Toronto

So, we went up to the ole T.O. on Friday morning. The temp reading in my car reached -1. Fahrenheit. As we used to say in Boston, wicked cold. So, we got off the 401 at Yonge and grabbed some lunch in a charming little place called Shatzi's Trattoria. Very good butternut squash soup, and a great personal pizza. They were very friendly to my cool kid, too. Walked up a block to a great little kitchen store and a kids' shoe store called Olly. Hopped back in the car and checked into the hotel. Finally got the room we originally requested, and headed up to the Eaton Centre because - did I mention it was wicked cold out - we felt like browsing and walking. A massive branch of Swedish chain H&M opened on the corner of Yonge & Dundas. Great kids' clothes. Best socks on the planet. Other than that, it's clothes for clubbing. I don't go clubbing. Bought a Toronto Life best restaurants mag at Indigo and went to a place called Utopia at the corner of College & Clinton, in Little Italy. The book said the place was tiny, but the burgers were great. The place was miniscule, but the burgers were awesome. The waitstaff was unbelievably competent, friendly and efficient. A few lagers and a massive burger later, we went back to the hotel. Woke up to it, as I called it in college, snowing like a banshee. We walked in the blistering cold and painful wind a few blocks to St. Lawrence market to load up on provisions. Grabbed a quick and suprisingly excellent breakfast at Golden Griddle, and then off to the market. Two new Kozlik mustards - Clobbered Cranberry and some sort of chunky, mild dijon mustard. At North Market, got 12 sausages for $10. Awesome. We were going to do the AGO, but the snow was really coming down hard, so we checked out and went straight home. It took about 3 hours in some really nasty whiteout conditions. Rented Elf and vegged the rest of the day. I needed that.