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A Cheeky Christmas Weekend in Toronto



Something I have realized since pursuing minimalism is the amount of money that has been freed up for experiences instead of stuff. I dubbed 2017 as the 'Year of Adventure' and adventure we did (I'll share more posts of what we got up to in the coming months). Our final trip of the year was a cheeky little weekend getaway to Toronto where we relaxed, played and took some much needed down time before Christmas was upon us.

We hopped on a Greyhound bus and were whisked off towards Toronto; We prefer taking the Greyhound to Toronto because it means we don't have to worry about renting a car, navigating the busy streets, and paying for parking. Taking the Greyhound means we get to hop on and hop off which is easy-peasy.


We stayed at The Novotel on the Esplanade right in the heart of the Entertainment District. I can't recommend this hotel enough - it isn't anything fancy by any means but it is priced well in an excellent location and is incredibly clean and comfy. Our first stop after checking in was the Toronto Christmas Market down in the Distillery District and it did not disappoint. It was SO FESTIVE! Lights were strung between the buildings, there were all these little paths you could explore down, the smell of hot mulled cider filled the air, bonfires were placed around the market to cozy up to, carolers were singing and they had THE BIGGEST Christmas tree I've ever seen.




Even though we didn't buy anything other than a warm cup of mulled cider, it was still so much fun to just walk around and take it all in, hold hands and snap some pictures. After the market I had planned for us to go to The Rec Room (spoiler: it's coming to London!) because Ryan loves arcades. They had a great selection of games and had some legitimate prizes too - not the typical junky stuff you tend to see at arcades. We spent several hours at the arcade and on our way back to the hotel passed by some beautiful Christmas lights. They were bloody magical!



Our evening was spent snuggling up in bed, eating sushi and watching some TV. The next morning we decided to go to Fran's Restaurant for breakfast. We had passed by Fran's the day before and the place looked like it came right out of a Sandra Bullock movie or Sex and The City. Check out how cute this place is!



They even had freshly squeezed orange juice and veggie breakfast sausages >>>WIN<<<.


Our final day was spent walking around, grabbing the subway, and going to The Monkey's Paw bookstore and Double D's Pizza before we caught the bus home. The Monkey's Paw was a bucket list item for me and we spent over an hour in that little store and loved browsing through all the curious books they had. They also have a book vending machine! You can buy a token at the front desk for $3.00 and the vending machine will spit out a random vintage book for you. I picked up a book all about trees and took my chance with the vending machine and ended getting an adorable mustard yellow colored book with children's tales.




After working up our appetite we walked to Double D's pizza which was listed as one of the top 100 places to eat in Toronto so obviously we couldn't pass up our chance to check it out.


We went for 'Farmers Market' slices packed full of veggies and their in house made garlic dip - it is hands down one of the best pizza's I've ever had.



Overall our little weekend getaway was exactly what we needed, and we were so glad we could just take some time out and enjoy a weekend puttering around the big city.

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