Friday, 3 April 2015

High tea at the ritz

The pros:
Delicious food
Great tea
Nice ambience

The cons:
Service was slow, and not great.
When I asked for a quiche with no ham, they said it was too late to order it (veggie needs are to be communicated via the online booking), and then no substitute was offered. It was just taken away by an unsmiling waitress in a short dress. (Too short? I think thinking this makes me old?) the whole thing seemed odd and not the service you would expect at high tea.

Here are some bad photos to aid in memory







Wednesday, 26 November 2014

Sunday, 23 November 2014

Not Constantinople






Blue Mosque


Hagia Sofia


This old thing? It's been around just since 2000BC


Bosphorous river from Topkepi Palace


Bospherous cruise

Incredible Pammukale

The mountainside is covered in white mineral pools. It looked other worldly.













Friday, 24 October 2014

Among the ruins


Blogger will no longer upload any photos, so I direct your attention to Instagram. My user name is Joy Larusa. I don't believe you need an account to look. If you do, sorry.

Delicious breakfast today before a boat cruise with variable weather! Wooooooo turquoise coast!

Saturday, 18 October 2014

Instagram wins.

Blog press won't cooperate. So to Instagram!

http://instagram.com/p/uTUDBZuHzG/


Thursday, 16 October 2014

Last day in Munich


We watched but did not participate.







Great view from a bar that a cop have us directions to. It was on the 5th floor of a technical college.







Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Munich!

Arrive. Find beer and pretzels.





See a sight or two.


Contemplate.


Success.

And it's only 10am Toronto time.

Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Cuba

Why did I stop travelling to warm sunny places?





Canada needs more tropical beaches.

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Posterity and finger sandwiches

As is tradition with 2 friends of mine, this year we went out for high tea/afternoon tea in Toronto.

This is our third year doing so, and we decided that reviews of our visits would be wise to know which one we liked best, to go back to when we run out of teas to try (2 more to go, I think) Only took us 3 years to realize a written review would be helpful. My excuse is that I only have 1 degree, the other two: clearly napping.

So! This defunct blog has new life in tea reviews! (#stuffwhitepeopleblogabout #ipaidforthiablogappsoiamgoingtouseit)

2012: The Mill (the old mill?) Toronto

Ambience: ok? It's a lovely spot but we were all ushered into the tea solarium at the same time as everyone with a reservation, and I scorned the flowers (a potted cyclamen that was dead looking-- I traded it for the healthy one sitting on a shelf full of glasses)

Service: the mass seating meant mass serving. We were slow to get out finger sandwiches and so forth

Taste: good! Nothing to race about. Not enough cream for the scones (is there ever enough!?!) they had smoked salmon which my lady friends enjoyed, and not that, which I prefer. Scones were good! And the desserts were alright. We all ate the inside of our tarts, because we are fancy like that...and the filling was far more delicious than the pastry. Tea was tea.

Other notes: we were asked to leave by management because the lingering scent of riff raff we had at our table disturbed the sensitive nose boxes of the other patrons. Or because they had to clear is out for the dinner seatings. Fair! But not very charming. Thankfully my company was quite charming!

So it was lovely! But the king William (last year) was better (they let us stay late, were wise in tea info, gave us carry out containers for our leftovers and didn't mind our stench...not enough cream though as I recall...)

Ladies- till next year!


Monday, 21 May 2012

Saturday, 19 May 2012

Island life

M and I took a trip to Toronto island last week.
Highlights include:



It's a goose in a tree!



Moorage infraction



And a pretty excellent view of the city.

Friday, 11 May 2012

With a little on the side

This is how my dad does dessert




Market to market

First market of the season for La Primavera Farms




A crate full of posies, to get things started

Location:Hamilton

Sunday, 6 May 2012

Early morning sun

Can be pretty beautiful,



But I think I prefer sunset. Allows for more sleeping

Friday, 4 May 2012

What's not to love?

Cute mask, striped tail, nimble hands and an affinity for garbage.



Why haven't we domesticated these guys? This one was caught at my old work. I saw him climb up a garbage can, go in and then emerge and scurry off in mere minutes. Soon he can commune with nature not warehouse garbage.

Friday, 27 April 2012

Zoom zoom

Quick trip down south with my dad.




An since we were on the coast, only made sense to have some delicious fresh seafood.



Location:North Carolina

Monday, 16 April 2012

Saturday, 14 April 2012

Needed more whistling

M and I went to a Harlem Globetrotters game/show. I didn't know what to expect, aside from ball spinning on fingertips while whistling...




It was pretty excellent-- lots of kids and jokes and I think pretty inspiring as far as getting kids interested in basketball. Kind of wwe turned wbe.

Needed more whistling though...