalks were packed with people from almost every walk of life. Toronto is extremely diverse. The inkeeper told us that over 75 languages are spoken in various parts of the city. We thought that by now we were pretty worldly and knowledgeable with our advanced degrees and several trips abroad, but we realized quickly that we ain't see nothing yet. We looked at the various roots, meats, and fruits on display and had no idea what some of them even were, much less how to eat them. We are especially perplexed by some fuits that we couldn't even begin to guess what they were. Here are some pictures of Dragon Fruit and Ramtuban, neither of which we had seen before.

We still aren't sure how eactly to eat these, but at least now we know what they are called. As far as eating goes, we couldn't resist some authentic Chinese food since it all smelled so good so we had lunch in one of the streetside restaurants so we could keep watching the hustle and bustle going on outside.

From there we walked a few blocks up to the Art Galleries of Ontario where we checked out the Andy Warhol exhibit Supernova: Stars, Deaths, and Disasters. The exhibit focused on Warhol's early work as well as the connections between celebrity and disasters. The silk screens showed everything from Jackie O and Elvis to car crashes and criminals. We came to the inevitable conlusions that Warhol was both a genius and super cool.

After that we were a little beat so went back to the Inn for High Tea. We were a little curious by the term High Tea in that we didn't know what made it different from regular tea but apparently it's much nicer. The inn provided several varieties of high-end loose teas which we were to able to choose from (by smelling) and the Inn staff then brewed up our own personal pot and brought it to us in the formal sitting room. They also provided lovely pastries and chocolates to go with the tea. The whole thing was very cilivilized. As you can see, Susie is looking very sophisticated with her tea.

We were feeling rejuvinated after our tea so we headed back out into the city. We took the subway downtown to the CN Tower, which is currently the world's tallest building. The tower can be seen from just about anwhere in the city and is a major tourist attraction. Luckily for us there wasn't a very long line so we didn't have to wait long to make our trip to the top.

Once we reached the observation deck we had several options. The upper level is 360 degrees of windows. You can see the whole city of Toronto. It was getting cloudy, but on a clear day you can even see the mist rising off of Niagara Falls.

The lower level of the observation area is made up of two areas. One in the outer ring where you can step outside and look down surrounded only wires to hold you in, as you can see in the picture of Susie. The second area is truly wonderful and terrifying in that it had a glass floor.

Apparently the body has a natural survival instinct that makes it hard for you to will your feet to step on something it can't see. As we moved to the edge of the glass both of our feet paused, resisting what we were telling themto do. Even tough we logically knew the glass was there, our brains were still processing only the see-through floor and thought we were about to step off the edge of the tower. It was a surreal experience that we didn't really expect.

After we came down off the tower we decided to take in some of the local Canadian flavor and stopped off at the Loose Moose for dinner. The place is basically a Canadian sports bar and was filled to the brim with Maple Leafs fans who were there getting drinks before the game that night. It was a fun place with good bar food and lots of beer. They say they are one of the biggest consumers of beer in Ontario outside of the sports stadiums.

After dinner it was getting pretty late so we made our way back to the inn, with a slight detour to get another crepe. We finished the night off by watching the Cards (shockingly) beat the Tigers in game one of the World Series. We were so hyped up at the unexpected win that we thought about going back out, but it had begun to rain, so we just reveled in our own joy at the win for awhile and then called it a night.

Day three

Sunday the rain continued and we made a quick walk back to Chinatown before we decided to go for some indoor activity instead. We loaded up the car and set off for the Science Center. Due to some major road work and detours we got very lost and it took us an hour to find the place, but we got to see some more ethnic areas like Greek town along the way, so it wasn't all bad.

The science center was blast. We really enjoyed the area on sports where we got to ride in a bobsled simulator and have a wheel chair race (Susie won). There was also a great, no holds barred exhibit on the human body. We actually saw an elephant heart. We are also plesantly surprised to find out that Canadians aren't nearly as prudish as U.S. Americans are. They had info on all sorts of things like AIDS and child birth that would never be allowed in museums for kids in the U.S. We definitely decieded that if we ever have to explain where babies come from to our own kids, we'll just take them to the science center.

However the best exhibit by far was the one called A Question of Truth. It covered all the ways science has been used as an excuse for discrimination and atrocities. It shows that even scientists can be biased and when that bias is combined with positions of power, human lives can be distroyed. The picture of Rach shows a metal chamber that you step into and close the door. The light then flickers and the walls begin to close in. The narrator talked about how scientists used "science" to justify slavery. You then hear that you are standing in a space the size slaves had on the ships that brought them to the U.S. The walls then close in even tighter and you are told that you now have the same amount of space as a prisoner on the way to a WWII consentration camp. Both the events described where justified by the science of the time, science we now know was wrong.

It was a very powerful experience and balanced picture of all the neat things science can teach as well as a warning of the damage it can do if you use it irresponsibly. If you every make it to Toronto, don't miss this experience.

We headed home Sunday night, but we both decided that we won't wait long before our next visit. Toronto is too cool to stay away from and now that we know our way around a little better we are more than willing to play tour guide to anyone who wants to join us!

So, if any of you have read all of this (I'm impressed), just let us know when you want to visit.