Distill

How do you distill the elements that make up a great day down to just a few?  If it is a truly great day, that can be tough!  Yesterday was such a day for me.  The day started with brilliant spring sunshine. Element #1, check.  It was a carefree Saturday. Element #2, check.  A funky, eclectic neighbourhood ready to be discovered, Element #3, check.  Day one of patio season in Toronto!!!  Element #4-1000, check. 

Yesterday was my annual “Leafs vs. Habs Toronto Day of Adventure”.  Each year, if I can, I pick up a ticket for the last game of the season between these two bitter hockey rivals.  I try to make a full day of it, and yesterday was no different.  I packed up my little, everyday, retro gem of a camera, my Olympus Pen and took the Red Rocket to one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Toronto, The Distillery District.  If you haven’t been, picture a pedestrian-only cobble-stone mini village in the heart of the city, filled with industrial loft-style shops, galleries, and restaurants. Yesterday I had to dodge a giggling, runaway wedding party, but I did find time to sit on a lovely patio for a bite of late lunch, and pick up a soul-satisfying cappuccino at the local Distillery java haunt, Balzac’s.  I also found time to take some snaps of some of the old derelict vehicles strewn throughout the village, like the Dodge pick-up above.

Late in the afternoon I walked to The Air Canada Centre for the hockey game.  It is such a rare treat to see a Leaf’s game and even though the game did not end as I would have liked, I had the time of my life.  The best part? When I learned that famous Leaf player and coach Red Kelly was seated just three spots to the right of me.  I leaned over and introduced myself as the girl who, in Grade 6 at Kinnaird Public School, wrote a speech about him.  Luckily for me he was not scared of this bold red-head, but recognized one of his own and grasped my hand in return.  A magic moment for this long-suffering, proud Maple Leafs fan!

If you want to see a few of the snaps I took in The Distillery District, please visit my photo website here.  Happy Spring everyone!