On our third day in Toronto, I was excited about meeting fellow blogger Jill from My Spanglish Familia. The rendezvous was a café in Little Italy – about 45 minutes walk according to Google Maps – so off we set.

Our starting point was Monteith Street in the Church-Wellesley Village. That’s our B&B above, the Downtown Home Inn, the first house in the row past the purple flag. We had the apartment at basement level which I can recommend as spacious and comfortable – it also meant we had our own kitchen which was handy on occasion. I wouldn’t book any of the other rooms because they all have shared bathrooms and ensuite facilities are one of my red lines. If that means I’m not a true traveller, too bad!

The Village itself is very gay-friendly with rainbow lines at road junctions and some fabulous murals.

Church-Wellesley Village

Church-Wellesley Village

Our route took us along Wellesley until we hit Queen’s Park, home of both the Ontario Legislature and the University of Toronto – some beautiful buildings here.

Ontario Legislature

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

Cutting down onto College Street, we passed a rather splendid looking public library. I’m always interested in those!

Lillian H. Smith Branch

Lillian H. Smith Branch

Still, no time to go in – on we pressed to meet Jill. And it was just like talking to someone I already knew – which, of course, I did since we’ve been commenting on each other’s blogs for a year now. After a good blether over coffee, we walked to Kensington Market where we enjoyed lunch at a Mexican restaurant (very good, not at all like Mexican food at home, but – Jill being something of an expert – I know to be much more authentic).

Kensington Market

Pancho y Emiliano

She also introduced us to churros – fried dough stuffed, in my case, with chocolate, Mmmm – that’s what I’m clutching in the photos below. I couldn’t actually eat it straight away because I was so full from lunch!

Anabel and Jill

John and Anabel

After the churro stop, Jill headed home to collect her children. We took a further stroll round the area enjoying its quirky sights. I can’t remember now which of these are Kensington Market, which Little Italy and which Little Portugal but they’re all quite close together.

In Kensington Market

Fire Tower

Near Kensington Market

Near Kensington Market

Near Kensington Market

Near Kensington Market

Near Kensington Market

Footsore by now, we retraced our steps home. This was one evening when our kitchen came into its own – we didn’t feel like another full meal out, so we purchased pizza slices and beer from local takeaways and consumed them with our feet up.

Many thanks to Jill for making the time to meet us for a few hours – it was a lovely, sociable day.

Linked to Jo’s Monday Walk – check it out for more walks around the world.