Saturday in Toronto before the concert

I have been to Toronto, oh gosh, ten times in my life?  Maybe more, maybe less, but I feel like it is at least that.  Three times since I resumed the blog in 2023, and I know that there were at least a couple in the in-between years of the blog and at least a couple more pre-blog.  Anyway, as a whole, it's not really new to me.  That said, I do tend to stick to the same parts of the city, and there is a lot of it I haven't seen.  And a lot of it I never will - there are sure to be plenty of residential areas that are that and nothing more, not worth wandering and visiting.  But a lot is familiar - the street names at least, even if it seems newer and newer highrises are going up.

Anyway, I did start out my Saturday morning in Toronto in such an area.  My hotel

was a block off the main drag of the gay village,

so I ambled over to a Starbucks I knew was there, grabbed my decaf latte, and got to walking around the broader area a little. 

I had a leisurely morning to enjoy.  Allison was planning to meet me after 10:00, so there was no rush.

Once she picked me up, we caught the metro and streetcar over to where we could take a ferry over to the Toronto Islands. 

Yes, friends, a new part of the city for me to see.  Hooray!

It's a short ferry ride and a very popular one at that.  Still, we got to stand along a rail and get some good shots of the skyline as we headed over.  

Once on the islands, it was hours of walking all over, enjoying the great weather

and overdue, welcome, deep conversation.  And, of course, there were the sights.  Monarch butterflies abounded. 

A cormorant sunning itself. 

Something in the mustelid family scooting across the boardwalk.  And views of the city, both through the setting of a marina of boats and unobstructed. 

Just such a nice day, broken up with a light lunch at the Riviera Lakeside Patio

and a coffee from the Runaway Cafe.

Allison and I caught a ferry back and began walking back to my hotel.  We stopped into the Eaton's Centre, into Eataly

and Simon's and Uniqlo.  Once back at the hotel, we freshened up and relaxed, and then headed a handful of blocks north to dinner.  It has been AGES since last I had Ethiopian food, and it made for a fairly inexpensive, filling, and not-too-rich meal sitting outside at Ethiopian House, the sounds of the city all about. 

A meal in our bellies, it was time to head to the show....