With my trip to Montréal only one day away, I was doing my research into the city so I can check out all the recomended spots.
Lucky for me, the hostel im booked at to stay in has provided me with a map of the downtown area. I would like to share it with you all in case you wish to visit in the future.
Cheers,
Andrew
Eggnog (see wikipedia article here) is a mysterious yellow substance drunk by North Americans during the Christmas festivities. To the best of my knowledge, we don’t get it back down under.. and by get it, I mean we don’t understand it nor do we have the ability to purchase it.
For those who know me well enough, I don’t like eggs… at all. I don’t eat eggs so I sure as hell don’t want to drink them. But, in the spirit & tradition of travel, it was time to try something new, so I poured a shot:
First of all, I was surprised at the colour. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but its basically the color of custard. It even has the consistency of a more liquid custard. But most surprisingly, it kind of tastes like custard. Being that its a dairy product made from similar ingredients, I can see the resemblance.
I didn’t feel like more than what I poured… and I can’t say I loved it… but it wasn’t half bad.
One of the advantages of travel is the experience of fine culinary treats from around the world. The Swiss are famous for their chocolate, the French for snails, Japan is sushi and South African’s marvel over their Portuguese chicken.
But America doesn’t just do food… it does fast food.
Then they export it north to Canada.
So I’m sitting at home minding my own business when an advertisement for Taco Bell comes on. Its plugging their Cheesy Gordita Crunch. I’m hungry. I’m close to Taco Bell. I’m sold!
The Cheesy Gordita Crunch meal is basically a large taco, filled with spicy meat, sour cream, lettuce and cheese; covered in a gordita filled with two different types of cheeses plus fries laid on top of cheese and covered with spicy meat, sour cream and then finally covered in cheese.
This is what is looks like on the menu:
This is what it looks like in real life:
I can’t tell the difference… can you?
My Review: The taco is standard fast food fare with only the slightest hint of the three advertised servings of cheese. Their attempts at the ‘less is more’ approach is lacking and inconsistent as the servings of fries are literally drenched in the runny orange substance; my eyes and taste buds find it difficult to separate the Cheddar from the Jack. However most disappointing was the lack of ice being served from the automated beverage dispenser. Not horrible, but needs improvement. 2 1/2 out of 5.
Bon Appetit!
With one week to go before I depart Toronto, I decided to check out an area I’d read about in Lonely Planet known as The Beaches. After all, being Australian, how could I resist?
Catching the overpriced streetcar from downtown, my surroundings became littered with pawn shops, strip clubs and abandoned buildings. Enclosed in my red & white cage I powered on until all the other passengers had jumped ship, at which point I was thinking ‘Damn I better get off too’.
The stores and architecture down Queen St East reminded me of quintessential small-town Ontario; plenty of café’s, antiques and boutiques, however chains such as Swiss Chalet and Blockbuster Video quickly remind you this is 2006. Being a Saturday, the streets were packed with mostly families and old-couples. Few younger people roaming the streets made me realise this was probably representative of the local demographics.
Needing nourishment, as I had only woken about a hour before, I headed into the first greasy spoon I could find that served all-day breakfast (it was 3pm). Pancakes, sausages and bacon, washed down with a black coffee at the Beachside Grill totally hit the spot, though the service was somewhat lacking (is that not part of the charms of the greasy spoon?).
I headed down through Kew Gardens to see what the actual beaches looked like. At the park’s opening, real Christmas trees were on sale, children were playing in the park & a makeshift game of baseball was beginning. Of course, I would have joined in, except United Airlines kicked up a stink when I tried to bring my baseball bat on the plane with me (carry-on luggage my ass).
By the time I got down to the sand it was almost dusk. The water was more bay than beach, but I wasn’t going to correct decades of local history. A board walk & cycle path ran along the edge of the sand. I couldn’t help but notice a jet-ski passing by. You couldn’t pay me to get in that water as it was 6 degrees celsius outside. What I found most interesting was a raggedy old fence which sliced the beach in half as far as the eye could see. Few openings (supposably for human traffic) broke this chain, but it did leave we wondering why it was there in the first place?
So as the sun set I headed back up to Queen Street to hitch a ride on a streetcar back into town. I do wish I had come down here earlier…. but alas, Toronto had one last surprise for me just as I was packing to leave.
Check the photos out here.