Lots of Photos and Some Words From That Week I Spent in Toronto, Buffalo, Detroit, Ann Arbor, South Bend, and Chicago 2011

So I spent the last week or so traveling, in case you couldn't figure that out by the title of this bloggy blog.

I don't know where I got the idea but I decided to travel to Toronto on my own. I am sure I was thinking, "I just want to go to a city and explore without having to worry about doing what other people want to do or rest/wake up when they do." But right before I left, like every time I go somewhere new for an extended period of time, I was all anxious and second-guessing my decision.

In the end it all worked out as planned. Well, not all but most. What is all you ask? Well, I have attached some photos below to show you. This one is not going to have as many words but will be as characteristically long due to the pictures.

Here is how I spent the days September 3-11 in the year 2011 of our lord:

So I get on the doubledecker Megabus in DC and the prime seat right above the steps where I don't have to worry about anyone behind me has a TV falling out of the wall, so I was the only one to brave this seat and I am thinking I am off to a really good start to my trip that begins with an 11 hour bus ride. Then the bus people come and cut down the TV and the seat next to me is open for the taking and when I get to Harrisburg it is. By a large snoring man. And 13 very uncomfortable hours later we arrive in downtown Toronto. Lesson #1: don't take the Megabus for long trips to popular destinations (Knoxville: ok; Toronto: no).

Anyway. To the photos.

TORONTO

Where I stayed--Canadiana Backpackers Inn--a highly recommended hostel

My first stop upon arriving in Canada was Chinatown, of course. I ate at one of these places. What is not seen here are the t-shirt vendors. I realized I didn't pack enough shirts for the week so I found one that if it were sold at any brand name place based on how soft it was would cost like $30. It cost 3 here. I am an idiot and only bought one. It's pretty ironically sweet though with a wolf and everything. So soft. Let me know if you're in Toronto so I can have you pick me up another one.

I ordered something called Chicken with Mushrooms. The lady asked me if I want rice or spaghetti. I thought spaghetti was Canada's cute way of saying lo mein (because they have a cute way of doing things--see photo below). It turns out she really meant spaghetti. Half the reason I travel is for the food. This was not a good start.

OMG Canada, you are so adorable putting a cute little hockey playing family on your five dollar bill.

Kensington Market--a bohemian part of town. Kind of like a much cooler version of Adams Morgan. Point and case below.

They should have towed this car earlier. It's going to be pretty heavy now.

Moose on a roof wearing hockey jerseys. Classic Canada.

Art Gallery of Ontario

Ontario College of Art and Design

Juxtaposition, shall we? (They're not connected btw.)

I was told this has something to do with something called Degrassi. Wikipedia tells me Degrassi is a Canadian teen television drama series.

I took a photo of these buildings because I thought they were nice. The place below was in there with them. Not much more I can say about that.

I came to this place because it said it was a brewpub. It turns out they don't brew their own beer but put their name on other peoples'. Kind of like Old Dominion here in DC. There was an item on the menu called peameal bacon on a sandwich with egg. I was thinking, quite Americanly, how can bacon carry a sandwich? I was curious enough that I got it. Canadian bacon. Why can't they just call it ham like the rest of the world?

 It was Saturday and I was thinking I would go try to find some good local band playing some live music at a nice little venue. The venue was good. The band played lame covers. And I don't know where they were from.

I was told I have to buy one of the hot dogs by the street vendors because they give you so many options for toppings. After drinking at the show from above this is my little Toronto street hot dog concoction.

Toronto's version of Times Square

DC needs to invest in putting TVs in the metro.

So I ate lunch on Sunday in Greektown. This is where I ate. I had a pork souvlaki pita. If you ordered lamb they had to warn you that it was fatty. A national health care system will do that.

This is called Casa Loma, which is a big mansion in the city.

This is a house right by Casa Loma. Nice neighborhood.

Say you're walking down the sidewalk in Toronto and you're like, "damn, this is a nice looking sidewalk. I wonder when it was paved." All you have to do is look down and you will see the year in which it was paved. I'm sure this serves some real purpose but I am going to chalk it up to Canada being adorable again.

Then I walked miles and miles and ended up in Yorkville in an area called The Annex.

There were a few times on this trip when I thought about ways I could become rich. Walking through The Annex in Toronto was one of those because of houses like this. I later learned Rachel McAdams has a house here. Biggest regret of the trip: not looking up The Annex when I was there, specifically where Rachel McAdams lives.

Also The Annex

Canada being adorable again. Look at that little guy telling you to strut across the street.

Royal Ontario Museum. I didn't go into any of these museums because after living in DC I refuse to pay to enter museums.

This is on the campus of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. I don't know what that means other than university cannibalism but I hate myself for not going to a school that looks like this. 

Again, the University of Toronto.

Hudson's Bay Company. Only the oldest corporation in North America.

Old City Hall

New City Hall

CN Tower. It costs like $30 to go to the top of that. Why anyone has every been to the top of this given that fact is not something I will ever understand ("look mom there's another view of that financial building we just saw a second ago while not in a huge space needle."). But i felt obligated to take a picture of it.

Where the Blue Jays play

Where the Maple Leafs (shouldn't it be the Maple Leaves??) and Raptors play.

This brewery makes one beer. It is a pilsner and it's pretty good.

Was told this was the best jerk chicken ever. I can't recall a time I had jerk chicken prior to this so I can't really agree or disagree. It was tasty though.

When I originally planned on going to Toronto I was going to go during the International Film Festival there. Then I remembered my aversion to large numbers of people so I came the week before instead. This is the theater that is home to the Toronto International Film Festival. Nice right? I figured that since I would be missing the festival I would at least catch an indie film there on the rainy Sunday night I was there. I saw Tree of Life. I don't think I know the type of people that would enjoy that movie. They go through the history of the universe in one 20 minute voiceless sequence and at one point one dinosaur steps on the head of another. Yeah. However, I think I saw the two people from the band Tennis there while in line for a Sprite. And just now I was going to get the link to their myspace page so that you could go to it in case you don't know them but the picture on there is of people that I did not see. Bummer. Good music though so you should still check them out.

Jim Carrey is like the most famous Canadian. He has whatever that is on the sidewalk. So does Bryan Adams.

Then the next day I ate in Little India at this place. When taking a picture I read they have a restaurant outside of DC. Every time I've eaten Indian food it has been different. This time was no different.

This is the real life beach there in Toronto. Yeah, I was surprised too. Had I known about this I would have come one of the first two days when it was really hot and people were saying things like, "It's humid, eh?" rather than this day when it was 60 degrees out.

When was the last time you saw an operable phone booth outside of the movie "Phone Booth"?

Distillery District. It's an area with art galleries and buildings that look like this. Quite nice.

Juxtaposition 2

Then I went to High Park. I regretted it pretty much immediately because it's large and this is how you normally get around. Don't be fooled by the people sitting on it because it was out of commission at this point. And there was a zoo in the park. I just wanted to get to the next neighborhood on my journey and I knew if  I stopped in the zoo I would be captivated by something soft and cuddly or a moose. Will power made a rare appearance and I was able to bypass the zoo luckily.

This was in the park, which is nice.

As was this.

Canadian geese in Canada! (I realize these very well might not be Canadian geese but I don't know much about geese. It's just a hunch so take it easy you zoologist you.)

The next neighborhood was called Parkdale, as you can see above. I stopped here for a beer after my super long trek through the park and such and have a photo of the experience but its not that good because I didn't want to be that loner taking flash photos of the bar. I hope you understand.

My first experience with Korean Barbeque. Best meal in Toronto. If you're keeping track at home the official scorecard for my ethnic meals is as such: Chinese, Canadian, Greek, Caribbean, Indian, Korean. Boom.

And that was Toronto. With all the ethnic food, laid back neighborhoods, ease of transport, free health care, and all the other fun life options it is probably my favorite city I have ever been to. If it were in the United States I would definitely move there (Obama, if you want my vote, start by annexing Toronto). Or maybe I will just move there anyway. Does anyone know if it's easy to get a job there as an American? What about if I go to law school there?

Then I got on a bus and went to Buffalo to get a car to drive to Chicago. I get on the bus and almost immediately this guy sits down next to me and introduces himself. Within like one minute he is telling me about about he's been to DC and has seen the Hope diamond at the Smithsonian. This is my nightmare. But it didn't last long, luckily. Eventually I made it to Buffalo.

I didn't realize how nondescript this photo is but this is Anchor Bar in Buffalo, home of the original buffalo wing. Sadly, I enjoyed these more than almost all those foods in Toronto.

The thing with ugly cities is they allow the freedom to build modern looking buildings like this one in Buffalo, which I found appealing.

On the way from Buffalo to Detroit where I was spending the night before Chicago I stopped in Niagra Falls. This is the only picture I took of it because that is all it deserves. Entirely unappealing. I am pretty sure TLC told us not to go after these things and, well, there's not much there when you find one.

This was right next to the falls. I found this just as appealing.

And this.

A view of Detroit from my hotel.

This is Detroit. Honestly, I kind of like it. Not as it is now, of course, but for what it could be. You fix up the old brick buildings from the 1920s throw in some modern architecture and some jobs and you have yourself a nice city. I'd live there.

I also stopped in Ann Arbor to check out the University of Michigan. This is the law quad. Again, I hate myself for not going somewhere like this for undergrad and for not being smart enough to go here for law school.

This is Notre Dame. I told my dad that I was stopping by. He said he would write me out of the will if I did. He hates Notre Dame more than probably anything on earth. I wouldn't put it by him to actually write me out of the will for this so do me a favor and don't tell him this happened. If you do, please tell him that I didn't really like it with the lame college town and abundance of rich white people.

CHICAGO

So there is this lady that won the cooking show Top Chef that has a restaurant in Chicago. This is that restaurant. Apparently it is quite tough to get a reservation there. Somehow my friend got one for 930 on the Wednesday I arrived there. They have a continuously changing menu of small plates that may or may not include goat meat. The server lady was like you should get like 2-3 each so we did. That server lady was a liar but the food sure was delicious. Best of the trip actually. But don't believe them if they tell you you should order like 6 plates because 3-4 is enough. But maybe you should because they taste really good.

My friend lives in the West Loop area of the city near Haymarket. We ate/drank at the brew pub there.

When you heard Haymarket in Chicago did you think of the massacre there in 1886? Yeah, me too. And if you were wondering if there were a monument like I was there is one and this is it.

So we just went awalking down Michigan Ave. This is the new Trump building/second largest building in the US.

Chicago has a lot of nice architecture, if you haven't been there. A lot of the pictures I have from my time there are of random buildings. I like this example. It's a hotel.

Michigan Ave.

Nice building.

You did it, water tower, you survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In case you were wondering they did eventually state that the cow that supposedly started the fire by kicking over a lantern was innocent. Poor cow, carrying that burden for all that time.

This store is another example of times I consider going to law school to be a rich person's lawyer so I can shop at places like this. However, while I did not buy anything at Topman I could not hang out on Michigan Ave. all day and come back empty handed. So I bought the shoes below because together we make an awesome team.

Hancock building. It's famous.

Chicago has a beach too. Look at the size of those waves in that lake!

Chicago style pizza from the place below.

Non-touristy place where I had the Chicago-style pizza above.

They made a movie about this place. It's called Chicago.

This is a famous department store. Maybe the first one ever. I can't remember. And I can't read the writing in the photo either. But I was there. And it was about here that I consumed my first ever 5 Hour Energy. At one point I had forgotten I took it and I was feeling all weird on the inside then I remembered I drank a superbooster and, while I didn't feel any better, I at least knew where the feeling was coming from. 5 Hour Energy. It will keep you awake.

Chicago hot dogs are really underrated. This one was delectable. Its from a place called Morrie O'Malley's in the south side. I recommend it.

Also on the south side, the White Sox's stadium.

University of Chicago. University number three on the trip that makes me wish I tried harder in school when I was younger/had smarter/richer parents to make me smarter and afford for me to go to schools that arches like this.

And quads like this.

Have you ever read the book "Devil in the White City" about a murderer during the time of the World's Columbian Expo in Chicago in 1893? It's pretty entertaining and popular. Well, this is the only building left from said Expo. It's not white but that's because the white ones weren't supposed to last except this one.

Chicago skyline.

self-explanatory

This is what Wrigleyville looks like when the Cubs aren't in town.

Al's Italian Beef is another famous Chicago food. Yeah, I ate there too.

Wicker Park it turns out is not actually a park but an area of the city. Multiple people told me I should go to Wicker Park and I didn't understand why people wanted me to go to this park. It's a nice area to go out in actually, that's why.

I know what you're thinking, "is that New Haven style pizza with mashed potatoes and bacon on it?" Unfortunately, yes, something like that does exist. A lot less potatoes than I expected and they were baked so they tasted like regular old potatoes, which is still weird, but not as weird as a pizza slathered with mashed potatoes. It really wasn't bad though, just a gross idea.

2011 Independent Pizzeria of the year, Piece. They brew their own beer and offer mashed potatoes as a topping. Tough to beat.

You know how I told you Chicago is known for the architecture? Well, we took a tour! The next several buildings are from that tour. That's the Willis (Sears) Tower there. Tallest building in the US. And at one point the world!

This is what Chicago was supposed to look like. It doesn't.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.

Illinois Institute of Technology. Also on the tour.

Chicago skyline again. Someone once told me Chicago is big but it doesn't feel like a big city. That person was wrong. Chicago is a huge city and it feels like a huge city.

I was told these lions are famous and dress up sometimes. This is one of those things that I won't believe until I see.

This is my favorite of all the pretty skyscrapers. I don't know what it is though other than pretty.

More skyscrapers.

Frank Gehry did this.

Cloud Gate, aka The Bean. Not much to it but I can say I was there and that's what counts, right?

Another unofficial law school visit, Depaul.

The L in Chicago is pretty much a tourist attraction in and of itself. So we rode that in a loop.

That is a legit Tennessee bar and a good way to end a great vacation.

The Tennessee bar even had Left Hand Black Jack Porter, which is one of my favorite beers and is impossible to find anywhere. Admittedly, it wasn't all that good in the bottle it was probably sitting in for a while. My next journey is to Denver in a few weeks so one of my main goals is to find a place that sells it on tap. Until then I will get back to exploring DC for the first time in a long time.