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You shouldn't be disappointed. Bitondo's is still there, as a Google search tells me, though I doubt that Mama is still holding court at one of the three or four tables, as she did, thirty years ago. Heck, she was about 70 years old then.
Using Google, I'm disappointed to find that many of my favourite haunts are no longer there. The Maharani on the Queensway, had Indian curry to die for, and the Pappas Grill on the Danforth (Greek food) has gone out of business.
But I was happy to see that "The Esquire Steak and Souvlaki" is still in business. It's on Victoria Park Ave, just south of Sheppard, and if you want souvlaki, it's the place to go. Get the souvlaki dinner, which comes with (IIRC) french fries, Greek salad, rice, and a roll. And when they ask, "You want lemon and garlic sauce?" the only answer is, "Yes, please." The best souvlaki I've had outside of Athens.
You can eat well in Toronto, out of Mom and Pops. You just have to ask a native Torontonian where they are.
I wonder how wide-spread this was. If it was happening on the west coast of Canada and in the eastern US, certainly it was happening in other places.
It was a time to challenge the social norms for sure.
I was not allowed to wear jeans while I lived at home, even in the early seventies. A condition of being allowed to go to university (we mostly live at home here while at uni) My mother loathed them with a vengeance.
No one wore jeans to school as everyone did and still does, wear a uniform. I think there are still a few private girls high schools where the uniform does not include an option with pants, other than for sports.
If anyone thinks Canada is boring, try going to Brisbane or Perth. I probably think Canada is a really interesting place because of living here!
But we found people in Vancouver really friendly and chatty. And the coffee was decent. And we seriously found Quebec an extremely interesting place with particularly friendly people. They seemed to get quite excited when they found where we were from.
I was not allowed to wear jeans while I lived at home, even in the early seventies. A condition of being allowed to go to university (we mostly live at home here while at uni) My mother loathed them with a vengeance.
No one wore jeans to school as everyone did and still does, wear a uniform. I think there are still a few private girls high schools where the uniform does not include an option with pants, other than for sports.
If anyone thinks Canada is boring, try going to Brisbane or Perth. I probably think Canada is a really interesting place because of living here!
But we found people in Vancouver really friendly and chatty. And the coffee was decent. And we seriously found Quebec an extremely interesting place with particularly friendly people. They seemed to get quite excited when they found where we were from.
Like anywhere, Canada has " boring " parts, but again. like everything it's subjective.
I have friends that have retired to a hobby farm in the middle of the prairies. I'd find that fine for a couple of weeks in the summer, but after that, I'd be bored. City boy at heart.
The reasons I believe Canada gets labelled that way overall is because we are mostly ignored by the vast majority of the planet.
I've often joked that we could find the cure for cancer, and it wouldn't make most of the world's news
Part of it, is our neighbour to the south. Too many, even in our own country, lump us in with the USA.
( that topic is a whole other thread )
Part of it is, because on a whole there is less drama in Canada than a lot of places. It may not seem like it to Canadians since our politics affect us, and is important to us.
Of course when there is drama, like the Residential Schools tragedies it makes headlines around the world, but I don't think people suddenly think that Canada is less boring because of that. If people had taken to the streets and had riots over it that went on for weeks, instead of what actually happened, would that make us less boring?
FYI what has happened is that Canadians were shocked at the magnitude. Reconciliation was what you heard. A new national day of remembrance was created where people took to wearing orange shirts with the slogan
" Every Child Matters " or at least wearing something orange. Our flags are sill at half mast. So if that's boring, I'll take it.
Of course internationally recognized drama or not, it doesn't really affect what living in parts of Canada is like. People equate boring with being conservative in nature. Yet Canada is extremely progressive.
It's been said we have a " as long as it doesn't bother me, I'm good " kind of attitude. A bit pat, but mostly true.
What's funny is that back then, in the 70s, I thought my parents' ideas about not wearing jeans were firmly rooted in our Mennonite background and it was all so unfaiiir!
Now when it no longer matters, I find out all you "English" were just as misunderstood as I was!
I've been to Canada a few times. Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary all have a very different vibe from their US counterparts.
I find the people in general not that friendly, not rude but a little boring and lack charisma. Polite but not at all charming. Those in Vancouver need to get off their high horse & get a reality check!
The news reporting is so boring. I have never heard such monotonous news anchors in my entire life!
I know Canadians feel smug that their country is not hit with problems that other countries deal with, yes I think it is far safer than most other parts of the world, but I'm just saying I dont find the country particularly 'charming'
(Also I have even been to the Canada Maritimes and found it an extremely backwards and close-minded absolutely boring place)
Some may prefer the excitement of a Favela
right outside of Rio de Janeiro to be more exiting ?
Not me!
I prefer boring.
I was not allowed to wear jeans while I lived at home, even in the early seventies. A condition of being allowed to go to university (we mostly live at home here while at uni) My mother loathed them with a vengeance.
No one wore jeans to school as everyone did and still does, wear a uniform. I think there are still a few private girls high schools where the uniform does not include an option with pants, other than for sports.
If anyone thinks Canada is boring, try going to Brisbane or Perth. I probably think Canada is a really interesting place because of living here!
But we found people in Vancouver really friendly and chatty. And the coffee was decent. And we seriously found Quebec an extremely interesting place with particularly friendly people. They seemed to get quite excited when they found where we were from.
How can cities without cold weather be boring?
And how can you have bad coffee in Australia with Indonesia next door?
No, it's Sandra Dorion, from the Gatineau band Nuance. They had a humongous hit all over French Canada, won song of the year, blablabla. Though they were savagely derided by the intelligentsia.
This video is even more "80s". For all its faults, this song does IMO feature an epic 80s-style saxophone solo!
If anyone thinks Canada is boring, try going to Brisbane or Perth.
Never been to Brisbane, but I have been to Perth. Twice, actually.
I guess it depends on your perspective. As a Canadian, I find Perth fascinating. Between Hillary's Boat Harbour and the AQWA, to the pedestrian malls of Hay and Murray Streets, to London Court, to Perth Zoo (which has a lot of native Australian animals that we don't have in Canadian zoos), to the Perth Mint (where you can buy a real gold nugget, if you're feeling rich enough). The horse racing at Belmont Park is challenging, mainly because of the number of entrants and the lack of information on past performances in the program. King's Park is a fine place to spend an afternoon, just wandering around, having a picnic, or renting a bicycle to explore. And there are many pubs and restaurants, all of which have ice-cold Swan Lager on tap--yum! Oh, and Fremantle too, with its market, and tours of its grim prison, built for transported British convicts.
And the area! The wine country of Margaret River is south of the city, with many fine wines, which I was happy to sample. Kalgoorlie is a day's train ride away--you want to see the biggest sky you've ever seen, especially at night? That's where you go.
Perhaps Perth is boring to Australians, but to this Canadian, it's a fascinating place, and one I'd like to return to someday.
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