toronto in february

so, as i mentioned earlier, i was about to brave the streets of toronto in february. i guess i should give a little bit of background.

i'm here in toronto for the annual meeting for the society for research on nicotine and tobacco (SRNT). it's for work, obviously, and it's pretty interesting because i have almost no knowledge about tobacco research, except for my own research. i pick up bits and pieces as we go along, but for the most part this is all very new to me. there have been some great sessions talking about global tobacco control interventions and research, and basically if you use the words "global", "international" or "cultural" in anything i will be interested.

i arrived in toronto on tuesday night and i'll be here until sunday. this place is pretty cool, though it reminds me of some dingier european cities that i've visited (valencia comes to mind, although they don't have the beautiful old buildings like valencia has). anyway, toronto is nice and i've had a little bit of time to explore the downtown area.

after my last post, i walked down queen's quay to jarvis where i checked out "vital planet", a health food store. from my internet searches, it seemed like it was the best in the area, but i hope that's not the case. it seems very unpopulated by food products (indicating a low turnaround on sales). the refrigerators were nearly empty (some were entirely empty!) and they only had one or two of every item. so, to say the least, it was underwhelming. i bought a box of New Moon Kitchen chocolate chip cookies, some Lara bars and a can of kombucha. pretty standard fair. i thought about buying some tofutti cream cheese and tofurkey slices, but i'm not sure what adam wants.

OH! adam is coming to visit! he will be here in a couple of hours. i'm going to meet him at the bus station and then we're getting dinner at commensal, the same place where i ate lunch on wednesday. it's right around the corner and they have a discount after 8:30 PM.

anyway, this afternoon, after i left Vital Planet, i headed over to the St. Lawrence Market, which is just down the street. at first i went to the top floor which was a BIG MISTAKE. it was filled with dead animal parts and reeked of fish. it reminded me of every market in spain, but especially (surprise surprise) valencia's. BUT THEN, i went DOWNSTAIRS, and it was like i died and went to hippie heaven. there were cute little organic shops everywhere, ethnic tapestries, ethnic foods, and other wonderful things. i found a tofu shop, and the lady gave me samples and they were so delicious! i bought a sweet and sour variety that you can just eat out of the bag. yum! i'm taking adam there tomorrow. they have tofu steaks and tofu turkeys and they're just so yummy! i also found a vegan cafe where we will probably have lunch tomorrow. very upscale (e.g. pricey) menu but the options look good.

blah blah blah. basically, i had a nice afternoon in the sunshine and i am looking forward to doing more exploring with adam, and showing him some of the things i've discovered. i have a poster session in the morning and then after that i'm free to wander for the rest of the day. can't wait!

(free) time

i was just about to write a long blog about my thoughts/fears/worries/excitement about having a commitment ceremony this year, but i looked out the window and saw that the sun is shining and it's probably incredibly warm outside, especially for toronto in february. so instead of blowing up on this blog, i'm going to air my thoughts in the streets of toronto. what about the conference, you say? i just sat through a talk where i heard "endoplasmic reticulum" and "alpha four beta 6 receptors" a few too many times. i'll go back when there are talks about "interventions" and "treatment" and "tobacco control" dominating the rhetoric. thanks for checking, though.

Vegan delicious-ness

I found a lovely little vegetarian cafe in Toronto near the Eaton Centre mall. This was my first meal in about 26 hours--I was living off of Luna bars and baby carrots during my train ride to Toronto and through the next morning of this conference.


I think the thought of finding a vegan friendly place to eat that is convenient and not too expensive in another city (and country!) is daunting for me. Especially if my primary purpose is not tourism. At the hotel where I'm staying, a serving of blueberries is $9, so I cant exactly depend on dining at the hotel. But at least I've had one good meal so far!

Cheers

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Location:Commensal, Toronto

Morning in Downtown Rochester

Love this morning sunshine.


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Location:East Avenue, 8:00 am