First Views of Toronto
You have to love a conference package that comes with free high speed wireless internet access -- and the claim is actually true. I've been in Toronto now for about 4 hours and from where we are staying the views are lovely.
And the hotel room isn't all that bad, either. Now I just need to figure out where some good restaurants are (as opposed to the touristy near by to the hotels restaurants) that really give some flavor to Toronto. Clearly a city that's this lovely must have some good places to eat.
Given that the troops are still gathering for our meeting (it is just a hoot to me to see signs saying "Toronto Welcomes the American Society of Microbiologists" -- who would have thought that any place would be excited about having a bunch of people who study viruses, bacteria and fungi running around?), this night is likely to be a good one to relax in my hotel room. So I think I'm going to dig into this:
There are so many cute patterns in Zoe Mellor's book and too many lovely baby girl friendly colors to choose from in cotton and cotton blends. I've always wanted to try out Rowan's cotton-based yarns without making a commitment to a big project in case I didn't enjoy the experience of knitting with them. Babies need lots of booties, right?
And one last picture before I sign off. I just could resist getting a snap of this sign just past the security check point in Terminal One at O'hare.
I don't know which is funnier... the concern that people might choose the wrong Starbucks and not have the option of getting their tall skim mocha lattes or that the "drip only" Starbucks and the restrooms seem to be in the same place...
Oh gods! We don't even have signs like that here in Seattle. That is just beyond words!
I just came back from a 10 day trip in Toronto, I grew up there and have been away about 8 years now. There is a bunch of great restaurants along Queen St within walking distance from the convention center. I especially loved the Korean Grill House, it was cheap and fun! (beware of what route you take however you may end up going past a Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop, very dangerous). If you have never tried it before there is always Swiss Chalet, it's as Canadian as Tim Hortons.
You are aware you are within walking distance of Romni Yarn? And a short hop by streetcar to Lettuce Knit?
Enjoy Canada! That sign is too funny.
If you're willing to get a bit farther away from the city center, there are tons of great restaurants on the Danforth. I had fabulous Greek food when I was there.
Toronto looks lovely :-) Um about the Starbucks sign, living in a Starbucks free zone, what is drip only? :-)
The sign is a hoot and your yarns look yummy! Have a fun trip.
You'll want to take the street car to Romni now, they've moved & are a bit farther down Queen St. W. than Lettuce (which is off the street in Kensington Market). If you go as far as Romni you'll find Tortilla Flats which is fun Tex/Mex. The Danforth is awesome for Greek Food & there's a great Thai restaurant on John near Queen St. W.
Wouldn't want anyone to be inconvenienced, now would they? good canadians that they are. ;)
LOL! That sign would have been VERY helpful to me when "I" was pregnant. I've been pregnant 4 times and I think I could tell you the location of every restroom in the Midwest. The Starbucks sign would not have been interesting to me. I don't care for Starbucks coffee in general (too harsh) and when I was pregnant, coffee was verboten. I had really bad heartburn and coffee caused me to feel like my esophagus was bursting into flames. How are you, symptom-wise?
I'm still hoping for a baby-tummy picture! You don't have to bare it, just show us how you look. I'll bet you are GLOWING.
Don't forget the SARs scare that Toronto just recently recovered from. Of course they'd welcome a group of scientists who study viruses and bacteria. You're the heroes!
Very pretty colors you've got there. I'd want to do a little Fair Isle sweater with them. Truthfully, babies don't require a lot of booties. But you probably already knew that....
Hi, I just started reading your blog. Your quilt squares are beautiful. Since you are in Toronto, if you can at all make it, the Yarn Harlot is launching her new book in Toronto on May 25th. Here's the link: http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/tour2005.html
If you haven't seen her and you have time, it is well worth it! She's wonderfully funny! She was thinking about a yarn crawl on Saturday and other gatherings, check out her post for the 18th. Have fun in Toronto!
Hey, we're a very welcoming city. And we assume you haven't actually brought the wee critters you study with you as pets, so it's all good.
Give me a call tomorrow and we'll get set up for LK and/or coffee or whatever's manageable. Seems there's a heat wave forecast for Wednesday, so we might want to take a subway/streetcar combo up to the SnB on Wednesday evening instead of walking. It's only 3 km, but it may not be fun depending on how accurate the forecast is.
In a recent visit to Toronto we had a lovely Italian dinner in a restaurant called Terroni.It is on Queen st. very close to Romni (I wonder what we did in that area,,,) if you have time, west of there on Queen st. there is another yarn store that I loved:
The Knit Cafe:1050 Queen St. West and if you don't have time for a visit, check out their cool web site: http://www.theknitcafetoronto.com/
I am so glad you are having a good time, will you be stopping by lettuce knit on wed for snb?
I hope you're enjoying your conference. A friend & I are driving to Toronto (from Lansing) on Friday for Stephanie's book launch. Are you going to still be there or are you heading home before that?
I live in Washington state, home of Starbucks...I've never seen this sign before (although I've not flown recently, either) but I have seen SBUX pop up on FOOD NEXT RIGHT signs on the interstate...! love it!
ohhh, nice nice pictures! :o)
nice yarn...and nice picture of teh lake!
will you be in toronot long enough to go to the yarn harlot's thing at Indigo? definitely let us know if you end up going!
glad youa re doing well and that the conference is going well too!
haha! drip only starbucks...very amusing...
I think you are in the same section of the hotel my hubby stayed at recently same out the window shots!Can't wait to hear more of your impressions of the city!
Who wouldn't welcome a microbiologist? :o)
Wonderful color selection! I think you'll enjoy working with the wool cotton. It's my fave - even more than ASC.
Funny. I wouldn't have the faintest idea what "drip only" meant.
The O'Hare airport is crawling with Starbucks (drip and non drip) at exhorbitant rates. It's part of my transferring through O'Hare tradition to get myself a tall $8.00 chemical cocktail. I am jealous, you have to go to Lettuce knits and take pictures!
The O'Hare airport is crawling with Starbucks (drip and non drip) at exhorbitant rates. It's part of my transferring through O'Hare tradition to get myself a tall $8.00 chemical cocktail. I am jealous, you have to go to Lettuce knits and take pictures!
The O'Hare airport is crawling with Starbucks (drip and non drip) at exhorbitant rates. It's part of my transferring through O'Hare tradition to get myself a tall $8.00 chemical cocktail. I am jealous, you have to go to Lettuce knits and take pictures!
Brace yourself if you go to Romni Wools-- it's more yarn than I have ever seen or was prepared to see. Have fun!!
Brace yourself if you go to Romni Wools-- it's more yarn than I have ever seen or was prepared to see. Have fun!!
That sign is very funny. Enjoy your evening of knitting. I'm ashamed to say that as a new Canadian (got my Citizenship last year), I still haven't been to Toronto, so can't help you on restaurants on yarn stores...
Restaurants to try: Swiss Chalet for the quarter chicken dinner (it's a Canadian classic), Bedford Ballroom on Bloor Street, and Canoe (if you can get in).
I'm so glad you enjoyed Toronto, it's my home town. Sars was a long time ago, were over that now, were just generally a bunch of friendly people. I liked Chicago too when I visited my cousin last year. Romni is a fabulous yarn shop...ciao