Gouden Carolus Dinner – Friday and Saturday, February 22 and 23, 2008 – This event is a 3-course Belgian menu fixe ($40) menu with your choice of Gouden Carolus, Gouden Carolus Tripel or Gouden Carolus Ambrio. The Abbot On The Hill, Abbot on the Hill, 1276 Yonge Street, call 416.920.9074 to reserve

Clark Graham, who lives in the Moncton area, takes in abandoned pet rats as part of his Angel’s Heart Rat Rescue adoption program, Canwest News Service reported. He’s been at it for five years now, charging those who want to adopt a rat $10 to $15.

“I look for people who do not want them for food for their snake,” he told Canwest in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Rats get a bad rap as disease-spreading vermin but Graham finds them friendly and loyal.

“They love the company of people,” Graham said. “They crave it. I walk into a room and they all jump up and want me to come see them.”

Godiva Chocolate Valentine Hearts – Designed by renowned pastry chef Norman Love, each handcrafted piece surprises the palate with a clarity and brilliance of flavor that makes every bite a memory to be savored. Offered for Valentine’s Day in gorgeous handcrafted boxes.

Valentine’s Day Fabric Heart Gift Box – Milk, dark, and white chocolates, including delicate ganaches, luscious pralines, rich caramels, sumptuous truffles, and more. In a heart-shaped fabric box with sheer ribbon roses. Make your sweetheart’s day.

See all of the gift ideas at Amazon

Fifteen per cent of Canadians would give up their ballot in Canada’s next federal election to vote in the U.S. election, a new poll co-sponsored by the CBC has found.

The poll, done by the Canadian polling company Environics Research on behalf of the Simons Foundation, the CBC, the Environics Institute, the Globe and Mail and Le Devoir, asked 2,001 Canadians over the age of 15 questions about how they perceive their role, and Canada’s role, in the world.

Forty-six per cent of those surveyed in January by telephone said it matters a great deal to Canada who wins the November 2008 U.S. presidential election. Another 35 per cent said it mattered somewhat, while only eight per cent said it doesn’t matter at all.

Keith Neuman of Environics told CBCNews.ca that the fact that nearly one in six Canadians said they would vote in the American election over the Canadian election shows just how important they think the United States is.

“What they’re saying is that in the whole scheme of things, the race will have impact on the world and Canada,” said Neuman, Environic’s group vice-president, public affairs.

“The U.S. is a big global superpower and it carries a lot of weight.”
While 34 per cent of those surveyed said they would like to see a Democrat win the next election and five per cent said a Republican, a whopping 56 per cent surveyed said it makes no difference to them whether the next president is a Republican or a Democrat.

“That’s notable,” Neuman said. “Canadians are not knee-jerk partisans when it comes to American politics.”

Neuman noted that this indifferent response may have been partially due to the fact that the survey was done Jan. 9 to Jan. 22, when the race to pick the next Democratic and Republican presidential nominees was only just heating up.

The poll was done on behalf of Canada’s World, a citizen’s initiative focused on the roles Canada and Canadians play in the world. The principal sponsor was The Simons Foundation, with additional support from the Environics Institute, the CBC and the Globe and Mail.

The survey has a margin of error of 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

U.S. cited as negative force in the world

While Canadians see the United States as important, when asked what countries stand out as being a negative force in the world, 52 per cent of respondents named the U.S.

The next most common answers were Iran (22 per cent), Iraq (19 per cent) and China (13 per cent)…

Continue reading

Mike McDonald of Waterloo, Ontario, northwest of Toronto, is too young to legally play in most Canadian provinces and the United States, but since turning 18 in September, has racked up some impressive wins in London, Prague, Macau and Aruba, his mother told the Waterloo Record.

Saturday night was the biggest win for McDonald, who saw through repeated bluffs by German poker veteran Andreas Gulunay in Dortmund, the report said.

Speaking to the newspaper by telephone, the teenager said he’ll continue playing until he’s had enough.

“I see these guys who are playing 60 hours a week when they’re old, and none of them seem very happy,” McDonald said. “I don’t want to make this my long-term career … I might like to go back to school and get a real job.”

He said he’d also like to buy a used car, although he hasn’t got his drivers license yet, the report said.

General

95% less energy is used to make new aluminum cans out of old ones. Recycling just one pop can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours. Throwing away a single aluminum can is like pouring out six ounces of gasoline.

[source]

“While police forces around the world search for the Indian doctor who scammed hundreds out of their kidneys, his wife and children remain barricaded behind security doors at their Brampton home.

Neighbours said Kumar, his wife Poonam Ameet, and their two boys, 5 and 4, moved into the area last …”

Continue reading

About Flour Girls (cute fun play on words all over the place!) – from their site:
flourgirls is an old-fashioned bakeshop with a stylish twist. It all began with the caring, giving spirit of owner Susy and her team of helpers. Their fun-loving nature, zest for life, and passion for all things sweet (not to mention talent!) are the main ingredients behind flourgirls. Using only the finest and freshest products, all of flourgirls’ melt-in-your-mouth cupcakes, beautifully decorated cookies, ultra-decadent brownies, delectable cakes, lovely loaves and more are made from scratch with a huge helping of love.
Everything is tailored to your occasion, whether simple and elegant or wild and whimsical, and made to order just for you—a personal touch that’s hard to come by these days.

At flourgirls, we offer plenty of delectable ways to mark special occasions, reward jobs well done and end meals memorably. So for your next dinner party, birthday celebration, shower or sugar craving, remember flourgirls can provide that finishing touch.
Life is sweet…especially with extra smiles on top!

Cupcake Flavors
Lemon Zinger: Vanilla cupcake base topped with lemony buttercream
Curious George: Chocolate buttermilk cupcake base topped with banana buttercream
A touch of Pink: Vanilla cupcake base topped with raspberry buttercream
Nutella Dreams: Vanilla cupcake base topped with hazelnut buttercream
Mocha Madness: Chocolate or vanilla cupcake base (your choice) topped with mocha buttercream
Canadiana: Vanilla cupcake base topped with maple buttercream
Orange You Glad: Chocolate buttermilk cupcake base topped with orange-chocolate buttercream
Chocolate Goodness: Vanilla cupcake base topped with chocolate buttercream
Chocolate Overload: Chocolate buttermilk base topped with chocolate buttercream
Ms.Plain Jane: Vanilla cupcake base topped with vanilla buttercream
Going Coconuts *: Moist coconut cake topped with cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with coconut
The Boston Cream Cupcake *: Vanilla cupcake base with custard filling and topped with chocolate buttercream
Pass the Carrots Please *: Carrot cake base topped with whipped cream-cheese frosting

Flourgirls
14 Mill Street Unit 103
Milton, ON Canada
6 cupcakes sell for $13.65 (tax included)

Related: Cupcakes in Toronto

[via]

Environment Canada has “muzzled” its scientists, ordering them to refer all media queries to Ottawa where communications officers will help them respond with “approved lines.”

The new policy, which went into force in recent weeks and sent a chill through the department research divisions, is designed to control the department’s media message and ensure there are no “surprises” for Environment Minister John Baird and senior management when they open the newspaper or turn on the television, according to documents obtained by Canwest News Service.

Continue reading

It quizzes you and you click on your answer. It’ll then tell you how close you were to it. (or how far depending on your attitude )

Play now

The fired head of Canada’s Nuclear Safety Commission on Tuesday defended a decision to keep a reactor shut down for nearly a month, creating a critical shortage of radioactive isotopes used to diagnose cancer patients, and causing delays to thousands of cancer patients around the world.
Former commission president Linda Keen said the agency was following the law when it refused to approve the restart of the reactor in Chalk River, Ontario. When the government ordered operations to resume last month, the risk of a nuclear accident was 1,000 times greater than acceptable, she said.

“Ignoring safety requirements is simply not an option,” Keen said. “Safe enough is not good enough.”

The reactor supplies half the world’s radioactive isotopes. Thousands of patients around the globe faced delays in crucial medical tests because of the shutdown.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last month there was no risk of a meltdown with the start-up, and his government blamed Keen for refusing to quickly resolve the impasse.

The 50-year-old reactor was shut down Nov. 18 for maintenance. It was scheduled to resume operations on Nov. 23, but the commission ordered an indefinite stoppage after discovering the reactor had been running without the emergency power system connected to two cooling pumps.

The Canadian government scrambled to pass legislation allowing the company to bypass the nuclear safety watchdog. The reactor reopened on Dec. 16…

Continue reading

Dessert Trends Patisserie & Café also serves breakfast and lunch.

Dessert Trends Patisserie & Café
154 Harbord Street
NE corner of Harbord and Brunswick
Toronto Canada
Tel: 416.916.8155

Zachariah no longer has to wonder about why AppleCare costs more in Canada ($199) than in the US ($169), he found a deal at L.A. Computer Company where he could get it for $119. They emailed him the agreement number, he registered the number online at Apple, and received his official AppleCare Protection Plan Certificate in the mail. So what’s the solution to the mystery of why there was a pricing disparity even though there’s parity between the dollar and the loony? We don’t know for sure, but we’re placing our money on that the prices were figured out when the dollar was worth more and they just haven’t been readjusted since.

Part 1 of the story: Canadian wonders why he has to pay more for AppleCare

Annapurna, 1085 Bathurst Street (south of Dupont), Toronto, Ontario, M5R 3G8, 416.537.8513

[source: ryerson.ca]

The recent rabies death of a puppy has led to a major scare in Toronto, where at least 20 people have since been vaccinated against the disease.

Toronto Public Health Spokeswoman Susan Sperling said that since a puppy purchased at a flea market died of rabies, local health officials have been inundated with calls from concerned citizens, The Globe and Mail in Toronto reported Saturday.

“We’ve had 500 calls to date, but no human cases so far. We’ve also managed to recover some of the other puppies,” Sperling said.

The border collie puppy died at the Toronto Humane Society last week, prompting health officials to recommend that anyone who came in contact with the animal to call for a medical assessment.

The Canadian newspaper said the dog’s former owner will likely not face charges in Toronto due to the fact the vendor operates outside the Ontario city and a lack of provincial regulations regarding dog sales or breeding.

The Canadian airwaves will soon be alive with “The Sound of Music” when a TV reality show begins auditions to cast the role of Maria in an upcoming Toronto production of the beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is producing its own version of the hit BBC series “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?,” which garnered the 2007 International Emmy Award for best non-scripted entertainment program.

Auditions began Friday in Toronto to start a seven-city, cross-country audition tour, from Vancouver, British Columbia, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, that will run through Feb. 9.

About 200 hopefuls will be invited for callbacks in Toronto, and about 50 finalists will attend the “Maria School” for further training.

The 8-part TV series set to air this summer will follow the “Marias” as they go through auditions, training sessions and evaluations.

Canadian viewers will vote to determine their choice to play Maria von Trapp, the singing and dancing nun-turned-governess made famous by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film.

The winner will join the cast of a production of “The Sound of Music” premiering in October at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian and David Mirvish.

“I am delighted that `How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?’ is coming to Canada,” Lloyd Webber, the famed British composer and impresario, said in a CBC news release.

“It was an enormous success in the…

Read more

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/17/cattle-call-to-star-as-maria-in-sound-of-music/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/16/new-book-toronto-2008-with-niagara-falls-the-niagara-wine-region/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/16/new-book-toronto-2008-with-niagara-falls-the-niagara-wine-region/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:05:43 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/25/new-book-toronto-2008-with-niagara-falls-the-niagara-wine-region/
You might be happy to know that the new book about Toronto and nearby attraction, Fodor’s Toronto 2008: With Niagara Falls & the Niagara Wine Region (Fodor’s Gold Guides) will be released on February 5, 2008. You can pre-order yours for only $11.53, a savings of 32%.

Pre-order your book now (before the sale disappears)
————
Here are more books about Toronto you might be interested in:

1. Lonely Planet Toronto – This comprehensive guide is your entree to its many facets: the culinary scene is as deliciously diverse as its population, the artistic community breaks conventions on a daily basis and its great outdoors are awash with options – from cycling and skiing to hiking and hockey. Socially enlightened, multicultural and uniquely Canadian.

2. Top 10 Toronto – Whether you’re looking for the finest cuisine or the least expensive places to eat, the most luxurious hotels or the best deals on places to stay, Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides provide useful information by local experts to find the best of everything at each destination.

3. Secret Toronto: The Unique Guidebook to Toronto’s Hidden Sites – For the traveler in search of something completely different when visiting Toronto. This detailed guide leads travelers far from the beaten path to uncover Toronto’s best-kept secrets. From obscure museums and overlooked neighborhood treasures to tucked-away green spaces and exotic ethnic cuisine, these little-known destinations yield big rewards for the more adventurous traveler. The soul of this cosmopolitan city is highlighted by hotspots where visitors can learn Latin dancing at night, disco after hours, and rent a private dungeon at an S&M bed-and breakfast.

4. Toronto for Dummies – This book is so great for people traveling to Toronto for the very first time AND for people who really are newbies to this great Canadian City. It’s a fun, very thorough guide about Toronto and the surrounding areas you might want to visit. From the view atop the CN Tower to its electric nightlife to it’s global cuisine, Toronto offers its visitors an unforgettable travel experience. And with Niagara Falls and Stratford just quick trips away, there’s no shortage of things to see and do. With this friendly guide, you’ll plan a vacation that’s perfect for you.

This is a down-to-earth trip planner comes with very handy Post-it flags for you to mark your favorite pages! Priced at a bargain basement price of $11 (plus some change), you’ll get your money’s worth and more with all of its 336 pages.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/16/new-book-toronto-2008-with-niagara-falls-the-niagara-wine-region/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/15/global-village-backpackers-youth-hostel/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/15/global-village-backpackers-youth-hostel/#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:06:05 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/24/global-village-backpackers-youth-hostel/
Global Village Backpackers Youth Hostel was voted the best hostel in Toronto last year. But. How MANY hostels are there exactly in Toronto? One?! Just kidding. Anyway, I have a feeling this place is fun and a place where people aren’t focused on “rest and relaxation” if you know what I mean.

Formerly The Spadina Hotel, back in the glory days the place hosted celebs like Jack Nicholson and The Rolling Stones. Fast forward to today and the hostel has hosted the likes of future famous people. Maybe.

Because of its downtown location, once you arrive in Toronto, you’ll know you won’t have to lug a huge backpack to get to your accommodations. Also, this youth hostel is conveniently near Toronto’s main sights, which is a traveler’s dream come true. There are also some package tours and day trips (Niagara Falls, Brewery Tours, Hockey Fan Tours, Moose Trips, etc.) available so check them out at the front desk.

Global Village Backpackers is the largest youth hostel in Toronto, offering: 24-hr reception, swipe-card security, air conditioning, free wi-fi, huge common areas, outdoor patio and Toronto’s only Backpackers Bar.

Sounds fun, huh?

Rates (Canadian dollars): $27 Dorm Bed (6-10 beds per room); $29.99 Quad Bed (4 beds per room); $72.50 Private Room (1 double bed) – and a buck or toonie off if you reserve online. Note: $10 linen & key deposit required upon check-in and refunded when linen & key are returned at checkout

Global Village Backpackers Youth Hostel
460 King St. West (NW corner of King & Spadina)
Toronto, On, Canada
M5V 1L7
Tel: 1.888.844.7875 (North America only) or 416.703.8540

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/15/global-village-backpackers-youth-hostel/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/14/get-your-sneakers-and-shoes-painted/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/14/get-your-sneakers-and-shoes-painted/#comments Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:06:12 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/23/get-your-sneakers-and-shoes-painted/
Oh the treasures you will find at the fabulous Etsy site! Ndeur, a Parisian-born graphic artist based in Toronto offers you these wonderful painted shoes. The sneakers are so cute! I have some white vans that seriously need something with a bit more character and color and I think that something is chez Ndeur. The beauty of this is that all you need to do is look down at your shoes to see art; and traveling art at that!

You can choose from a myriad of designs so you’re bound to find something that suits your personality. His style seems inspired by street art and it’s mixed with fun and whimsy topped with a splash of modern art. It’s as though he was a street tagger that decided to channel his creative energy and work onto something smaller: shoes. That way, he doesn’t risk getting arrested by police whilst trying to escape their pursuit after getting caught tagging a train. You know. It’s safer but with less exercise and way less toxic fumes.

Back to his shoes. You can order the shoes and designs from Ndeur or you can send him your own shoes to have them painted. This is not only an ingenious business idea, but it’s just plain cool and fun.

Ndeur Shoes (at Etsy)
Ndeur MySpace – you can see his other art here

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/14/get-your-sneakers-and-shoes-painted/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/13/green-earth-organics-fresh-organic-food-delivered-to-your-home-or-office/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/13/green-earth-organics-fresh-organic-food-delivered-to-your-home-or-office/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:10:08 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/22/green-earth-organics-fresh-organic-food-delivered-to-your-home-or-office/
Green Earth Organics offers up an excellent and amazing service. Once or twice a week, they deliver to your home or office boxes of organic fruits and vegetables and other organic foods. There are three box sizes to choose from Harvest $36, Family Harvest $46, and Super Harvest $60. The contents of the boxes change on a weekly basis (due to seasonal changes). But you can also call the weekend hotline at 416-285-5300 or visit their website, to hear what is in your box ahead of time and make any substitutions you’d like when available. A great and obvious option: when you sign up for their service you can let them know which items you never want to receive, and order items you prefer.

All deliveries are done on the same day every week. Deliveries take place in the evening, 2pm. – 9pm.

Green Earth Organics buys locally grown produce whenever possible and 10% of their profits go to various non-profit groups around Toronto.

Give them a call or sign up online so you can order organic food and have it delivered to your door.

Green Earth Organics
3 – 70 Wade Ave
Toronto,Ontario
Canada. M6H 1P6
Tel: 416.285.5300
24 Hour Hotline: 416.532.2713

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/13/green-earth-organics-fresh-organic-food-delivered-to-your-home-or-office/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/12/canadian-privacy-commissioner-rejects-drm/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/12/canadian-privacy-commissioner-rejects-drm/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:06:09 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/21/canadian-privacy-commissioner-rejects-drm/ The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, published an open letter to Josée Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Industry Minister Jim Prentice, who has been diligently committed to resurrecting his disaster of a copyright bill, which will import the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Canada. Essentially, the systems in question often spy on users and then report back with detailed, private information about your activities. Ms. Stoddart is very concerned with the prospect of changing Canadian law to make it illegal to tamper with this spyware. An excerpt is below:

…Canadians are making use of new information and communication technologies to obtain access to information, films, music and other content. While new technologies have generally widened individual access to copyrighted content, they also allow copyright holders the means to control use or reproduction and to manage authorized uses.

Technological protective measures can be embedded in various media to control copying and prevent copyright infringement, or they can be built into electronic devices to prevent the reading of unauthorized content. Digital rights management (DRM) is the general term for the varied technologies used to enforce pre-defined limitations on the use of digital content. These include any means by which publishers or manufacturers control use of data or hardware. My office has prepared an information sheet on DRM technology, a copy of which is enclosed for your information.

If DRM technologies only controlled copying and use of content, our Office would have few concerns. However, DRM technologies can also collect detailed personal information from users, who often do no more than access the content on a computer. This information is transmitted back to the copyright owner or content provider, without the consent or knowledge of the user. Although the means exist to circumvent these technologies and thus prevent the collection of this information, previous proposals to amend the Copyright Act contained anti-circumvention provisions.

Technologies that report back to a company about the use of a product reveal a great deal about an individual’s tastes and preferences. Indeed, such information can be extremely personal….” read the whole letter

[via]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/12/canadian-privacy-commissioner-rejects-drm/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/11/great-breakfast-in-toronto-sunset-grill/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/11/great-breakfast-in-toronto-sunset-grill/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:06:35 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/20/great-breakfast-in-toronto-sunset-grill/
There’s nothing better than eating a ginormous breakfast. All Day. Ok, I don’t eat breakfast all day ONLY because I’d be a freakin’ pig, eating that much. But I don’t mind eating a huge, hearty and very tasty breakfast in the a.m. or lunch when I have time to digest it and maybe exercise later. But sometimes I do have a need for breakfast for dinner. Anyway, back to this post.

Sunset Grill is an all day breakfast joint. LOVE those kinds of places! So, you can eat breakfast at any time of the day here. Using the freshest ingredients available, Sunset Grill will be able to offer you a repast you’ll always remember. Enjoy old style three-egg breakfasts, fluffy pancakes, thick and yummy French toast – or create your own omelets, or much on the best burgers and sandwiches in town.

Here are the Toronto locations:

Beaches
2006 Queen St. East., Toronto, ON M4L 1J3
(416) 690-9985
Monday to Friday 7 AM to 4 PM
Saturday & Sunday 7 AM to 5 PM

Bloor West Village
2200 Bloor St. West, Toronto, ON M6S 1N4
(416) 763-1444
Open Daily 7 AM to 4 PM
Danforth Village
1602 Danforth Ave., Toronto, ON M4C 1H6
(416) 466-0648
Monday to Friday 7 AM to 4 PM
Saturday & Sunday 7 AM to 5 PM

Dundas and Dufferin
1422 Dundas St. West, Toronto, ON M6J 1Y5
(416) 532-1571
Open Daily 7 AM to 4 PM

Yonge and Eglington
2313 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4P 2C6
(416) 482-4229
Open Daily 7 AM to 4 PM

Yonge and Richmond
1 Richmond St. West, Toronto, ON M5H 3W4
(416) 861-0514
Open Daily 7 AM to 4 PM

Yonge and Wellesley
543 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4Y 1Y5
(416) 968-9696
Open Daily 7 AM to 4 PM

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/11/great-breakfast-in-toronto-sunset-grill/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/10/torontos-best-bars-lily-lounge/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/10/torontos-best-bars-lily-lounge/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:07:26 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/19/torontos-best-bars-lily-lounge/
You won’t feel like a stranger upon entering Li’ly Lounge in Toronto’s popular district, “Little Italy.”

Work up an appetite before heading to Li’ly Lounge because their menu is to die for with their bold, international tapas and delectable gourmet meals. It’s one of the best places to chill, to sample great food, listen to good music, dance to an in-house DJ and to meet new people. Oh, and relax with a drink or two.

li’ly Resto Lounge
656 College Street West (College and Grace Street)
M6G 1B8 Toronto ON Canada
Tel: 416.532.0419

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 6pm to 2am; Mondays reserved for private events

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/10/torontos-best-bars-lily-lounge/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/09/guess-whos-in-the-top-10-happiest-countries-in-the-world/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/09/guess-whos-in-the-top-10-happiest-countries-in-the-world/#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:07:51 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/18/guess-whos-in-the-top-10-happiest-countries-in-the-world/ No. 10: Canada
Population: 33 million
Life Expectancy: 80 years
GDP Per Capita: $34,000

Canada may sometimes feel overshadowed by its giant neighbor to the south, but a strong sense of national identity and abundant natural beauty help make the sprawling and sparsely populated country one of the world’s happiest. Canada also punches above its weight economically, with a huge $1.1 trillion GDP and per-capita that ranks among the world’s highest. It also has strong health care and a low crime rate.

Yay! We always knew Canada ruled.

See the other 9 happy countries

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/09/guess-whos-in-the-top-10-happiest-countries-in-the-world/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/08/canada-puts-us-on-torture-watch-list/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/08/canada-puts-us-on-torture-watch-list/#comments Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:06:37 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/17/canada-puts-us-on-torture-watch-list/ From CTA:

Omar Khadr’s lawyers say they can’t understand why Canada is not doing more to help their client in light of new evidence that Ottawa has put the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on a watch list for torture.

Khadr — a Canadian citizen who was just 15-years-old when he was captured in Afghanistan more than five years ago and taken to Guantanamo — has claimed that he has been tortured at the prison. Now, CTV News has obtained documents that put Guantanamo Bay on a torture watch list.

Khadr’s U.S. military lawyer says the new documents contradict Harper’s assurances that his client is receiving fair treatment.

“Omar has certainly been abused, his rights have been violated under international law, and apparently the Canadian government has reason to believe that’s true, and yet, they’ve acted not at all to assist him,” William Kuebler told CTV News.

Khadr’s lawyers say suspicions of torture undermine claims that he can get a fair trial from the military commission in Guantanamo Bay. They want him sent back to Canada to face justice here. But the government has said he’s charged with serious crimes and they are waiting for the U.S. judicial process to play itself out.

Canada’s new focus on torture was ordered by the inquiry into Maher Arar’s nightmare in Syria. U.S. authorities sent Arar — a Canadian of Syrian ancestory — to Syria after he made a brief stopover in New York in 2002. They wrongly accused him of…

Continue reading

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/08/canada-puts-us-on-torture-watch-list/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/07/what-to-do-when-its-cold-outside-bowling/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/07/what-to-do-when-its-cold-outside-bowling/#comments Sat, 07 Aug 2010 23:06:45 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/16/what-to-do-when-its-cold-outside-bowling/
Not the most glam activity but it’s a fun thing to do when you need to get out of the house but not go outside in the wicked cold. Grab some friends or your kids and head out to Danforth Bowl. Take the subway and exit at Coxwell.

Danforth Bowl
1554 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
Northwest corner of Danforth at Coxwell, across the street from Coxwell Subway Station.
Tel: 416.463.3000

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/07/what-to-do-when-its-cold-outside-bowling/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/06/tasty-falafels-and-pizza-in-toronto-king-david/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/06/tasty-falafels-and-pizza-in-toronto-king-david/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:06:34 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/15/tasty-falafels-and-pizza-in-toronto-king-david/
David Hazan, the owner of Kind David’s says that the secret to his success is his ability to bring the flavor of Middle Eastern food to the consumer making sure that all of his food is fresh, visually appealing and as tasty as it looks.

To aliven your taste buds try a falafel or hummus and techina. A falafel, which is ground chick peas fried to the size of small meat balls and stuffed into pita bread with all kinds of different salads and toppings is not only a full meal but a true food gourmet’s healthy experience. There is also humus mixed with techina which when eaten with pita bread makes you feel as if you are on a food expedition traveling through an exotic country.

Believe it or not the kosher establishment is famous for it kosher pizzas, too. There are a large variety of pizzas with various combinations of crusts and toppings. There is not only your standard double cheese pizza but also vegetarian and pepperoni pizza. There is also a wonderful pizza with a sesame seed crust.

2 Locations in Toronto:

King David Bakery Cafe Pizzaria and Falafel
3020 Bathurst St.(South of Lawrence Ave.)
Tel: 416.781.1326

241 Wilmington St.(Dufferin St. & Finch St.)
Tel: 416.636.3456

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/06/tasty-falafels-and-pizza-in-toronto-king-david/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/05/cupcakes-in-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/05/cupcakes-in-toronto/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:07:57 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/14/cupcakes-in-toronto/
Cupcakes are not the trend right now. They’ve ALWAYS been in fashion! But until recently, cupcake shops were hard to find. Thankfully, more and more are popping up here and there in great cities across North America. Toronto is no exception. The Cupcake Shoppe, situated in a bustling area of Toronto, offers cupcake lovers a total of 17 beautiful, nut-free flavors, with nine of their yummilicious flavors available in-store every single day. YAY. All cupcakes come with cute, unusual names, chosen by the staff, and your favorites will be easy to remember. All the cupcakes, including (my favorite) Yonge ’n’ Eligible featuring vanilla buttercream on a vanilla or chocolate cake, the chocolate buttercream on chocolate cake James Brown, and their marble Frost Me cupcake topped with vanilla frosting – changes color seasonally, and are baked daily from the freshest ingredients. Additionally, The Cupcake Shoppe offers custom cupcakes, mini cupcakes and cakes illustrated by hand to suit your special celebrations. Toronto’s first cupcake bakery, the Cupcake Shoppe knows how much fun a cupcake can be.

The Cupcake Shoppe
2417 Yonge Street
Tel. 416.322.6648
2 blocks north of Eglinton Avenue,
on the east side of Yonge.

Hours
Monday to Friday 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/05/cupcakes-in-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/04/lakeview-victorian-bed-and-breakfast/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/04/lakeview-victorian-bed-and-breakfast/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:06:22 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/13/lakeview-victorian-bed-and-breakfast/
Located on the former Dovercourt Estate Property, Lakeview Victorian Bed & Breakfast is a stately Victorian (1886) home located in a safe residential community in downtown Toronto.

Marie couldn’t be a more perfect hostess. She provides very so much information in necessary detail, and suggests some Toronto sights and shopping only a local would know. She’s also very attentive to guest needs and acts accordingly. It’s a really great choice for a bed and breakfast in downtown Toronto.

Lakeview Victorian b & b is a clean, comfortable and friendly place. A homemade breakfast will be waiting for you every morning along with advice on where to go, how to get there, and how to find the best deals. In other words, she suggests places that do not cater to tourists: the traps! Yay her.

Lakeview Victorian Bed & Breakfast
42 Lakeview Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M6J 3B3
Tel: 416.821.6316

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/04/lakeview-victorian-bed-and-breakfast/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/03/how-to-move-to-canada/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/03/how-to-move-to-canada/#comments Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:07:44 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/12/how-to-move-to-canada/ It’s no shocker that Americans are extremely disgusted by the U.S. government, and because of all of the lies, murders and secrets the government is responsible for, well, many American wanna get the heck outta Dodge. And fast. I don’t blame them. America is flawed. Very flawed, I hate to say, and I sympathize with Americans.

So. Many Americans are seeking a new place they can call home sweet home, and be proud of where they live. Howz about moving to Canada?????

This primer might be just for you. How to Move to Canada: A Primer for Americansmight be the ticket to your happiness.

Recently, 1.1 million Canadians voted Tommy Douglas, “the Sakatchewan premier who spearheaded Canada’s universal health care system” the “Greatest Canadian” of all time. This sort of mentality is what makes Canadian emigration more and more enticing to Americans out of step with their homeland’s priorities. In an easy-to-follow and comprehensive guide, How to Move to Canada: A Primer for Americansoffers a detailed action plan for Americans seriously thinking about making a permanent move to Canada. From the smallest details on what is necessary on the application to the rules regarding moving from Hawaii with a houseplant, the books covers details vital and otherwise, and lists websites and phone numbers for additional information. In addition to the hows, this helpful guide provides the whys from a Canadian perspective: apparently, skilled workers are needed, and as it currently stands 49 percent of Toronto residents were born outside Canada.

Brief overviews of each province and territory help readers find where they fit best. The writers play to the presumed liberal bias of their readers and provide information to that end (abortion: legal since 1988; the death penalty: abolished in 1976; same-sex marriage: legal since 2004;the firearm homicide rate: one-eighth the U.S.’s). As a lighter and less ideological companion to this useful but narrowly targeted book, readers should check out Will and Ian Ferguson’s comic work How to be Canadian.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/03/how-to-move-to-canada/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/02/sugar-mountain/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/02/sugar-mountain/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:08:52 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/11/sugar-mountain/
Sugarholics, rejoice! Especially those of you who like sweet retrolicious candy goodness.

Sugar Mountain is a chain of specialty candy and confectionery stores, which got its humble start in 1992 as an open-air booth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original booth quickly outgrew demand and the first Sugar Mountain retail store opened its doors on Richmond Street West in late 1995.

From the first sight of the bright purple interior, to the multiplicity of confectionery and novelty items, Sugar Mountain stores capitalize on a youthful notion that is created via a carefully selected product offering, within a nostalgic environment that is reminiscent of one’s childhood. Specializing in retro and nostalgic confectionery, it is not uncommon that Sugar Mountain customers exclaim, “Wow, I haven’t seen this in years”. Sugar Mountain has become a nationally recognized institution and has established itself as the leading Canadian retailer of imported and nostalgic confectionery.

2 Locations in Toronto!

Sugar Mountain
2299 Yonge Street (at Eglinton)
M4P 2C3 Toronto Canada
Tel: 416.486.9321

320 Richmond Street West
M5V 1X2 Torotno Canada
Tel: 416.204.9544

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/02/sugar-mountain/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/01/quotes-about-torontonians/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/01/quotes-about-torontonians/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:09:05 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/10/quotes-about-torontonians/
“I like Toronto; the people are really chill.” ~ Rihanna

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/08/01/quotes-about-torontonians/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/31/free-wifi-at-these-toronto-public-libraries/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/31/free-wifi-at-these-toronto-public-libraries/#comments Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:07:38 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/09/free-wifi-at-these-toronto-public-libraries/
When you’re traveling, the last place you’d think you’d visit would be the public library, but don’t knock it! You can find travel books and magazines there to peruse (and be up to date with current news by reading newspapers) but it’s also a great place to catch up on email or do work online, while you’re in our great Canadian city. So if your accommodations don’t, by chance, have any internet accessibility, here are the public library locations in Toronto where you can access the internet for free via Wifi:

Agincourt – 155 Bonis Ave. Toronto, Ont. M1T 3W6, T: 416-396-8943
Albion – 1515 Albion Rd.Toronto, ON,M9V 1B2 T:416-394-5170
Albert Campbell – 496 Birchmount Rd. Toronto, ON, M1K 1N8 T: 416-396-8890
Bridlewood – 2900 Warden Ave. Toronto, ON, M1W 2S8 T: 416-396-8960
Centennial – 578 Finch Ave. West Toronto, ON, M2R 1N7 T: 416-395-5490
Eatonville – 430 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Toronto, ON, M9B 2B1 T: 416-394-5270
Flemingdon Park – 29 St. Dennis Dr. Toronto, ON, M3C 3J3 T: 416-395-5820
Gerrard/Ashdale – 29 St. Dennis Dr. Toronto, ON, M3C 3J3 T: 416-395-5820
Lillian H. Smith – 239 College St. Toronto, ON, M5T 1R5 T: 416-393-7746
Mimico – 47 Station Rd. Toronto, ON, M8V 2R1 T: 416-394-5330
Morningside – 4279 Lawrence Ave. East Toronto, ON, M1E 2S8 T: 416-396-8881
North York Central Library – 5120 Yonge St. Toronto, ON, M2N 5N9 T: 416-395-5535
Parkdale – 1303 Queen St. West Toronto, ON, M6K 1L6 T: 416-393-7686
Parliament – 269 Gerrard St. East Toronto, ON, M5A 2G3 T: 416-393-7663
Richview – 1806 Islington Avenue Toronto, ON, M9P 3N3 T: 416-394-5120
Riverdale – 370 Broadview Ave. Toronto ON M4K 2M8 T: 416-393-7720
Toronto Reference Library – 789 Yonge St. Toronto, ON, M4W 2G8 T: 416-395-5577
Woodside Square – 1571 Sandhurst Circle Toronto, ON, M1V 1V2T: 416-396-8979
York Woods – 1785 Finch Ave. West Toronto, ON, M3N 1M6 T: 416-395-5980

For more information

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/31/free-wifi-at-these-toronto-public-libraries/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/30/the-power-plant/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/30/the-power-plant/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:07:24 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/08/the-power-plant/
Toronto’s contemporary art museum, The Power Plant, is worth a visit and will make for a wonderful day spent perusing modern art. The museum itself has 3 major exhibition galleries and smaller, adjacent indoor and outdoor sites which lend themselves to virtually any presentation circumstance.

The interior of The Power Plant is made up of 3 major gallery spaces. The 2 largest, named the Royal LePage and J. S. McLean Galleries, are designed for maximum flexibility and for the diversity of contemporary art. The ceilings are nine meters high they have an adjustable grid lighting system. The third, named the Canadian Tire Gallery features three-meter high ceilings. In addition to the galleries, which share approximately 650 square meters, the Fleck Clerestory, a central corridor with a glassed roof, lobby and exterior spaces are also designated for exhibition purposes.

The Power Plant is wheelchair accessible. An elevator connects the visitor to both levels.

The Power Plant
231 Queens Quay West
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada M5J 2G8
T: 416.973.4949

Regular Hours

Tuesday to Sunday | 12-6 pm
Wednesday | 12-8 pm
Closed Monday
Open Holiday Monday | 12-6 pm

HOLIDAY 2007-08 HOURS

24, 25, 26, 31 December 2007 | Closed
01 January 2008 | Closed

ADMISSION
$5 | Adults
$3 | Seniors & Students

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/30/the-power-plant/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/29/how-many-languages-are-spoken-in-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/29/how-many-languages-are-spoken-in-toronto/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:05:44 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/07/how-many-languages-are-spoken-in-toronto/
From World66:

Over 180 languages are spoken in Toronto! There are large numbers of people from China, India, Jamaica, Greek, The British Isles, The Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Somalia, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria, Germany, Korea, etc.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/29/how-many-languages-are-spoken-in-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/28/gay-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/28/gay-toronto/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:05:56 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/06/gay-toronto/
As the largest city in Canada, you would definitely expect that there’d be a gay scene in Toronto. You’re right. The gay scene in Toronto is called The Village, or Church Street. It’s located along Church and Yonge between Alexander and Wellesley, and the Wellesley subway stop.

In the Village, a great kickoff would be to start at Woody’s, a massive complex of bars that is one of the most popular hangouts in the city for many years. (Many scenes from Queer as Folk were filmed here.) Next, check out Babylon Martini and Musique Boutique. Babylon has over 250 types of martinis! Pimblett’s Pub is a cozy joint, and is the oldest gay bar in Toronto. The Volcano Room is a new spot that has become insanely popular. Zipperz is a traditional piano bar, as is Trax 5. El Convento Rico pulls in the Latino crowd, while Ciao Edie is a funky retro bar. Pegasus Bar is an all time favorite, with video games, pool tables and the largest projection TV in Toronto. Remington’s is the place everyone goes to watch cute go-go boys disrobe. Lesbians hang out at Slack Alice, Pope Joan, and The House of Parlaiment Pub. The leather crowd favors The Black Eagle, The Toolbox, and The Barn and Stables.

You’ll also find that another area, called the Queer West Village, has grow in the West Toronto suburbs. It’s a conglomeration of communities where gays are completely and seamlessly integrated into a mixed district. A more tolerant mindset than most others anywhere, there is no discrimination based on sexual identity. You don’t go out there to party. If you’re looking party, go to the Village. You go to Queer West Village for mingling with gay rights and community related issues.

In the summer, you can get an all-over tan at Hanlans Point Beach on Toronto Island, or closer to town on Scarborough Beach.

When Gay Toronto needs to get its dance on, it heads to Fly. This is the big dance club you’ll recognize from Queer as Folk. On Saturdays, it thumps until well after sunrise. 5ive is more upscale and chic. Lust is where people head to on Fridays. On other nights it’s mostly mixed.

For restaurants, go to Zelda’s, an American/Mexican/Italian eatery. It’s massively popular during Sunday brunch, and its bar is one of the biggest gathering places for gay Toronto. Less tread establishments are: Tantra, the V3 Lounge, PJ Mellons, and Byzantium. For a quieter bar scene, head to Living Well, which has been a favorite with the gay community forever. The Looking Glass is another fave, with its four fireplaces and pan-cultural menu. The Village Rainbow is a Village standard establishment. Fire on the East Side’s Southern-inspired menu will not only pique your interest but it’ll also do the same to your tastebuds.

Toronto has several gay B&Bs. A few of these bed and breakfast places are located right smack in the middle of the Village: The Dundonald House, a charming guesthouse owned by legally-married gay couple Warren and Dave; Cawthra Square, a collection of three upscale B&Bs all side by side to each other, and the recipient of several gay travel awards; The Banting House, an Edwardian residence whose guests rave about it’s central location as well as its marvelous gardens. Bears and leather fans can bed down at The Bearfoot Inn. If you’re searching for a transvestite-friendly place, slide on over to the Wildside Hotel. Other unique, gay-owned properties in the immediate area are The Toronto Townehouse, B R Guest, the Toronto Downtown B&B (a luxury B&B), A Seaton Dream, the Lavender Rose, the House on McGill, and the Burwood Inn.

Pride Toronto is Canada’s largest gay event, and takes place in late June. Folsom Fair North is an extension of San Francisco’s famed leather celebration. It takes place in mid-July. [source]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/28/gay-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/27/the-toronto-marathon/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/27/the-toronto-marathon/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:06:46 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/05/the-toronto-marathon/
I know it’s a bit early! The Toronto Marathon takes place this year on October 18, 2008, but don’t you need time to train for it? THAT’S why I’m telling you about it so early!! If 26 miles isn’t your style, try the half-marathon or the 5k run.

For more information and to register

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/27/the-toronto-marathon/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/26/winter-activity-in-toronto-surfing/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/26/winter-activity-in-toronto-surfing/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:05:43 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/04/winter-activity-in-toronto-surfing/
From Blogto:

Canada is brutally cold in the winter. This weekend Toronto had one massive winter storm. 30cm (about a foot) of snow accumulation, gusting winds creating wind chills of -20°C (sub 0°F) and complete road carnage were enough to keep most of us in the city holed up in our homes this weekend. The closest I came to “surfing” was when, in my pajamas, I sank into the couch with a mug of fresh coffee and remote control in hand, and flipped through the channels looking for something to watch on TV.

Hardcore Toronto surfers Mark Karvonen, Walter Tuokkola, and Geoff Johnson, on the other hand, got suited in their neoprene wetsuits, waxed their boards, and headed down to Ashbridge’s Bay to ride the wicked waves of Lake Ontario.

Nuts, I say. NUTS! These guys surfed up a….

Continue reading the whole article

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/26/winter-activity-in-toronto-surfing/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/25/the-magic-oven/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/25/the-magic-oven/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:06:51 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/03/the-magic-oven/
Yummy pizzas in Toronto. Period. They offer organic spelt pizzas, wholewheat pizzas with sprouted grains, gluten free riceflour pizzas with vegan and lactose free cheese. Yay!

About the Magic Oven
Magic Oven was born in 1997. The first location at Broadview and Danforth in Toronto was a huge success. Winning the Best Pizza, Best New Restaurant and Favourite Lunch Place in the NOW Magazine’s Readers poll. That was just the start of the media attention Magic Oven has received. Further coverage by CityTV, Rogers Cable, As The World Turns, National Post, Toronto Star, Toronto Life, Cheap Eats, WHERE Toronto, Globe and Mail, CBC Television, Entertainment Tonight, Breakfast Television, FoodTv Canada, Rogers Daytime, Toronto Dining, Patron Picks, Get Stuffed in Toronto, Vitality Magazine has kept Magic Oven in the news.

Magic Oven was featured on the cover of the Canadian Pizza Magazine and Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine billed it as – The Innovator – in its Pizza Section.

Fresh food, free of additives and preservatives has been the mainstay of the menu. Frequent menu changes with upgraded ingredients is a given. The concept, over its 10 year existence is still fresh and poised for expansion and growth.

The husband and wife team of Tony and Abby Sabherwal are the founding principals of Magic Oven. It was their passion for good food, good service and great people relations that drove the first Magic Oven to its success.

The people of Magic Oven have always been an integral part of its success. They are creative, hard working team players who thrive on challenge and learning.

Magic Oven has always been an equal opportunity employer. The turnover is a lot lower than industry averages. The staff of more than 75 works well in self-managing teams and reflects the commitment to quality and customer service.

The last few years have seen growth for Magic Oven. The concept has grown to five locations. A Cafe has been added to the Broadview location and Magical Catering has grown to hosting events for 000’s of guests.

The Magic Oven
798 Danforth Ave.
Toronto, ON
M4J 1L6
T: 416.462.0333

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/25/the-magic-oven/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/24/toronto-fire-chiefs-drive-hybrids/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/24/toronto-fire-chiefs-drive-hybrids/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:07:11 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/02/toronto-fire-chiefs-drive-hybrids/ From Treehugger:

Remembering the events of five years ago, none of us would begrudge our firefighters a nice ride; we are pleased to see that the Toronto Fire Services chief is tooling around in a Highlander hybrid. It won in a competitive bidding process that looked at performance, ground clearance and versatility. They are almost off-the-shelf- a custom Toronto colour (is not fire engine red the same all over?) and “a set of very subtly-integrated strobe lights built into the roof rack, grille, side pillars and rear lamps: at night, the thing lights up like a Christmas tree, and is visible from very far away, even though the LED units are actually tiny. ” TFS liked the fuel consumption stats and the fact that it was not a beefed up heavy duty sedan but an off-the-shelf car that was strong enough to take it. Sez Chief Stewart: “”All of the equipment we’ve chosen is here so we can respond faster and work safer.” Canadian Driver

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/24/toronto-fire-chiefs-drive-hybrids/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/23/happy-new-year-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/23/happy-new-year-toronto/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:07:02 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2008/01/01/happy-new-year-toronto/ Have the best year, ever.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/23/happy-new-year-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/22/made-in-tieland/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/22/made-in-tieland/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:07:02 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/31/made-in-tieland/
Bags from recycyled ties! Made in Tieland

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/22/made-in-tieland/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/21/canadians-warned-to-avoid-travel-to-pakistan/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/21/canadians-warned-to-avoid-travel-to-pakistan/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:15:32 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/30/canadians-warned-to-avoid-travel-to-pakistan/ From Canada.com:

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada is warning Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Pakistan.

“Canadians who choose to travel to Pakistan despite this warning should evaluate carefully the implications for their security and safety,” the government warned on its website.

The warning was issued Friday, the day after Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.

Pakistani soldiers stand guard during a lawyers’s protest against the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, in Quetta, 29 December 2007. Pakistan’s planned elections were in doubt after polling officials said the vote had been “adversely affected” by a wave of violence and unrest after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

“News reports indicate that riots and violence have occurred in several locations throughout Pakistan, mainly in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi,” according to the warning on the website.

“During the period of mourning and the funeral, riots and large-scale demonstrations may take place. Heightened security measures have been put in place in major cities, including the set up of checkpoints.”

Canadians are warned to exercise an extreme level of caution, monitor news reports and follow the advice of local authorities.

The warning also said to avoid all crowds, demonstrations and political gatherings, “and stay away from areas where they will occur, as they may turn violent without warning.”

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/21/canadians-warned-to-avoid-travel-to-pakistan/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/20/pools-for-kids-and-adults-at-the-delta-chelsea-hotel/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/20/pools-for-kids-and-adults-at-the-delta-chelsea-hotel/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:06:27 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/29/pools-for-kids-and-adults-at-the-delta-chelsea-hotel/ I can’ really recommend the actual hotel or condition of the Delta Chelsea Hotel. What I can mention here and want to share with you is the very awesome 130-foot heated indoor waterslide! Pretty neat.

Delta Chelsea Hotel
33 Gerrard Street West
Toronto (Downtown), Ontario
M5G 1Z4
Tel: 416-595-1975

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/20/pools-for-kids-and-adults-at-the-delta-chelsea-hotel/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/19/radioactive-waste-found-in-ontario-groundwater/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/19/radioactive-waste-found-in-ontario-groundwater/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:08:29 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/28/radioactive-waste-found-in-ontario-groundwater/ From Canada Environment:

Ontario Ministry of Environment officials are downplaying the discovery of high levels of a radioactive substance called tritium (radioactive waste) found recently in the groundwater of a Pembroke landfill.

“While there was tritium in the ground water at the site, [it was] well below our ministry standards,” said Ministry spokesperson Kate Jordan. “We don’t feel that they pose a risk to the community or to the environment.”

Tritium is widely used in nuclear weapons for boosting a fission bomb or the fission primary of a thermonuclear weapon.

The highest level found in the dump’s groundwater was 1,000 Becquerel/Litre – which is 7 times lower than the level considered “safe” under Ontario law.

Not very reassuring when you consider that the the European Union’s “safe” level of Tritium concentrations in water is 100 Becquerel/Litre. In California the allowable level of Tritium in groundwater is 15 Bq/Litre.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/19/radioactive-waste-found-in-ontario-groundwater/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/18/toronto-says-goodbye-to-a-legend-oscar-peterson/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/18/toronto-says-goodbye-to-a-legend-oscar-peterson/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:10:10 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/27/toronto-says-goodbye-to-a-legend-oscar-peterson/ Canadian jazz piano virtuoso, Oscar Peterson, died on Sunday at the age of 82. A gentle giant of a man, Peterson set the standard for taste and invention and shaped the jazz scene indelibly in the history of music.

Although his greatest influence was undoubtedly Art Tatum, he incorporated elements of Nat King Cole and Teddy Wilson into his own inimitable sound. Norman Granz discovered him in 1949 and put him to work in his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts.

In the early 1950s, Peterson began performing with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward the drummer Smith was replaced by guitarist Irving Ashby, formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio.

Since the late 1950s, when Oscar Peterson gained worldwide recognition as one of the leading pianists in jazz, he played in a variety of settings: solo, duo, trio, quartet, small bands, and big bands. However, his solo piano recitals, as well as his solo piano recordings were rare, until he chose to make a series of solo albums titled “Exclusively for my friends.” This solo piano sessions, made for the MPS label, were Peterson’s response to the emergence of such stars as Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner.

Oscar Peterson also taught piano and improvisation in Canada, mainly in Toronto. He also published his original jazz piano etudes for practice. However, he asked his students to study the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Well Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, and the The Art of Fugue, considering this piano pieces essential for every serious pianist. [source]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/18/toronto-says-goodbye-to-a-legend-oscar-peterson/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/17/love-handles/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/17/love-handles/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:08:11 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/26/love-handles/
Love Handles is a hand-crafted handbag company based out of a Toronto bedroom. The handles are hand-made and wooden and the fabric is organic or vintage. Since it is all found in charity shops, there is a real variety of patterns and colors, from little girl to Scandinavian and a variety of choices in between.

You can order online or shop at these stores:

LEFT FEET @ 88 Nassau St
Located in Kensington Market, Toronto Ontario.
(a sweet Vegan Shoe store you should check out either way)

Heart on Your Sleeve @ 61a Bellevue Ave
a sustainable boutique… that includes organic cottons & reused/reworked clothes!
(corner of Nassau & Bellevue… attached to Left Feet!)

The Bag Boutique @ 1018 Queen St. West
Located just west of Ossington.

Love Handles

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/17/love-handles/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/16/merry-christmas-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/16/merry-christmas-toronto/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:09:04 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/25/merry-christmas-toronto/

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/16/merry-christmas-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/15/lunatic-adventures-sustainable-living-tours/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/15/lunatic-adventures-sustainable-living-tours/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:06:09 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/24/lunatic-adventures-sustainable-living-tours/ Lunatic Adventures is a wilderness guiding company committed to developing environmental awareness through the provision of safe, informative, and enjoyable wilderness experiences. From canoeing to snowshoeing, our guides will provide you with the skills, knowledge & confidence needed to make the most out of your next wilderness adventure

The LUNA Project is an alternative learning center that provides opportunities for people to develop and reflect on their values and to consider how they might take an active role in creating a healthier environment for future generations.

Lunatic Adventures Inc.
250 The East Mall
Suite #1691
Toronto, Ontario
M9B 6L3 Canada

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/15/lunatic-adventures-sustainable-living-tours/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/14/solar-powered-car-wash-in-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/14/solar-powered-car-wash-in-toronto/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:06:14 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/23/solar-powered-car-wash-in-toronto/
Solarco has completed the installation of twenty solar thermal panels at the Wash N’ Go Car Wash, located at 4000 Dundas St West in Toronto. The system pre-heats process hot water used for washing cars. Awesome.

WashNGo
4000 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Canada
416.766.7024

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/14/solar-powered-car-wash-in-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/13/torontos-littlest-house-is-for-sale-again/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/13/torontos-littlest-house-is-for-sale-again/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:05:41 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/22/torontos-littlest-house-is-for-sale-again/

This most adorable teeny tiny abode squished between two seemingly ginormous buildings is the littlest house in Toronto, a 300-square-foot home. It was originally meant to be an alleyway.

But guess what? It’s up for sale in Toronto, effective December 18, 2007! Built in 1912, it was bought and renovated this year, and is back on the market for $173,000 (Canadian dollars, which is equivalent to $172,000 USD).

Any takers? I kind of want it. Badly.

The Little House

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/13/torontos-littlest-house-is-for-sale-again/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/12/toronto-neighborhoods/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/12/toronto-neighborhoods/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:06:42 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/21/toronto-neighborhoods/ Thought this might come in handy if you’re trying to get a feel for Toronto. Here are the neighborhoods and their names:

In-town
Annex
Beaches
Cabbagetown
Danforth
Dufferin Grove
Downtown
Kensington Market / Chinatown
Little India
Little Italy
High Park
Queen Street West
Riverdale
St. Clair West
Yonge St. (central)
Yonge & Eglinton
Yorkville

Suburbs
Etobicoke
North York
Scarborough
West of Toronto
North of Toronto

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/12/toronto-neighborhoods/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/11/the-gift-of-glenn-gould/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/11/the-gift-of-glenn-gould/#comments Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:08:25 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/20/the-gift-of-glenn-gould/

For the longest time, I couldn’t listen to The Goldberg Variations without thinking about Hannibal (The Cannibal) Lechter from Silence of the Lambs – let alone eat fava beans.

It made me sad because I love this recording by Glenn Gould. Luckily, I did overcome it and disassociated the two. Finally. Yay.

My baggage aside, one of the best things you can do for your life, is to stop everything and JUST listen to beautiful music for a while. You don’t have to spend the entire day doing this; just spend some allotted time to step away from the chaos of life, and just…chill. And chilling with music rules. Some of you are so used to multi-tasking and always doing a million things at the same time. You know I’m talking about you. Your days are filled with a continuous string of tasks back to back to back sans cesse, if you know what I mean. Calm, serenity, quiet, peaceful – well, these words do not exist in your life’s vocabulary.

Cut it out!

Do yourself a favor and find great music, like Glenn Gould: The Complete Original Jacket Collection

So…..WHY am I writing about Glenn Gould on this Toronto blog? I thought you’d never ask. Glenn Gould was born in Toronto on September 25, 1932. Thought you’d like that bit of trivia.

About Glenn Gould: The Complete Original Jacket Collection
Each of the 60 single and 9 double CDs consists of the exact recordings as first issued on vinyl and looks like a miniaturised form of the original disc: the CDs are in cardboard slipcases in the original design, and the CD itself is designed to look like a LP.

Supplemented by two bonus CDs, the limited “Glenn Gould Complete Jacket Collection” comprises 80 CDs mounted in a high-quality display case with a booklet of more than 240 pages. This booklet contains a new, detailed essay by the German Gould specialist Michael Stegemann on Glenn Gould and the LP recording era along with texts and repertoire details to all recordings in the edition, plus a listing and depiction of the records with reissue dates for repertoire that has appeared before.

The bonus CDs include the last great interview that Glenn Gould gave the American journalist Tim Page in 1981 and an essay on Johann Sebastian Bach and the fugue that Gould recorded in 1972 for a bonus LP. They also feature a number of late recordings that never appeared on vinyl: fragments of the “Italian Album” and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll in its orchestral version — Gould’s recording debut as conductor and his last recording of all, made on 8 September 1982 with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Another rarity is Gould’s own film music to George Roy Hill’s Slaughterhouse Five from 1972.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/11/the-gift-of-glenn-gould/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/10/tiger-bar/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/10/tiger-bar/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 23:06:39 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/19/tiger-bar/ From an article in toronto.com

If you’ve ever dreamed of a Guitar Hero battle in the midst of a safari disco dance party, you’re in luck. With its painted jungle décor, basement vibe and some of the city’s hottest weekly events, Tiger Bar is bringing out College Street’s wild side.

If you have no idea where Tiger Bar is on College Street, you’re not alone. Although its parties have been on everyone’s lips as of late, the venue itself is as hidden as a hidden gem could be, with two completely hidden entrances and no signage. One entrance is in the alleyway behind popular brunch spot Aunties and Uncles on Lippincott Street, while the second is tucked inside the brightly lit, cafeteria-esque College Street Diner. In fact, the only way you’ll find it is if you look for the handwritten sign simply stating “Bar.”

But don’t expect Tiger Bar to look anything like the above bar College Street Diner. Tiger Bar is dark and appropriately dressed like a…

Continue reading

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/10/tiger-bar/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/09/national-film-board-toronto-mediatheque/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/09/national-film-board-toronto-mediatheque/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:07:36 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/18/national-film-board-toronto-mediatheque/ This gem is THE place to watch the best in Canadian animated, documentary, short and feature films in the state-of-the-art personal viewing stations. There are always new titles added monthly to a growing database of 1500+ films.

Free admission.

Weekend animation workshops for kids ages 3-13; $5 per child with guardian. Mon.-Tue. 1-7p.m.; Wed. 10a.m.-7p.m.; Thu.-Sat. 10a.m.-10p.m.; Sun. 12-5p.m.

Mediateque
150 John St (at Richmond St W)
Toronto (Osgoode subway station)
M5V 3C3 Canada
416.973.3012

Hours of Operation
Monday & Tuesday, 1 – 7 pm
Wednesday, 10 am – 7 pm
Thursday – Saturday, 10 am – 10 pm
Sunday, Noon – 5 pm

Fees for Digital Viewing Stations
Unlimited Day Pass – $2
Annual Unlimited Pass – $12
Annual Unlimited Family Pass – $15
Red Carpet Pass – $50

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/09/national-film-board-toronto-mediatheque/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/08/soundscapes-for-discerning-music-lovers/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/08/soundscapes-for-discerning-music-lovers/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:07:03 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/17/soundscapes-for-discerning-music-lovers/ From their site:

Soundscapes is an independent CD and music book retailer located in the Little Italy neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The shop was founded with the simple intent of carrying the best music of all styles and persuasions. Our inventory includes (but is not limited to) folk, jazz, world, psych, garage, prog, blues, soul, reggae, classical, experimental, noise, americana/country, electronic, hip-hop, R&B, metal and pop/rock. We also devote our energies to finding the best in reissues of all genres and imports from across the pond. Finally, our store has one of the city’s best selections of local indie artists.

Soundscapes is a ticket outlet for many independent promoters and we regularly provide tickets for the town’s cornerstone venues, such as The Horseshoe Tavern, Lee’s Palace, The Mod Club, The Music Gallery and The Opera House, among others. A long-time supporter of Toronto’s independent music scene, we have a large consignment section and a seven-year relationship with local indie club night Wavelength (the breeding ground for Broken Social Scene, The Constantines, Royal City and Do Make Say Think to name a few).

Since its birth in August of 1999, the store has quickly grown into one of Toronto’s most-respected and loved music shops. Most importantly, our shelves are stocked not only by the tastes of our staff, but also through suggestions of many a regular customer. We pride ourselves on a relationship with our clientele that is based on respect and a mutual love of music.

In August 1999, Greg Davis first opened the doors on a modest shop in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood. The space used to be a children’s clothing store. Now it was a fledgling CD shop called Soundscapes. Greg had arrived at this place in a very un-rock n’ roll way. Although a native son of nearby Burlington, he had spent the previous two years as an accountant living in San Diego. Like a lot of number-crunchers he found his job profitable but boring. Unlike the majority of his cohorts, he decided to do something about it.

Greg’s record-store-owner-by-way-of-accountant history was unconventional and so was his approach to the indie record shop. Instead of the cluttered bins and surly attitudes depicted in High Fidelity, he favoured clean lines, broad genre stocking, and wide-eyed enthusiasm. The idea was that while he was a huge fan of music himself, he had as much to learn as the next person. Soundscapes was to be a meeting place of like open minds, where the customer had as much to say about the stocking of the shelves as the owner himself.

When the shop first started, it had no more than a couple thousand titles and Greg was the only employee: day in, day out. In the years since, the store has greatly expanded with an inventory of some 20,000 CDs, books and DVDs, as well as over a dozen employees. The shop’s well-chosen, always-improving stock ranges from folk, pop, rock and soul to jazz, classical and experimental, not to mention numerous reissues and import titles.

Soundscapes
572 College Street
Little Italy
Toronto, Ontario
M6G 1B3 Canada
ph: (416) 537-1620

Sunday-Thursday:
10AM-11PM
Friday-Saturday:
10AM-midnight

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/08/soundscapes-for-discerning-music-lovers/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/07/gems-of-hope-toronto-supporting-womens-development/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/07/gems-of-hope-toronto-supporting-womens-development/#comments Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:07:54 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/16/gems-of-hope-toronto-supporting-womens-development/ This is the best time of year to be thinking about giving to a charity in your area. Gems of Hope is a a Toronto-based charity with a global focus.

Gems of Hope is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization whose mandate is to advance the standard of living for marginalized women in developing countries. To that end, Gems, in partnership with local non-profit agencies from various countries, implements women’s initiatives that empower women to break the cycle of poverty for good.

Development projects of Gems of Hope provide impoverished women with the following:

* Access to micro-credit for initiation or expansion of their small enterprises
* Skills development
* Human Development
* Basic health services
* Education on health and sanitation

With the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and our generous donors, we have helped over tens of thousands of women to build a brighter future for themselves and their families.

Donate online now

You can also donate with a cheque. Please make your cheque payable to Gems of Hope and mail to:
675 King Street West
Suite 304, Toronto, ON,
Canada, M5V 1M9.

Post-dated cheques are also accepted. A receipt will be issued after your funds have been deposited.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/07/gems-of-hope-toronto-supporting-womens-development/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/06/canada-considers-the-us-to-be-unsafe/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/06/canada-considers-the-us-to-be-unsafe/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:07:17 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/15/canada-considers-the-us-to-be-unsafe/ From rabble:

“The U.S. does not meet the Refugee Convention requirements nor the Convention Against Torture prohibition.”

In a surprise ruling the Federal Court of Canada has overturned the “Canada United States Safe Third Country Agreement” in a judgment issued on November 29, 2007.

In a 124-page decision Mr. Justice Michael Phelan ruled that the Safe Third Country Agreement, which came into effect on Dec. 29, 2004 and regulated refugee movement between Canada and the U.S., violates refugee rights and that the United States did not meet the conditions required to be considered a “Safe Country” under the terms of the Agreement.

The Agreement was also held to be contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “The interest at stake is highly important to an individual’s life, safety and dignity,” wrote Justice Phelan.

The Judge stated, “I would therefore conclude that the designation of the U.S. as a safe third country leads to a discriminatory result, in that it has a much more severe impact on persons who fall into the areas where the U.S. is not compliant with the Refugee Convention or CAT (Convention Against Torture), as well as discriminating and exposing such people to risk based solely on the method of arrival in Canada.”

“For the reasons outlined in this judgment, the United States’ policies and practices do not meet the conditions set down for authorizing Canada to enter into a Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA),” Justice Phelan stated.

“The U.S. does not meet the Refugee Convention requirements nor the Convention Against Torture prohibition (the Maher Arar case being one example.) Further, the STCA does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Charter.”

The court ruled that a one-year deadline to file refugee claims in the U.S. was inconsistent with the international conventions because it increased the risk claimants would be sent back to countries where they faced danger or torture.

Justice Phelan also noted that the U.S. definition of terrorist activities can…

continue reading

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/06/canada-considers-the-us-to-be-unsafe/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/05/apple-announces-crappy-tv-programming-available-in-itunes-store-in-canada/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/05/apple-announces-crappy-tv-programming-available-in-itunes-store-in-canada/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:06:52 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/14/apple-announces-crappy-tv-programming-available-in-itunes-store-in-canada/ More of a general Canada news item but thought it was worth posting. I wonder: do Canadians appreciate this crappy TV programming? From MacMerc:

This is either what some American executive thinks Canadians would like to watch (i.e. give them Hockey and Corner Gas) or what some Canadian Government agency dictates that we should be forced to watch (i.e. mostly Canadian content, regardless of what the people want). The inclusion of South Park as one of the few US-produced programs available may be a clue as to which one is to blame for the horrible selection–Blame Canada.

Here’s the gist of the press release:

Apple today announced that hit television programming from Canada’s top networks, US broadcasters and the National Hockey League (NHL) is now available for CAN$1.99 per episode from the iTunes Store in Canada. iTunes customers can choose from Canadian-produced favorites such as the top-rated, award-winning “Corner Gas” from CTV, smash hit comedy “Little Mosque on the Prairie” from CBC, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “South Park” from Comedy Central and the NHL Games of the Year.

CBC’s comedy programs “Little Mosque on the Prairie” and “The Rick Mercer Report,” reality programming “No Opportunity Wasted” and “Dragon’s Den;”
CTV’s smash hit comedy “Corner Gas,” dramas “Instant Star,” “Degrassi: The Next Generation” and “Robson Arms;”
Comedy Central’s “Drawn Together,” “The Sarah Silverman Program” and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “South Park;”
MTV Networks programs “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Hills;” and
NHL Games of the Year, including top NHL games in their entirety for the 2007-2008 season, as well as Stanley Cup Classics, a five-game bundle of great Stanley Cup Final games.
TV shows from the iTunes Store are downloaded in near-DVD quality at a resolution of…

continue reading

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/05/apple-announces-crappy-tv-programming-available-in-itunes-store-in-canada/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/04/time-lapse-video-of-toronto%e2%80%99s-royal-ontario-museum%e2%80%99s-crystal/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/04/time-lapse-video-of-toronto%e2%80%99s-royal-ontario-museum%e2%80%99s-crystal/#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 23:07:34 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/13/time-lapse-video-of-toronto%e2%80%99s-royal-ontario-museum%e2%80%99s-crystal/

From May 2003 to November 2007 this time lapse video was produced through a series of still images taken at 1pm every day during the construction of The Michael Lee Chin Crystal at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum. Later images were captured every 10 minutes during the building’s opening week.

It is amazing.

Watch the video

[via]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/04/time-lapse-video-of-toronto%e2%80%99s-royal-ontario-museum%e2%80%99s-crystal/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/03/upcoming-toronto-beer-events/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/03/upcoming-toronto-beer-events/#comments Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:06:32 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/12/upcoming-toronto-beer-events/ These are not your every day, ordinary codswallop or run-o-the-mill kind of brew. We’re talking quality liquid gold elixir. Anyway. I had to look up some beer lingo. Can ya tell?! Back to this post. Here are a couple of not to be missed beer events in the Toronto area. Happy chugalug! (just kidding.) DON’T chugalug for your liquid sleep. Ok, I’ll stop now.

Fri Jan 25 and Sat Jan 26 2008
Robbie Burns Night
Granite Brewery

2008 (date t.b.a.)
Dogfish Head Beer Dinner with Sam Calagione
beerbistro

[via the bar towel]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/03/upcoming-toronto-beer-events/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/02/the-spice-trader-toronto-organic-spices/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/02/the-spice-trader-toronto-organic-spices/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:06:53 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/11/the-spice-trader-toronto-organic-spices/
You’ll never need to get your spices anywhere else in Toronto. The Spice Trader has about 150 different kinds of spices that adorn the shelves yummily. All spices are organic or wild-harvested, and you can even try them before you buy them. I love Spice Trader!

Sometimes you try unusual recipes that call for uncommon spices. You inevitably just forget about the recipe unless you can find the spices. If you’ve ever been stumped trying to find Ras Al Hanout or quality reverse osmosis cando twigs from antarctica (ok. I made that one up.), look no further. It’ll be a rare occasion that you don’t find what you’re looking for. To note: there’s an excellent sel­ection of salt, from hand-gathered, flaky Welsh Halen Mon to Pacific Alderwood Smoked Salt. Also try the shop’s signature spice blends—including a dill-fennel salt for fish—and assorted dry rubs.

That’s not all. There’s a good variety of accessories, too, from quality spice grinders (Peugeot grinders, graters mortars and pestles, etc.) to frying pans. You might even turn your nose up at William’s Sonoma! Maybe.

The Spice Trader regularly creates new blends, coming up with different ways of using traditional flavours. There are also The Spice Traders own blended salts and herb spice infusions.

The gift boxes make wonderful presents for those who have everything. There are starter kits, salt samplers, and custom gift boxes.

The Spice Trader
805 Queen St. W. (at Niagara St.)
Main level
Toronto, Ontario M6J 1G1
647.430.7085

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/02/the-spice-trader-toronto-organic-spices/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/01/speak-easy/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/01/speak-easy/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:10:34 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/10/speak-easy/
SpeakEasy is a Toronto gathering event, a way for students, creative pros, curious onlookers, well, just about everyone is welcome. Eight times a year, meet new people, mingle and exhibit some of your creations. This is a great way to get some exposure for your art, crafts, jewelry if you are trying to become a creative professional.

Where and When?
SpeakEasy
8 times a year on the first Thursday of the month
from 8pm-Midnight
The Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen West, Toronto
Admission is “Pay What You Can” ($4 Suggested)

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/07/01/speak-easy/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/30/torontos-best-bars-melody-bar/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/30/torontos-best-bars-melody-bar/#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:06:20 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/09/torontos-best-bars-melody-bar/ Speaking of the Gladstone Hotel, I want to expound a bit on their awesome bar, The Melody Bar.

It was voted among The Top 10 Bars List in the World ‘07 by Conde Nast. This is what they had to say about Melody Bar:

With walls paneled in rich wood, alabaster lamps hanging from the 10-foot ceilings, fat Romanesque pillars, and an original 1930s wooden bar, the Melody Bar isn’t so much nouveau retro as a rollicking saloon. Weekend karaoke nights have become the stuff of legend, with the host brandishing a giant APPLAUSE sign to stoke the crowd—an interesting hodgepodge of expertly coiffed hipsters, ad execs, pixie punk girls, and dust-caked construction workers.

Could it be their fabulous burgers? Maybe their rockin’ karaoke (Thursday through Saturday)? Or their famous Hump Day Bump Wednesday night party? Go there and tell me about it!

Open 11am – 2am Daily. No Cover.

To Note: Holiday Hours
Dec 24 Cafe open until 4pm – Brunch Menu | Melody Bar closed
Dec 25 Cafe + Melody Bar Closed
Dec 26 Cafe open at 8am – Brunch Menu | Melody Bar open at 5pm
Dec 31 Serving bubbly till 3am
Jan 1 Cafe open at 8am – Brunch Menu | Melody Bar normal hours

Melody Bar
Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West
Toronto ON M6J 1J6
416 531 4635

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/30/torontos-best-bars-melody-bar/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/29/gladstone-hotel/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/29/gladstone-hotel/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:06:04 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/08/gladstone-hotel/
The Gladstone is more than just a boutique hotel; It’s a unique hotel that, in essence, is an ongoing experiment in melding cultural entrepreneurship and urban development. They even have a Green Policy. Yay them!

The Gladstone Hotel in Toronto is an urban hotel providing both travelers and Torontonians with a truly authentic experience of the local creative culture. Our historic landmark hotel features artist designed hotel rooms and suites, affordable short-term artist studios, exhibition spaces, and versatile event and conference venues. The hotel also offers great food and drink in the Ballroom Cafe and Melody Bar. Visitors can experience Toronto from within the comforts of the hotel’s thirty-seven artist designed guest rooms, eat, drink, attend art related, social, or corporate events held within the historic landmark architecture, and then step out into the heart of the city’s vibrant art and design neighbourhood.

This isn’t just a place to stay overnight. The Gladstone is more than a hotel. It is a place where local artists exhibit their work and perform and more importantly a place where artists and regular neighbourhood patrons come just to hang out. From cabaret performances to film screenings, art exhibitions to wedding parties the Gladstone hosts events for a vast range of artists, community groups, businesses and individuals.

Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON Canada M6J 1J6
Canada
416.531.4635

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/29/gladstone-hotel/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/28/the-bata-shoe-museum/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/28/the-bata-shoe-museum/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:05:45 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/07/the-bata-shoe-museum/
Ok, so I’m classifying this post as a “must see” but some of you might not agree with that. I must clarify. Shoe people, and I know there are a lot of you out there, will absolutely love this museum because afterall, it’s all about shoes. Some fanatics I know will die for shoes. I know, that’s kind of scary but hey tolerance is key to living a pretty good life and judging is never a good thing – but I digress.

The museum features at least 10,000 pairs of shoes. I know that description alone is enough to make you want to go.

The Bata Shoe Museum
27 Bloor St. West, Toronto
(south–west corner of Bloor St. W. and St. George)
St. George Subway Station.
Telephone: (416) 979-7799

A Tip: Go on a Thursday between 5pm and 8pm to get in for free! Otherwise, you’ll be paying a whopping $12 entrance fee. That’s still a fraction of the cost of your latest Manolo purchase but hey, it’s good to take a discount when available.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/28/the-bata-shoe-museum/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/27/nearly-half-of-toronto-area-residents-are-immigrants/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/27/nearly-half-of-toronto-area-residents-are-immigrants/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 23:12:58 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/06/nearly-half-of-toronto-area-residents-are-immigrants/ From CBC:

The Toronto region has experienced substantial growth in its immigrant population over the last five years, according to new census data released Tuesday.

Statistics Canada released information from the 2006 census that gives a snapshot of people who came from other countries to live here. It reveals that most people moving to Canada are flocking to large urban centres, especially Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

Demographic experts have predicted that Canada’s population growth will be almost entirely dependent on immigration by 2030 and communities that don’t attract new Canadians may see steady declines in population.

A shrinking population can have a host of economic and social consequences, including a fragile local economy starved for workers that, in turn, discourages much-needed investment. Business and school closures can result, and as the declining population ages the delivery of social services such as health care becomes strained.

Some communities find it difficult to attract immigrants because new Canadians tend to choose large cities where their families have already settled and where they can obtain the services they will need.

The latest census statistics show that immigrants make up 45.7 per cent of the Toronto area population. Five years earlier, immigrants represented 43.7 per cent of the population. In terms of recent immigration, the number of immigrants who lived in the region increased to 2,320,160 from 2,032,960 between 2001 and 2006.

During the same five-year period since the 2001 census, the overall population of Toronto region increased by 9.2 per cent — compared to a provincial gain of 6.6 per cent and a national growth rate of 5.4 per cent.

The immigration figures shows that about one out of every five Canadians was born in another country. In the Toronto region the ratio is almost one out of every two, while for Ontario, it’s more than one out of every four.

The national figures are skewed by the concentration of immigrants in the metropolitan regions of Toronto, Vancouver (39.6 per cent) and Montreal (20.6).

In terms of the country of origin for foreign-born people in the Toronto area, the highest proportion came from…

Continue reading

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/27/nearly-half-of-toronto-area-residents-are-immigrants/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/26/secret-toronto-the-unique-guidebook-to-torontos-hidden-sites-sounds-and-tastes/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/26/secret-toronto-the-unique-guidebook-to-torontos-hidden-sites-sounds-and-tastes/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 23:06:29 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/05/secret-toronto-the-unique-guidebook-to-torontos-hidden-sites-sounds-and-tastes/ For the traveler in search of something completely different when visiting Toronto. This detailed guide leads travelers far from the beaten path to uncover Toronto’s best-kept secrets. From obscure museums and overlooked neighborhood treasures to tucked-away green spaces and exotic ethnic cuisine, these little-known destinations yield big rewards for the more adventurous traveler. The soul of this cosmopolitan city is highlighted by hotspots where visitors can learn Latin dancing at night, disco after hours, and rent a private dungeon at an S&M bed-and breakfast.

Secret Toronto: The Unique Guidebook to Toronto’s Hidden Sites

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/26/secret-toronto-the-unique-guidebook-to-torontos-hidden-sites-sounds-and-tastes/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/25/celebs-born-in-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/25/celebs-born-in-toronto/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:08:28 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/04/celebs-born-in-toronto/ Lots of celebrities were born in Canada, and in particular, in our great city of Toronto. I thought you’d like to see which celebs are from Toronto, so the next time you see them in-person (yeah, like when?) you can say, “Hey you Canuck!” They’d appreciate that, eh? Ok. Maybe not. Here they are, anyway, fyi:
Dave Foley (1963) – Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 1/4/1963
Mike Myers (1963) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 5/25/1963
Jim Carrey (1962) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 1/17/1962
Rick Moranis (1954) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 4/18/1954
John Candy (b. 1950 – d. 1994) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 10/31/1950
Lorne Michaels (1946) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 11/17/1946
Neil Young (1945) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 11/12/1945
Robbie Robertson (1944) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 7/5/1944
David Cronenberg (1943) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 3/15/1943
Christopher Plummer (1927) Born: Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 12/13/1927

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/25/celebs-born-in-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/24/better-quality-of-life-in-canada-than-in-america-me-thinks-so/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/24/better-quality-of-life-in-canada-than-in-america-me-thinks-so/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:11:07 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/03/better-quality-of-life-in-canada-than-in-america-me-thinks-so/ From Macleans:

They came from China and England, from India and Mexico — 94 people of every age and race, from 13 countries in all. They arrived this crisp autumn morning at an imposing new office complex in Surrey, B.C., filling neat rows of folding chairs in a second-floor courtroom, Citizenship Judge Shinder Purewal presiding. The judge is a cheerful man in a happy job. He told them about some of his own experiences: the murder of his father when he was an infant, and how he arrived in Canada from India as a 17-year-old because his mother wanted to raise her family in a land of peace and security. Purewal, also a political science professor, told them how difficult it is to move to a country where you don’t speak the language or understand the culture. Give it time, he urged them, and Canada will exceed your expectations. He told them how he built a new life in Canada and earned a Ph.D., and how this country — ranked best in the world, he said — has much to offer them as well. “What makes this country great,” he said, “is your presence.”

They stood and raised their right hands — a little girl with bouncing pigtails and a pink coat, a dignified older man with a flowing white beard and a saffron turban, and all the rest — and they recited the oath of citizenship in halting French. “Now you are 50 per cent Canadian,” joked the judge. Then they recited the pledge again in English. Now you are 100 per cent Canadian, he said. They applauded. Friends took photos. And just before 10 a.m. on Nov. 13, the country gained 94 new citizens, with 94 sets of hopes and dreams and plans.

It was a beautiful thing to see. A visitor to the ceremony couldn’t help thinking this roomful of concentrated optimism and potential is a tonic that would benefit his fellow citizens, for a malaise seems to have settled upon the nation. Maclean’s, for the second year in a row, has asked Angus Reid Strategies to ask the world what it thinks of Canada. The pollster also asked 1,000 Canadians for a self-assessment. The results contain more than a few surprises. The world likes Canada, a lot: not the reality of Canada, perhaps, but the ideal of Canada, the idea of Canada. Canadians, however, have a host of misgivings about their country: its lack of independence from America’s influence, the compromised integrity of its government systems, its limited impact on world affairs. Simply put, the world is in love with a country that doubts its own worth. “To me, that’s one of those observations that come off the psychiatrist’s couch,” says Reid of the dichotomy. “I suppose we could spend a lot of time thinking what that means.”

Reid and his global partners surveyed a sample of eight countries — China, England, India, Israel, Italy, Turkey, Russia and the United States — quizzing them in late October about their knowledge of Canadian issues, asking their opinions about Canada at home and its impact on foreign affairs, and taking their assessment of Stephen Harper and other national leaders. Canadians were asked some of the same questions, generally, with less…

Continue reading

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/24/better-quality-of-life-in-canada-than-in-america-me-thinks-so/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/23/teuscher-chocolates-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/23/teuscher-chocolates-toronto/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:06:54 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/02/teuscher-chocolates-toronto/
Chocolate lovers probably already know about this gem, but just in case you didn’t…You will most seriously HAVE to go to Teuscher Chocolates in Toronto. They have the most melt-in-your-mouth heavenly chocolate ever. My favorites are the champagne truffles, which are to die for. I’m not kidding. Go see for yourself. You will thank for for this. Profusely.

About the Swiss Chocolatier, Teuscher: More than 70 years ago in a small town in the Swiss Alps, a master chocolate maker embarked on a path that would make him one of the world’s greatest chocolatiers.

Dolf thoroughly searched throughout the world to locate the finest cocoa, marzipan, fruits, nuts, and other ingredients and after years of experimenting, skillfully blended these into his now famous recipes.

Our kitchens in Zürich today make more than hundred varieties of chocolates using these original recipes which have now passed from father to son. In the tradition, the world’s finest and most expensive natural ingredients are blended together using absolutely no chemicals, additives, or preservatives.

Teuscher Chocolates
55 Bloor St. West
Toronto, ON M4W 3V1 Canada
Phone: (416) 964 8200

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/23/teuscher-chocolates-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/22/shopping-roots/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/22/shopping-roots/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:07:20 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/12/01/shopping-roots/
Remember the store, “Roots”? It’s actually still around! It’s a Canadian company with many of the most popular items we all remember but even better. Really high quality stuff. There is something for everyone: for Men, Women, & Children. When in downtown Toronto, you will be able to find several stores but the shop which can easily be reached is at Roots Central along Yonge Street and within Eaton’s Centre.

You will be able to purchase Roots products: Graphic T-Shirts, Short Sleeve T-Shirts, Long Sleeve T-Shirts, Sweats & Jackets, Hoodies, Pants, Hats & Accessories, Watches, Athletic Watches, Backpacks & Bags, Leather Bags, Leather iPod Cases, & Travel Gear & Bags – and more.

Love that store!

Some trivia: Guess who was hanging out at the Roots Lounge. YES, they have a lounge!!! Give up? Wyclef Jean. Love him!

Roots
220 Yonge Street, Unit B006 Level 2 Toronto
416 593 9640
Location: Yonge & Queen Streets, Inside Eaton’s Centre

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/22/shopping-roots/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/21/win-tx-for-daft-punks-electroma/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/21/win-tx-for-daft-punks-electroma/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:05:48 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/30/win-tx-for-daft-punks-electroma/
Go here to enter to win free tickets to see Daft Punk’s Electroma at The Royal on Friday, December 7, 2007. Midnight showing!

Daft Punk – Electroma
The Royal
608 College Street
Toronto Canada
416.534.5252

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/21/win-tx-for-daft-punks-electroma/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/20/books-about-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/20/books-about-toronto/#comments Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:07:46 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/30/books-about-toronto/ No. I’m not calling you a dummy or anything but this book is so great for people traveling to Toronto for the very first time AND for people who really are newbies to this great Canadian City. It’s a fun, very thorough guide about Toronto and the surrounding areas you might want to visit. From the view atop the CN Tower to its electric nightlife to it’s global cuisine, Toronto offers its visitors an unforgettable travel experience. And with Niagara Falls and Stratford just quick trips away, there’s no shortage of things to see and do. With this friendly guide, you’ll plan a vacation that’s perfect for you.

This is a down-to-earth trip planner comes with very handy Post-it flags for you to mark your favorite pages! Priced at a bargain basement price of $11 (plus some change), you’ll get your money’s worth and more with all of its 336 pages.

Toronto for Dummies

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/20/books-about-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/19/the-fun-advertising-minds-of-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/19/the-fun-advertising-minds-of-toronto/#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:07:57 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/29/the-fun-advertising-minds-of-toronto/
Tagline: Energizer. It would never run out on you.

Created by the advertising agency: TBWA, Toronto, Canada; Creative Director: Joe Amaral; Art Director: Pete Ross; Copywriter: Allan Topol; Photographer: Adam Rankin
Published: November 2007

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/19/the-fun-advertising-minds-of-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/18/torontos-best-bars-sky-bar/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/18/torontos-best-bars-sky-bar/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:09:32 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/28/torontos-best-bars-sky-bar/
In Queen’s Quay you’ll find this funky outdoor roof patio (part of the massive Guvernment entertainment complex). While the entertainment complex attracts all types, the Sky Bar is reported to be a magnet for the sexiest and most sophisticated of this great city. If this is your thing you’ll be happy to be cavorting with dashing Armani suit sporting men with cute decked out Versace babes on the cushy couches. The dance floor can be compared to a postage stamp and sadly the place is only open in summer, but then with such trendy drinks and DJs spinning cool club tunes, it’s worth the wait through winter.

Sky Bar
Government 132 Queens Quay East
Toronto (Yonge St & Lake Shore Blvd E) Canada
Telephone: 416.869.0045

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/18/torontos-best-bars-sky-bar/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/17/funny-restaurant-names-cest-what/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/17/funny-restaurant-names-cest-what/#comments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:07:14 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/27/funny-restaurant-names-cest-what/ C’est What is a showcase for the diverse and vibrant global influences proliferating in Toronto.

Fresh meals unifying local culinary traditions are served alongside all natural craft brewed beers, award winning wines, and hand picked premium spirits. Original favorites include; the Lamburger, Falafel, Mango Chicken Salad, Moroccan Stew, Porter Beef Ribs, and the Tourtière. Their daily specials include home cooked soups, sandwiches, noodles, and curries.

Entrées are priced between $7 and $14. Opening hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., seven days a week.

C’est What
7 Front Street East
Toronto ON Canada
M5E 1B5
Telephone: 416-867-9499

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/17/funny-restaurant-names-cest-what/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/16/a-seaton-dream-bed-and-breakfast/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/16/a-seaton-dream-bed-and-breakfast/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:05:57 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/26/a-seaton-dream-bed-and-breakfast/
Located on a quiet street just minutes from Toronto’s major tourist attractions (CN tower, Eaton Centre, Royal Ontraio Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Convention Centre, Chinatown, Little Italy), A Seaton Dream Bed and Breakfast is tranquility right smack in the middle of a bustling city. The decor of this b&b has been carefully planned to ensure that you feel welcomed and relaxed and above all, comfortable. All the newly renovated suites have private ensuite bathrooms. Whether you are enjoying the Garden Patio, spending some much needed chill time in the Sauna, drifting off to sleep on the luxurious mattresses, or savouring a yummilicous hot breakfast, this place will make you feel at home every minute of your stay. If you are looking for a reasonably priced B&B that is luxurious yet casual, then this is the place. Whether your trip is for business or pleasure all of our rooms are equipped with high speed internet connections …so bring your laptop! We also have a safe in each bedroom for storage of passport and valuables.

Toronto Bed and Breakfast
243 Seaton Street • Toronto • Ontario • Canada M5A 2T5
Tel:(416) 929-3363 • Fax:(416) 929-8786 • Toll Free:1-866-878-8898
Website: Seaton Dream

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/16/a-seaton-dream-bed-and-breakfast/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/15/dont-hate-toronto-a-brief-history-of-urbanophobia/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/15/dont-hate-toronto-a-brief-history-of-urbanophobia/#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:06:40 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/25/dont-hate-toronto-a-brief-history-of-urbanophobia/ From The Toronto Star:

The prejudice of city-hating seems to be deeper, more persistent and more poisonous to progress in Canada than anywhere else in the world. That’s going to spell trouble in a century experts say will be defined by cities.

This week brought another sample of the disdain leaders in senior levels of government have for cities.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities on Tuesday warned that close to 80 per cent of the nation’s urban infrastructure, including roads and bridges, water and waste-removal systems, and transit are past their service life. The tab for replacing it is a staggering $123 billion.

Yet pleas for help from the weakest level of government are almost always greeted by sophistry or condescension. This time the rebuffs came from the top tier of the federal government.

First up was Prime Minister Stephen Harper: He boasted of his government’s $33 billion infrastructure program, which actually goes to provinces, not cities, and in any case works out to a paltry annual $4.7 billion over seven years.
Next came Lawrence Cannon, Harper’s minister of transport and infrastructure, who passed the buck: “I call upon the cities to go and sit down with the provinces,” he said.

And finally Jim Flaherty reminded cities of their comparatively trifling place in the universe: “We’re not in the pothole business in the Government of Canada,” said Harper’s finance minister, adding that the cities should stop “whining.”

North America is unique in its traditional denigration of cities.

The phenomenon is especially pronounced in Canada, where the urban centres, in which roughly 80 per cent of Canadians live — the country’s largest voting block — are powerless creatures of the provinces, with no constitutional standing and very limited spending powers, despite the massive downloading on to them in recent years of social-service and other responsibilities.

Almost wholly reliant for revenue on the property tax — one of the most regressive forms of taxation — municipalities are routinely depicted as feckless authors of their own misfortune whenever finding themselves staring into the fiscal abyss, even after, in Toronto’s case, accounting firm KPMG concluded in a study this year that the city is an able steward of its finances.

Toronto just lacks the money to do all that’s asked of it, a story that is repeated in scores of communities across the country.

“Many political leaders just don’t like cities,” says Richard Florida, the renowned U.S. urbanologist recently tapped to help launch the Prosperity Centre at Toronto’s Rotman School of Business. “They ofx ten think they can mobilize rural and suburban voters by running against cities.”

It might be that Western civilization traces its roots to city-states like Athens and Florence.

But suspicion of cities is as old as the Scriptures, where the Christian regard of urban life begins in Genesis with God’s wrath in destroying Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah.

And in a New World that rejected much of the old, Henry David Thoreau despaired of the stress puppies in Boston and Philadelphia and retired to his Walden cabin far from “the desperate city.”

Even Lewis Mumford, one of the greatest urbanologists of the 20th century, worried about forces of alienation at work in cities grown too large.

“Democracy, in any active sense,” Mumford said in the 1960s, “begins and ends in communities small enough for their members to meet face to face.”

In the early days of modern neo-conservatism, prominent U.S. commentator George Gilder, appalled by the costly social-work burden cities had taken upon themselves beginning in the 1960s, described cities as “parasites,” ignoring the multitude of studies showing that national prosperity is tied to the rising affluence of urban dwellers.

More recently, the neo-conservative agenda has made room for an attack on progressive voters and U.S. cities teeming with Democrats.

“New Yorkers don’t really see themselves as part of the rest of America,” said American pundit Ann Coulter. “Americans understand that Manhattan is the Soviet Union.”

On a more sorrowful note, Joe Clark acknowledged that the easiest way to unite Canadians is to invoke their hatred of Toronto.

It helps when a nation’s capital is also its principal city. That way, federal politicians and mandarins get a daily experience of failing transit systems, decrepit schools and abandoned factories in wait need of creative redevelopment.

Outside Canada, great cities are regarded as national treasures, the face that countries show the world. Principal cities like Rome, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, and even “sub-national” centres such as Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Edinburgh, are adequately funded by national governments.

Outside Canada, senior governments partner with cities in what are regarded as national projects.

Paris has funded a stunning makeover of the Charles de Gaulle airport in a successful bid to share European gateway status with Heathrow, Frankfurt and Amsterdam’s Schipol.

With Britain’s enthusiastic support, London is attempting to outmuscle New York as the world capital of finance.

Washington, whose ambivalence toward cities contrasts with Ottawa’s resolute disregard for them, financed Boston’s “Big Dig,” one of the largest U.S. urban-renewal megaprojects in American history.

And to help spur tourism in the gritty industrial city of Bilbao, Madrid footed much of the bill for Canadian expat Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Bilbao museum.

Outside Canada, cities have authority to collect local retail and income taxes, and they share in regional taxes. All that applies to U.S. cities, as well, which also have long been permitted to engage in debt-financing by issuing tax-free municipal bonds. Canadian cities, by contrast, are in a fiscal straitjacket, forbidden from running deficits, much less issuing and managing debt.

Yet Canadian cities have rarely been blessed with a confluence of conditions favourable to their future prospects — and to Canada’s.

The nation’s public finances are more sound than that of any G-8 country, enabling Canada to invest heavily in social as well as physical infrastructure to a degree not seen before.

Canadian cities consistently rank among the most liveable in the world. Canada’s receptivity to immigrants and America’s contrasting post-9/11 xenophobia is directing an unprecedented share of the world’s talent to Canada.

The strengthened loonie makes recruiting large numbers of leading scientists, academics, software engineers and corporate administrators away from strong-currency jurisdictions possible for the first time in decades.

These people want to live in cities. “Places that bring together diverse talent accelerate the local rate of economic development,” Florida writes on his blog (www.creativeclass.typepad.com).

“When large numbers of entrepreneurs, financiers, engineers, designers and other smart, creative people are constantly bumping into one another inside and outside of work, business ideas are more quickly formed, sharpened, executed, and — if successful —expanded.”

Globalization and the information age are accentuating the importance of cities, Thomas Courchene, director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queen’s University and one of Canada’s foremost public-policy experts, writes in a landmark June report for the Institute for Research on Public Policy, Global Futures for Canada’s Global Cities.

Courchene describes a “virtuous circle” by which global city regions can take “actions that make them attractive to human capital, which, in turn, allows them to become magnets for attracting knowledge-based industries.

“Evidence suggests that privileging Canada’s `hub cities’ will propel them and their hinterlands forward economically.”

Yet Canadian cities are starved of the cash to fund such a renaissance.

“The international evidence on our global city regions’ fiscal weakness is striking,” Courchene warns.

“Cities like Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna and Helsinki spend twice as much and Copenhagen and Amsterdam three times as much per capita (on infrastructure, social services and cultural amenities) as Toronto does.

“This suggests that there is ample scope for decentralization in Canada to go beyond devolution of money and power from Ottawa to the provinces.”

Bottom line: It’s time Canada’s communities were funded directly by Ottawa, which is projecting $26 billion in excess funds over the next six years.

Cities should also be given the capital-raising tools common to cities elsewhere in the world.

It would help immensely if mayors like Toronto’s David Miller had quasi-premier status, with complete control over the city bureaucracy and all-important budget that New York’s Michael Bloomberg wields.

It would seem obvious that municipalities have unrivalled competence in understanding and dealing with the multitude of issues in their jurisdictions.

In the prolonged absence of visionary leadership from Ottawa or provincial capitals, “on urban planning, environment, transportation, education, refugee settlement, public health and many other policies the true innovators in Canada and the U.S. have been mayors,” says Florida.

It’s time to withhold political support from leaders who don’t grasp that urbanity will shape this century even more than the last one.

We have nothing to lose but elected representatives who take our votes for granted, impeding municipal and national progress and inviting our civic deterioration.

[source]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/15/dont-hate-toronto-a-brief-history-of-urbanophobia/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/14/fred-flintstone-pedal-powered-cars-beware/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/14/fred-flintstone-pedal-powered-cars-beware/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:06:35 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/24/fred-flintstone-pedal-powered-cars-beware/ From Spacing Toronto:
“Today the driver of the artwork titled “Shared Propulsion Car” — arrested on Queen Street on October 25th — appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to operating an unsafe vehicle. The car, pictured here on Queen, is on display at Mercer Union (37 Lisgar Street) until December 8th. The rest of the story from Mercer Union:

On October 25th Toronto Police arrested the driver of Shared Propulsion Car, an artwork by the 2007 Sobey Award winner Michel de Broin, on Queen Street West. A trial date has been set for April 3rd, 2008.

The revolutionary vehicle consists of a 1986 Buick Regal body stripped of its engine, suspension, transmission and electrical system, and propelled by the energy of its passengers. The vehicle retains the illusion of the mass-produced luxury automobile, but is now reduced to a shell, with a top speed of 15km per hour. This unique car requires no…..”

Read the full post

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/14/fred-flintstone-pedal-powered-cars-beware/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/13/more-photos-of-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/13/more-photos-of-toronto/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:09:15 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/23/more-photos-of-toronto/
How can one NOT be enamoured by photos of Toronto? Check out the website Toronto Area Photoblogs, featuring Toronto’s best and the brightest in the world of photography.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/13/more-photos-of-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/12/hot-plans-for-affordable-housing/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/12/hot-plans-for-affordable-housing/#comments Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:05:47 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/22/hot-plans-for-affordable-housing/ From Eye Weekly:

With the vote on Toronto’s new “revenue tools” out of the way, the city can finally start concentrating on other issues. A big one that didn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserved during the provincial election — though many have deemed it a crisis — is affordable housing. Today, the city released a framework called Housing Opportunities Toronto (HOT), with the goal to develop a 10-year blueprint for meeting Toronto’s affordable housing needs. The public have been invited to comment on this document so that, much like the with city’s recent climate change plan, everyone will have the opportunity to make sure that city council ultimately approves a framework that works.

It’s wonderful to see the city finally pull together a plan on this issue. Some of you might recall that over a year ago, the Wellesley Institute released it’s own 10-year Blueprint to End Homelessness in Toronto. The idea was to push all three levels of government to at least adopt a similar strategy by showing how it could be done — including how governments could afford it. The Institute offers a…

Read the full article

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/12/hot-plans-for-affordable-housing/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/11/eye-weekly/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/11/eye-weekly/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:10:22 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/21/eye-weekly/ Just arrived in Toronto and feel a bit lost as to what to do? Just grab the excellent resource Eye Weekly. It’s probably the best free paper with all of the happenings around town. With a variety of arts and entertainment listings, you would be insane if you couldn’t find something just for you.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/11/eye-weekly/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/10/toronto-zoo/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/10/toronto-zoo/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:06:34 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/20/toronto-zoo/ You didn’t know? Yes, Toronto has a zoo. It’s called the Toronto Zoo. It’s a perfect day outing with the kids.

The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in the north eastern part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1974 as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo and is owned by the City of Toronto; the word ‘Metropolitan’ was dropped from its name when the cities of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were merged to form the present-day City of Toronto. The zoo is located near the Rouge River. It is one of the day use areas of Rouge Park, one of Canada’s largest urban natural environment parks, and is open every day except Christmas day.

Encompassing 287 hectares (710 acres), the Toronto Zoo is one of the largest in the world. It is divided into four zoogeographic regions with numerous indoor pavilions and outdoor exhibits. The zoo is home to over 5,000 animals representing over 460 distinct species.

The zoo is accessible from Highway 401 (2 km away), or by TTC buses from Don Mills or Kennedy station. There was at one point a proposed extension of the TTC’s Scarborough Rapid Transit line, which might have stopped at the zoo, but the plan was dropped because of the low demand and the high cost of running the Scarborough RT’s linear induction motor-driven vehicles.

The evolution of the Toronto Zoo begins back in 1888 with the opening of the Riverdale Zoo. The old zoo was converted into an urban farm called Riverdale Farm. The Riverdale Zoo was a typical example of a zoo during this time, with animals displayed as curiosities in dark cages and cramped enclosures.

It wasn’t until 1963 when a private citizen’s brief to build a new zoo was introduced. In 1966, eleven citizens met at City Hall to form the Metropolitan Toronto Zoological Society. In 1967, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto approved the Rouge Park site in Scarborough for a new zoo. The following year, a Feasibility Study on the new zoo was submitted by architect Raymond Moriyama. Construction of the new zoo began in 1970. On August 15, 1974 the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo was open to the public. The zoo increased from 3 to nearly 300 hectares and is now one of the largest in the world. The Zoo introduced some innovative designs to enhance not only the public’s viewing experience but also the animals’ living comfort. Animals were displayed in naturalized environments and grouped according to their zoogeographic region.

In 1976, the Zoo opened the Canadian Domain Ride, a monorail that travelled into the Zoo’s Canadian Domain area, located in the Rouge Valley. The ride ceased operations in July 1994 after an accident. The monorail has since been dismantled and replaced by the Zoomobile, a tractor-pulled ride.

Between 1980 and 1983 several new exhibits were added to the Zoo, including Gaur, a children’s zoo (Littlefootland), a new indoor habitat for African Elephants and Snow Leopards.

In 1985, Qinn Qinn and Shayan – a pair of Giant Pandas, on loan for three months from the Peoples’ Republic of China were displayed at the Zoo. The Zoo broke all previous attendance records, as thousands of visitors came to see these rare animals. Over the years, the Zoo has presented other rare or unusual animals, including: Golden Monkeys (1986), Koalas (1988 and again in 1996), and White Lions (1995).

In 1998, with the amalgamation of the Metro Municipalities, the Zoo was officially renamed the Toronto Zoo. That same year, the Zoo opened the Africa Savannah exhibit, the largest expansion in its history. In 2000, the Zoo opened the Gorilla Rainforest, the world’s largest indoor habitat for Lowland Gorillas. The zoo’s ‘Splash Island’, an educationally-themed waterpark, opened in 2002. This was followed by an open-air theatre in 2003 and the ‘Kid’s Zoo’ in 2004 featuring exhibits geared to guests 10 and under.

The SARS crisis in 2003 had a devastating effect on the tourism industry in Toronto, including the Zoo. The Zoo’s attendance is slowly recovering from the after-effects of these events.

On August 21, 2007, the Tundra Exhibit was closed for expansion and renovations.

[photo and info from wikipedia]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/10/toronto-zoo/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/09/gift-ideas-toronto-travel-books/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/09/gift-ideas-toronto-travel-books/#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:06:39 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/19/gift-ideas-toronto-travel-books/
The holidays are rolling around the corner. And fast. Don’t get into the last minute scramble of gift buying, because you know what happens then? You get something for someone and it is so totally inappropriate for them because you simply got fed up with the grumpy crowd, and you bought any ole thing so you could escape. Sound familiar?

Sorry to remind you of sad remembrances of things past but how about getting your loved one a trip to Toronto? Give them a travel book and they’ll then wonder why you’ve given that to them for Christmas. Then the lightbulb moment will turn on (hopefully) and you then have to plan your wonderful trip to the largest city in Canada. Here are some suggestions:

1. Lonely Planet Toronto – This comprehensive guide is your entree to its many facets: the culinary scene is as deliciously diverse as its population, the artistic community breaks conventions on a daily basis and its great outdoors are awash with options – from cycling and skiing to hiking and hockey. Socially enlightened, multicultural and uniquely Canadian.

2. Fodor’s Toronto – Skyrocket to the top of the CN Tower, hit the patois for great eats and people-watching, sail on Lake Ontario, wander through the Hockey Hall of Fame, or browse the art at a downtown gallery – Fodor’s Toronto offers all these experiences and more.

3. Top 10 Toronto – Whether you’re looking for the finest cuisine or the least expensive places to eat, the most luxurious hotels or the best deals on places to stay, Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides provide useful information by local experts to find the best of everything at each destination.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/09/gift-ideas-toronto-travel-books/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/08/photos-of-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/08/photos-of-toronto/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 23:07:36 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/18/photos-of-toronto/
There are lovely and fun photos at Flickr of Toronto frontward, backward and sideways, whatever THAT means. I guess I mean you’ll find everything under the sun on these great photos of my favorite Canadian city.

The Torontoist Flickr Group Photos

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/08/photos-of-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/07/hidden-gem-restaurants-le-petit-dejeuner/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/07/hidden-gem-restaurants-le-petit-dejeuner/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:06:13 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/17/hidden-gem-restaurants-le-petit-dejeuner/
In French, “Le Petit Dejeuner” means breakfast, so it would be very understandable to see that this retro-y, organic bohemian chic establishment thrives on the 1st meal of the day crowd (but do also check out their dinners!). Their weekend brunches are not to be missed and you will not regret having to wait in the long queue for it. It’s a great reward to get the lovely food, from Chef Johan Maes (trained with Michelin star chefs in France), to your mouth after your stomach’s been growling for a while. Grab some apple pancakes, eggs benedict, paninis and more at this hidden gem in Toronto.

Le Petit Dejeuner
191 King St. E. (at Jarvis St.)
416-703-1560

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/07/hidden-gem-restaurants-le-petit-dejeuner/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/06/toronto-bb/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/06/toronto-bb/#comments Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:05:44 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/16/toronto-bb/ I do need to remember sometimes that this blog is called, “Bed and Breakfast Toronto.” So I’ll be featuring b&b’s in Toronto as well as things to do in this great city.

Albert Pimbletts Downtown Toronto Bed and Breakfast has taken on its own life in a royal way. Located in Toronto’s Victorian neighborhood, Cabbagetown, each room takes guests back to Victorian times. Every room has been carefully restored with the guests’ comfort in mind, and is meant to live the life of kings and queens. Your comfort will not be compromised! You must also not overlook the REAL English breakfasts! I’m drooling right now. Bangers and mash!!!!!

Albert Pimbletts Downtown
“TORONTO BED AND BREAKFAST”
242 Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Ontario. M5A 2G2 Canada
Reservations: 416 921 6898
Guest Room Phone: 416 921 6898
E-mail: pimbletts@sympatico.ca

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/06/toronto-bb/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/05/rare-dinosaur-discovered-in-museum-basement/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/05/rare-dinosaur-discovered-in-museum-basement/#comments Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:07:57 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/15/rare-dinosaur-discovered-in-museum-basement/

The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto went hunting for a dinosaur skeleton only to discover that it already had the massive creature buried in its own collection for over 45 years. The Barosaurus skeleton, affectionately nicknamed Gordo after Dr. Edmund, will be the largest dinosaur skeleton on display in Canada, as well as the only Barosaurus skeleton on display in the world made mostly of real fossil bone. It lacks the original skull.

[via]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/05/rare-dinosaur-discovered-in-museum-basement/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/04/second-city-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/04/second-city-toronto/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:06:50 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/14/second-city-toronto/
Comedians Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner, Mike Meyers, John Candy, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short – all started their careers at the fabulous comedy club, Second City. It’s where all of the up and coming funny guys and girls hang out. Get your dose of hardy har hars while you’re staying in this great Canadian city.

There’s a dinner theater and it features revues, comedy sketches and late-night improv sets. Dinner and show packages are available, and Leoni’s Italian Kitchen serves up heaping portions of southern Italian fare, from pastas to fish, steaks and pizzas.

Second City
51 Mercer Street
Toronto, ON M5V 9G9
Canada
Telephone: 416-343-0011
Hours: Sunday to Thursday 8pm – Friday and Saturday 8pm, 10:30pm

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/04/second-city-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/04/direct-flights-from-lax-and-sfo-to-yyz/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/04/direct-flights-from-lax-and-sfo-to-yyz/#comments Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:59:21 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/?p=238
Los Angelinos and San Franciscans, rejoice! Starting June 23, 2010, Virgin America is offering direct flights out of San Francisco and Los Angeles to and from Toronto, marking the airline’s first international destination. For an unbeatable fare, you’ll get power outlets at every seat, in-flight internet, mood-lit cabins, custom designed leather seating, and Red™ — the touch-screen personal entertainment system featuring live TV, movies, music, video games and more. [via thrillist]

See the flight schedule and fees

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/04/direct-flights-from-lax-and-sfo-to-yyz/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/03/toronto-trivia-city-size-comparison/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/03/toronto-trivia-city-size-comparison/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 23:08:26 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/13/toronto-trivia-city-size-comparison/ Toronto is the 5th-largest city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/03/toronto-trivia-city-size-comparison/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/02/interesting-transit-facts/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/02/interesting-transit-facts/#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:05:48 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/12/interesting-transit-facts/ From : wwwistp.murdoch.edu.au/pu…nadian.htm

Toronto is far less dominated by cars and indeed is the best North American example of transit-oriented development (Kenworthy and Newman, 1994). From 1960 to 1990 there was a large growth of 127% in Metro Toronto’s transit use up to 350 trips per capita, which represents European levels of transit ridership.

Even Greater Toronto, which includes the lower density, more car-oriented suburbs of the region had 210 transit trips per capita in 1990, by far the biggest in North America and some 35% higher than the next best metropolitan region, New York.

The central city area (CBD) of Toronto has continued to grow in population over the past decades, adding some 20,000 new dwellings between 1975 and 1988 (Nowlan and Stewart, 1992), and Metro Toronto’s density increased by 13% between 1960 and 1990 (particularly along its transit lines).

Metro Toronto with its 2.3 million people. As a result, it has been able to revitalise the downtown area and to develop a density in Metro Toronto (41 persons per ha) that is closer to European levels than American. Even the greater Toronto area has a density of 26 persons per ha, which is almost double the average US and Australian metropolitan densities.

Metro Toronto’s 22 smaller sub-cities, together with a healthy downtown which has even managed to reduce parking supply per 1000 jobs by 11% between 1980 and 1990, provide the basis for a viable transit system.

Toronto’s new central city housing has reduced the morning peak by 100 cars for every 120 units built (Nowlan and Stewart, 1992). There are families living in the city centre in the European tradition, which of course greatly enhances the vitality and safety of the public spaces.

Recent trends in Toronto are threatening to take some of the gloss away from these gains for sustainability as large scale cuts in the transit system have been implemented causing reductions in patronage (Pucher, 1995).

A significant part of these problems are the many changes in urban governance which are being implemented in Toronto and other Canadian urban regions and which are pushing towards a model of fragmentation in urban government, the politics of local self-interest and harmful competition between municipalities. These changes are tending to favour auto-dependent land use and transportation planning (Raad and Kenworthy, 1998).

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/02/interesting-transit-facts/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/01/canadas-10-best-new-restaurants-2-in-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/01/canadas-10-best-new-restaurants-2-in-toronto/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:05:45 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/11/canadas-10-best-new-restaurants-2-in-toronto/ 1. Atlantica

Beach House, 38 Beachy Cove Rd., Portugal Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador, 709-895-1251, atthebeachhouse.ca/atlantica

2. KINGYO IZAKAYA
871 Denman St., Vancouver, 604-608-1677

3. SALT TASTING ROOM

45 Blood Alley, Vancouver, 604-633-1912, salttastingroom.com

4. BISTRO BIENVILLE

4650, rue de Mentana, Montréal, 514-509-1269, bistrobienville.com

5. COLBORNE LANE

45 Colborne St., Toronto, 416-368-9009, colbornelane.com

Read the full list

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/06/01/canadas-10-best-new-restaurants-2-in-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/31/organic-gardens-in-canada-an-upward-trend/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/31/organic-gardens-in-canada-an-upward-trend/#comments Mon, 31 May 2010 23:05:58 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/10/organic-gardens-in-canada-an-upward-trend/ Via ENN:

As climate change makes longer, drier summers a reality in many parts of the world, a new trend in landscaping is taking root in Canada.

In Toronto, where precipitation levels were 52 percent below the seasonal average over the past six months, according to government data, residents are trading in their manicured lawns for environmentally friendly organic landscapes.

“Irrigation is a huge issue as water is such a valuable resource,” said Claire Suo-Cockerton of landscaping company Aesthetic Earthworks. “We are trying to plant material that is more appropriate today in our climate.”

Organic landscapers use drought resistant plants and shrubs native to the region, which encourage the development micro-organisms in the soil. This attracts birds and insects to act as natural pest and disease control.

A well-managed organic landscape is self-sustaining, whereas a traditional yard needs to be watered at least once per week, Suo-Cockerton said.

“It’s a drastic lifestyle change for those who incorporate it in their homes,” she added.

But the change may be a bit too drastic for average homeowner.

Kevin MacDonald, operations manager of Humber Nurseries near Toronto, said he hasn’t seen an increase in the sale of native plants and shrubs. He said the downside to native plants is they are more susceptible to native insects.

“By planting a cultivated variety, that is non-native, you may not end up with diseases and insect problems, simply because the diseases and insects that would traditionally attack that plant are not found in the new location,” he said.

Still, the main reason why traditional gardens remain popular may be purely aesthetic.

“In most cases homeowners will have a preference for what looks best,” MacDonald said.

While the bare shrubs and woodchips of an organic landscape don’t quite have the curb appeal of an ornamental garden, commercial and residential buildings looking to go green are picking up on the trend.

“From a developer’s standpoint it’s a great marketing tool because people are becoming very conscious of the environment,” said Melissa Ferrato of the Canada Green Building Council (CGBG).

The CGBG uses the leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) standard developed in the United States to measure the “green factor” of a building. Avoiding pesticides, lawnmowers and leafblowers all reduce a building’s carbon footprint, contributing to a higher LEED score.

“Native, organic plants is what we’re all about,” said Ferrato. “We really discourage the use of manicured lawns and pesticides.”

While organic landscaping is only now gaining popularity in the private sector, it has long been used by city parks departments.

“We’ve been moving away from traditional lawns for many years now,” said Patricia Landry a liaison officer at the Toronto parks department. “We are using plants able to withstand drought, pollution and the changing climate.”

Organic landscaping makes economic sense for urban municipalities, Landry said. Less money is spent on labor and irrigation. And reintroducing native plants provides habitat for birds and small animals.

While efforts to convert Toronto’s ornamental flowerbeds to organic gardens were met with public opposition, some of the cultivated annuals were swapped with native plants.

“It’s about trying to keep a balance,” said Landry. “Finding different ways to keep those areas a little more environmentally friendly.”

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/31/organic-gardens-in-canada-an-upward-trend/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/30/toronto-pizza-restaurants/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/30/toronto-pizza-restaurants/#comments Sun, 30 May 2010 23:06:02 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/09/toronto-pizza-restaurants/
Pizza lovers, rejoice! If you’re looking for pizza, pizza and more pizza, here’s the place where you will almost never run out of ideas! Eat Now

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/30/toronto-pizza-restaurants/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/29/toronto-cafes-in-one-place/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/29/toronto-cafes-in-one-place/#comments Sat, 29 May 2010 23:07:01 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/08/toronto-cafes-in-one-place/

Need a cafe directory for Toronto? Look no further, here it is, and the cafes are rated too!

Toronto Cafes

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/29/toronto-cafes-in-one-place/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/28/what-not-my-toronto-pfffffff/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/28/what-not-my-toronto-pfffffff/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 23:06:01 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/07/what-not-my-toronto-pfffffff/ From cbc:

Vancouver has been ranked the best place to live in the world for the fifth year in a row in a survey by the Economist magazine, while Toronto took fifth place out of 132 cities.

Top 10 cities Livability index (%)*

1. Vancouver 1.3
2. Melbourne 1.8
3. Vienna 2.3
4. Perth 2.5
5. Toronto 3.0
6. Adelaide 3.0
7. Sydney 3.2
8. Copenhagen 3.7
9. Geneva 3.9
10. Zurich 3.9
(*0% indicates exceptional quality of living and 100% indicates an intolerable one)

The two Canadian cities rank among the top five because they have low crime rates, little threat from instability or terrorism, and a highly developed transport and communications infrastructure, says the survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Vancouver scored a livability index of 1.3 per cent, with zero indicating exceptional quality of living and 100 indicating life there is intolerable or severely restricted.

A good transportation system helped Vancouver top the Economist’s list of the world’s most livable cities, again.A good transportation system helped Vancouver top the Economist’s list of the world’s most livable cities, again.
(Charlie Cho/CBC)

Toronto’s livability index was 3.0.

Australia also fared well in the survey, securing four spots among the top 10 cities.

Algiers came in at the bottom of the ranking. Nine cities, including Algiers, present the worst-case scenario in which most aspects of living quality are severely restricted, according to the survey.

The EIU’s livability ranking is part of the magazine’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.

The survey considered 40 individual factors in categories such as stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/28/what-not-my-toronto-pfffffff/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/27/photos-street-art-in-downtown/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/27/photos-street-art-in-downtown/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 23:11:38 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/06/photos-street-art-in-downtown/
This is on the other side of the Flatiron Building on Front Street East.

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/27/photos-street-art-in-downtown/feed/ 0 http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/26/music-this-week-in-toronto/ http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/26/music-this-week-in-toronto/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 23:06:41 +0000 contact http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2007/11/05/music-this-week-in-toronto/ Monday, November 5
The Waterboys @ Music Hall Theatre, $40–45
Koop and Mocean Worker @ Mod Club, $24.50
Megan Hamilton, Jon McKiel and The Eatons @ the Horseshoe, free

Tuesday, November 6
Ani DiFranco @ Music Hall Theatre, $47.50
Athlete @ Lee’s Palace, $17.50
Swayzak @ Mod Club, $12
Jenny Owen Youngs @ Varsity Theatre, free

Wednesday, November 7
Marc Cohn w/ Amy Correia @ Mod Club, $35
Ani DiFranco @ Music Hall Theatre, $47.50
Mobius Band w/ Tigercity @ the Horseshoe, $11.50
The Weatherthans @ the Phoenix, $25

Thursday, November 8
The Weatherthans @ the Phoenix, $25
The Police @ Air Canada Centre, $59.50–225
Two Hours Traffic @ the Horseshoe, $8
Say Hi, The Velvet Teen and The A-Sides @ Sneaky Dee’s, $10

Friday, November 9
The Academy Is… @ Guvernment, $21.50
My Brightest Diamond @ the Drake Underground, $13.50
Band of Horses @ the Phoenix, $16.50
Jully Black @ Mod Club, $15
Sea Wolf @ El Mocambo, $10
Ohbijou, Basia Bulat, Bruce Peninsula and Bocce @ Lee’s Palace, $10
Melissa Laveaux @ Hart House Arbor Room, free
Grainne Ryan, Jonathan Seet and more @ the Rivoli, $6

Saturday, November 10
Battles and White Williams @ Lee’s Palace, $15
Paul Brandt w/ Shane Yellowbird @ Music Hall Theatre, $39.50
Caribou @ Opera House, $15
Rock Plaza Central @ Music Gallery, $10
XYZ Affair, Hexes and Ohs and The Craft Economy @ the Drake Underground, $5

Sunday, November 11
Razorlight @ the Phoenix, $16.50
Juliette & The Licks @ Mod Club, $17.50
The Bicycles, The Blankket and more @ Sneaky Dee’s, PWYC

Recently Announced

November 20 - And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead @ Lee’s Palace, $20
December 13 - Apostle of Hustle @ Lee’s Palace, $15

[via The Torontoist]

]]> http://www.bedandbreakfast-toronto.com/2010/05/26/music-this-week-in-toronto/feed/ 0