Where "What I'm Reading #48" Should Be

I know it's weird to do a weekend recap before the start of the next one, but it's a holiday and a bit of a travel week, so I didn't read much.   I'm sure no one is here on Black Friday anyway but still.  So last Friday we went to Toronto for the Mr's big birthday present from me, An Evening with Bruce Dickinson.  He's the vocalist of Iron Maiden, and while I'm not a fan of their music, I've seen enough interviews with Bruce to know this would be a fun evening.  Plus, I dragged him to that theatre a year or so ago for the show with Gene Kelly's wife, so I figured I owed him one.  😉

When we arrived in Toronto, it was dark, and we'd been in some crappy traffic, so we were more than happy to kick back in our room at the Intercontinental.  Not a bad view...

The next morning we walked up to the St. Lawrence Market and navigated through the masses.  It's always nice to see all they have to offer though.

We had a pleasant day to explore, so we walked the city.

I say that casually as though we didn't end up accidentally walking 8 1/2 miles by the time we were done.  I had to do some serious work on the legs if I wasn't going to cramp up mid-performance.  I needed it more than I'd know.  Queen Elizabeth Theatre is between two other massive venues, and they all share various parking lots with major events happening at them all and ZERO people directing traffic.  It was a cluster of epic proportions.  Before we knew it from following the signs, we were going AWAY from the theatre and over the freeway.  There was no time to go back and fight that crap again, or we would've been late.  We parked in a sketchy neighborhood in municipal parking, said a prayer, and started hoping we'd find a way over.  Thankfully, a kind stranger told us we could go down the train station, under the tracks, and back up.  We never would've known to do that, and it saved our bacon.  I was making notes of landmarks on the way and taking pics in case I needed them close to midnight.  Finally, we got there.

They are seriously militant about pics there and will kick you out, so I was unable to get any which sucked.  I have to say, I loved it almost as much as the Mr!  Bruce was quite animated and a wonderful storyteller complete with grand movements and funny voices.  Here's a clip of the headmaster story from a similar show in Malta where they had a much less strict media policy.  He drops an f-bomb so, fair warning.   I found myself laughing and tearing up.  He did a Q&A on the second half, and I have to say we felt like some of the questions asked were dumb, and that's not because ours weren't asked.  He did tell a hilarious story about their drummer on a puddle jumper and how they all had to lean forward to take off and hope they didn't go off of a cliff when the runway ended.  He also dropped a bomb about a major childhood event in our youth.  I won't repeat all of it because I feel like he's setting himself up for potential legal issues.  I will say that allegedly, he heard from the horse's mouth on a night of drinking that Live Aid didn't do what it proclaimed to do.  Allegedly.  You could kind of hear the air leave the room on that one.  No clue how true that is, but when we saw an 80s puzzle later that weekend with Live Aid on it, we couldn't look at it the same.  Thanks for pissing on our youth, Bruce!  Anyway, he ended the show singing this verse from the song Revelations, it's worth the watch.  He actually sang it even better at ours.  We were both tearing up his voice is so beautiful acapella and I had tears streaming down my face as we beelined our way back to the car with my Spencer Reid like memory.  It was amazing, and I'm so glad we did it!

The next day we drove to Niagara on the Lake to stay at the Prince of Wales hotel again, exact same room.  After being in the congestion of Toronto, you need a place to breathe and unwind.  I wanted to see it (and the town) decked out for Christmas, and they didn't disappoint.  The lobby is so welcoming anytime, but especially Christmas.

We poked around some shops after lunch and found some cute stuff.

I wanted to wait until 8pm to walk the town lit up without the masses irritating both of us.  It was gorgeous, just as I knew it would be.

We walked the dark side streets and came upon someone who decked out their house right.

We went back to the room and chilled the rest of the night with some charcuterie, ice wine, and jazz.  Then we just fell asleep, which was perfect.

Then the next morning, we went to this little place called The Budapest Bakery that makes chimney cakes on site.

The wood rods on top are how they proof, then they're basically on a bread rotisserie for lack of a better term, and when the rod is removed, it steams like a chimney.

Then it was time to hit the road, cross the border, and head home.  It was such a wonderful weekend, and then I had to dive headfirst into holiday prep the next day.

I hope my American friends had a great Thanksgiving!  Now its time for college ball season to wrap up and we'll get the new tree decorated.

What are you up to this weekend and how was your holiday?

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