MEM: TORONTO DAY 1

Before heading off to Toronto for the rest of my summer, my wonderful wolf of a friend KC treated me to a little bit of Thai food at our favorite meeting spot for food and drink. Of course there was a bottle of wine involved and a lot of catching up. 

The next day I organized my belongings and said farewell to my furry pals and headed off to the airport. 

Aggie was worried that I was going to leave her behind, but that's what you get for being the slow poke of the bunch. 

After a taking a dinky little toy airplane to the Charlotte airport, I caught my two hour plane ride to Toronto. The flight zipped by with a little bit of music, a good book, and of course a good snack.

If only those clouds were marshmallows...

After landing it was off to customs. 

Note to self, do not fly to a major city on a Friday afternoon. Customs was hectic, but I made it out alive and caught a cab into the city. 

Somehow I made it through the entire travel day carrying three bags and two jackets without checking anything. It's the way to travel people! 

Another note to self, there is a lot of traffic on Friday afternoons. Everyone in Toronto usually heads to their cottages on the weekends to get a bit of relaxation. Thankfully I had my headphones and some good tunes (Days Are Gone by Haim) to get me through the journey.  

By the time I got up to our apartment and said my hellos it was dinner time, and I was sure hungry for some good food. Because we live in the center of it all, we went downstairs in search of a delicious place to eat. 

We settle on an Italian wine bar called Ciao. They have awesome seating outside and a fun atmosphere whether you are grabbing a glass of wine or a pizza or both in our case. 

Keep the wine coming. 

Happy to be in Toronto with my wonderful family. 

After more than enough focaccia and olives we ordered appetizers. I was very pleased when they had pasta fagioli on the menu, which is a bean soup and my personal favorite. Of course, no one makes it better than my dad. This version was a bit different; they blended the cannellini beans making the soup thick and creamy.

While we sipped out wine and ate our food we enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere on the deck outside, the place was buzzing with interesting people making it perfect to people watch. 

The next course had to be a simple Margarita pizza for me, the salmon for my dad, and a salad for my mum. 

It took everything in my being to not take a bite before scoring this picture. 

Pretty presentation, tasty as well. 

After our meal we caught up, finished our wine, and then headed out for a walk around the neighborhood.

While we were walking around we spotted a chocolate shop called Moroco and grabbed a quick sweet treat, a milk chocolate lollipop. 

We also discovered they serve afternoon tea, perfect to get me ready for London. It also doesn't hurt that I love a spot of tea. 

A few wise words to leave you with, until tomorrow!