The internet is alive and well in the nation to our north, but who wants to sit at a computer when there is Toronto to see, food to eat, pictures to take, a wedding to attend and more food (delicious Greek food) to eat?
A vote of confidence for Toronto is that it is a city in which I can live. Truly multicultural to its core, Toronto doesn’t flinch at the appearance of new cultures or the marriage of disparate ones, and welcomes all with open arms. The Indian, Chinese and Greek food are like eating at mom’s or an aunty’s kitchen and even the littlest of taverns have the best beverage selections. When Nepalese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Jamaican, French, Arab and mixed-culture families rush down the street loudly conversing or arguing in their native tongues and a South Indian restaurant boasts its name and menu in Tamil and no other language, you know you’re in the real.
I missed and was missed at Geek Dinner 2: Loki’s Revenge. But, D, a bunch of Wisconsin compadres and I Greeked (and Chinesed and Jamaicaed and geologized) out at the wedding celebration of our dear friends, Tim and Helen, instead:
- Oot And Aboot In Toronto
- At The Chinese Lantern Festival In Ontario Park
- Shaking Our Moneymakers At The Big Fat Greek Wedding Reception
- Staring At Horseshoe Falls (and arguing with D over the usage of the term escarpment)
It was great to see the Lee clan and members of the old Wisconsin gang – Tim, Helen, Mike, Katya, Andy, make new ones and get busy on the dance floor with Dave and Machelle. Helen’s dad, Demetrios, is a wizard with a mean cut of the rug to Zorba The Greek.
Here are some pictures from my much-needed break (before work and the Rising Tide Conference consume me for the rest of the week):
Two questions: how was the food? Short ceremony or long?
The food was excellent – the second course was a yummy dish that looked like enchiladas, but tasted just like homemade ravioli. Helen’s mom organized a dessert alcove and we were sent home with boxes upon boxes of pie, baklava, tiramisu, fruit and cheescake.
Ceremony – short. About 30 minutes, with crowning, exchange of rings and circumnavigating the altar 3 times. Lots of chanting.
Glad to hear that the family isn’t too freshly off the boat. They go for the 72 hour service…
“A vote of confidence for Toronto is that it is a city in which I can live. Truly multicultural to its core”
I agree; I’d say it’s the most visibly multi-cultural I’ve been to.
Also, I like Greek churches: I think because they’re usually circular rather than rectangularly shaped.
Great wedding series. But best was D en repose early in the sequencs.
The Niagara Escarpment:
The Niagara Escarpment begins in Watertown New York, USA and continues westerly along the Manitoulin Island in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It continues through Wisconsin and Illinios.
AH-Hemmm!
“We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson