Day 7

This morning, we woke up around 8, well we decided to get out of bed around 8 that is. Sarah made some coffee from fresh ground beans, much better than the “coffee” available in the hotels we had been in the last few days. While she was grinding beans, I started planning out the day. Sarah found a Groupon for the Irish Embassy Pub in downtown, and I knew I wanted to see the Hockey Hall of Fame. So, I looked up the subway system, and we mapped out how to get to an internet café (to print out the Groupon since we can’t use our phones), then get to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and finally end up in the Historic Distillery District. Once Hartmudt woke up, we finalized plans, ate some breakfast, and were out the door. After a short ten minute walk, we made it to the subway. It was quite easy to get a day pass and get on the train. 

 We got on a very modern train that was completely open rather than each car being individually closed off from each other.

 Yes, this is on the train.

We quickly made it to the internet café and spend $1.50 and 5 mins to save $15 at the Irish pub (quite a deal). Instead of getting back on the subway, we (Sarah) decided to walk down to the pub (about a mile and a half walk).  Hartmudt and I ordered a Hogtown Lager, and Sarah ordered a Keith’s IPA. Neither beer was all that interesting. The lager was alright (2.5/5), but the IPA had very little flavor (2/5). After our meals, we ordered a Keith’s Hop Ale, which was much more flavorful than either of the other two beers (about a 3.5/5).

Once there, we got to see all kinds of jerseys, memorabilia, and artifacts from all aspects of the game. It was really impressive. We even got to get our pictures taking with and touch the Stanley Cup! This alone was worth the price of admission. After a couple of hours, we were able to see pretty much everything, so we made our way to the gift shop. Sarah had to keep me from buying all of the cool shirts and jerseys I saw. It was a good thing they did not have a Red Wings goalie mask, or it would have been mine.

 

 I got to touch The Cup!!!

We then walked down to the Distillery District to check out the Mill Street Microbrewery.

On our way there, we found the Toronto Jazz Festival. There was an interesting Brazilian Samba band performing. We stayed to watch a little, but then it was on to the beer.

At Mill Street, Sarah and Hartmudt ordered a four beer flight and I got a Paradise IPA. The IPA was quite easy to drink with a slightly aggressive hop flavor to it (3.5/5). Sarah ordered a Spring Ale (3/5), Distillery Ale (3/5), Curious Parrot IPA (3.5/5), and a Cobblestone Stout (3.5/5). All of the beers were really quite tasty, but even better was the fact that they sold beer to go. This was fantastic because no other beer stores were open being that it is Canada Day. We were a little worried that we might not be able to enjoy any beers back at the house because of the holiday, but Mill Street came through for us!

After walking a total of about 5 miles, we ended up back at the house where Sarah made spicy Tilapia and steamed broccoli.  We were exhausted, so decided to just chill. We showed Hartmudt how to play Cribbage, and he showed us how to play Mao (a German card game that is like Uno but played with a regular deck of cards). After a few hands of Mao, and with it being Canada day and all, we decided to check out the fireworks display that Toronto put on for the founding of the country. Well, after walking about three blocks and singing the Canadian National Anthem (Hartmudt was given a small card with the lyrics written on it as we walked around today and between the two of us, we knew the tune, thanks to Mike Gill), the fireworks were over (about ten minutes in all). Once we got back, we played a few more hands of cards and then went to bed. It was overall a good day and turned into a fun, late night.