Farewell Riverdance! Part I

I had quite the month of culture in April. It started off by going to see the farewell performance of Riverdance in Syracuse with my Ma. Last year, we had seen the farewell performance in Rochester which I thought was the end but apparently, Riverdance is touring around to every city in North America they have played in over the last 16 years. Their final show is June 17^th. We had great seats and it was an amazing show. I was somewhat disappointed to see that they had omitted the Russian Dervish as that’s one of my favorite segments but they still had my very favorite, Trading Taps. I thought this cast was one of the best I had seen.

 That same week, Ma and Pa took me to see Jersey Boys as they had seen it last time it came to Rochester. I was somewhat familiar with the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons but not of them personally. The play was actually really cool and the story of their rise and fall was so interesting. The lead didn’t really sound like Frankie but it was a very slick production. It helped that we had front row seats! Next up was seeing Lucas Carpenter, an old Rochester favorite. Kyle and Devin got me into his music and now I make sure to see him every time he comes to Rochester.

 

Finally, it was time for my personal Riverdance farewell. While buying the tickets for the Syracuse show I was checking to see if they were playing anywhere within driving distance so I could get my fill. Nothing was around here but then I noticed a link to the Canadian tour and it dawned on me that I could skip north to see them quite easily. They were playing a 3 day engagement in Toronto so I decided to make a weekend out of it since I hadn’t been to Toronto since I was much younger.

I headed out on a rainy Saturday morning to cross the border. I was stoked because there was absolutely no line so I drove right up to the window. The lady greeted me by saying “maybe next time you’ll actually stop at the stop sign”!? Since there was no one ahead of me I just drove on up, forgetting that you have to stop to get your license plates photographed. She then asked me what my license plate was and I said I didn’t know and she sneered “is this even your car”? I said no, it was my mom’s (since mine had a check engine light) and she then made me backup to get a photo taken! Next time I’ll remember to stop and save us both a hassle.

 

My first stop was in Niagara Falls. I was last there in 2009 with Jess but since she didn’t have a passport we had to settle for the American side. I had forgotten how gorgeous it is from the Canadian side! The river is lined by stunningly manicured parks with abundant flowers and a nice, new gift shop (unlike the warehouse that is a viewing platform in the U.S.). I took my time to stroll along and enjoy the falls since there were but a few other tourists around, due to the weather. I guess I never see Niagara Falls as that big a deal since I grew up so close but they really are a remarkable and powerful sight. In my meandering I realized that I had only paid for an hour of the parking meter so I made a mad dash back to the car. I had found a prime spot in front of the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum since I didn’t want to pay $15 to park at the Visitor Center. 

The rains lifted as I drove into Toronto. I made a stop at Tommy Thompson Park which is unique because it is a man-made peninsula so I thought I would check it out. Well it was gross and smelled like garbage plus there were two guys training for UFC fighting in the parking lot that freaked me out. Interestingly, there were also TONS of snails everywhere! Not sure what was going on but I had to watch my step so as not to crunch them all. I got out of there quickly and drove over to the East side of town to Bluffers Park. The Scarborough Bluffs are an escarpment along the shoreline of Lake Ontario.

  

At its highest point, the escarpment rises 213 feet. Usually it’s always windy by the lake but everything was very calm so I took my time walking around and soaking in the views.  

You can also drive to Cathedral Bluffs park which puts you up on top of the Bluffs and you can overlook the other park.

I never knew Lake Ontario had that kind of a shoreline so it was really cool to check out.

 By this point I was running on empty but fearful of filling up since gas prices are listed as $126.0. Obviously it can’t be in hundreds but I don’t understand Canadian so I just decided to stop somewhere and fill it up. I checked into my hotel and hopped over to the GO station to take the train downtown. When I went to buy my ticket I handed the lady a $10 bill and she gave me a look and said “is this all you have?” I forgot that I can’t pay in U.S. money. I made it downtown around 5pm and walked over to the CN tower. It is the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere and you can see it from all around Toronto. Standing next to it, it really is impressive. Since it was cloudy I didn’t think it was worth it to go up to the viewing platform. I headed up Yonge street, which is the happening street in downtown Toronto. I wasn’t that impressed.

  

There didn’t seem to be too much going on, no matter how far I walked up. Finally I decided to duck into the Eaton Centre for some food. In terms of the number of visitors, the shopping mall is Toronto's top tourist attraction, with around one million visitors per week. It is also the largest shopping mall in Toronto. I had been there before and I had forgotten how huge it is. 

 

I was on the hunt for food and by the time I made it to the food court, I was foaming at the mouth. I saw a sign for a BLT so I ordered and sat down to finally take in some sustenance. As I was eating I noticed the bacon had a different flavor. I looked at my receipt and saw that the name of the restaurant was the Urban Herbivore. Based on my understanding of science, herbivore means “to eat plants” so I cautiously opened my sandwich and realized that I was not eating bacon. In fact, it was a vegan restaurant! I have no idea what I ate but I frankly didn’t care as I was so hungry. I walked back down to the Sony Centre and sat in Berczy Park while the sun went down. There was a unique mural that I really liked.

Finally it was time for my final Riverdance. To my surprise, much of the cast were the same people I had just seen a few weeks ago in Syracuse. I had expected a different troupe. The performance was stellar, the venue was amazing and it was a great way to see Riverdance off. I have now seen it a total number of 9 times and I never got tired of it. I listen to the soundtrack constantly and know every note. Farewell Riverdance, until we (hopefully) meet again!