Weekend in Hogtown

Thirty years ago, Dr. Mohamed Karmali discovered the connection between E. coli O157:H7 and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) which inspired many researchers, including Glen, to explore this problem.  Saturday night these scientists gathered to celebrate this milestone at the University Club of Toronto.

We arrived in Toronto (often referred to as Hogtown) Friday afternoon and took a cab to the Hilton on Richmond Ave.  The fare was a flat rate which was just as well as we experienced some rush hour traffic.  After settling into our room, we headed to the bar, called the Tundra, to have supper.  The jerked chicken wings were delicious and we washed them down with Muskoka Cream ale.  Afterwards, Glen enjoyed steak ravioli while I ate deep-fried sushi-like salmon rolls.

Tundra also hosts breakfast with unique menu items as well as a buffet.  We knew we'd be walking so Glen tucked into a lemony pancake/crepe with blueberry sauce while I had duck confit on hash browns (three types of potatoes).   We then headed toward the waterfront to begin our letterboxing adventure.

The City of Toronto began as the Town of York and was designated the capital of Upper Canada.  Captured by Americans during the War of 1812, it was destroyed but rebuilt and became a city in 1834 (renamed Toronto--a Huron word meaning 'place where trees stand in water').  It's the fifth most populous city in North America (over 5 million) and has the third largest English theatre district after New York City and London, England.

Our first letterbox was hidden near the Redpath Sugar refinery.  John Redpath, a Scottish emigrant, founded the Canada Sugar Refining Company in Montreal in 1854.  The Toronto refinery was built in the 1950s with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Raw sugar cane is still brought from the Caribbean and refined here.

Near the refinery was a small swathe of sand called Sugar Beach.  This is where we'd find the box.  On our way there, we passed Captain John's restaurant housed in an old ship.  Glen and I remember it from previous visits but had never eaten there.  I guess we never will as the owner, John Letnik, who opened the restaurant in the 1970s, was forced to close it in 2012.

After a brief rest at Sugar Beach, we retraced our steps and headed along the waterfront to Spadina Ave.  Our next letterbox was near the Rogers Centre where the Toronto Blue Jays play.  Close to the railroad tracks is a memorial to the Chinese immigrants who worked on building the railroad.  It was erected in 1989 and commemorates the contribution these men made to uniting Canada.

Our final box was an unusual one in that it wasn't hidden in a public place.  We had to enter the Global Village Backpackers Hostel and ask for it.  There was no missing the bright blue building (130 years old) but we did feel a little strange going inside.  We were definitely the oldest there by a good 40 years.  Of course, the woman at the front desk had no clue what a letterbox was.  I showed her the clue and she found the box for me.  As I stamped in, we explained to her what we were doing.  She was fascinated.

By this time, we'd walked for 2 hours and were hungry so headed back to our hotel with plans to eat at an Irish pub I had spotted when we arrived.  Fionn MacCools is a chain of Irish pubs (there is one in Calgary) owned by Prime Pubs (founded in1997).  The menu was a mix of Irish and modern so I had grillbread which was like a rectangular pizza while Glen had steak and mushroom pie.  We both enjoyed our Guinness after such a long walk.

After eating we discovered the pub was attached to our hotel by an indoor walkway.  We returned to the room to rest.  My sister, Nancy, and I had connected via Twitter at breakfast to discover we both were in Toronto.  She was visiting her son so she and her husband, Andy, popped by the hotel on their way home.  We spent about 45 minutes chatting.  Not long enough but a moment of magic.

After they left, we flew into action as our dinner began a half hour later and we didn't know how long it would take to walk to the club.  It turns out we made it in plenty of time.  I was surprised how many people I knew and some I could finally put faces to the names I've heard for thirty years.  We had a lovely meal of salmon done to perfection.

Glen had a traditional breakfast on Sunday while I ate an oatmeal risotto which our waiter (who remembered what we'd eaten the previous day) recommended.  We took a limo (not stretched) to the airport as it was not much more than a cab.  The ride was a half hour shorter.  We were not assigned seats on the plane so I began to panic when they started boarding.  How do you board if you don't know where you're going?  We were finally called and were seated at the very back.  Note to self--next time pay the extra so you don't have to go through that again.