Christmas at Home Thanks to Ford Canada

Christmas is undoubtedly my favourite time of year. I love the feeling that surrounds it. People are friendlier, extended family makes themselves more available, friends host parties and of course children light up at the thought of Christmas morning.

A present under the tree

To tackle all my Christmas shopping and to make it home to celebrate with my girlfriend’s and my family, the fine folks at Ford Canada supplied us with a Ford Explorer Platinum to #GoFurther for the holiday break. The Explorer came in handy quite a few times over the holidays as we were able to load up all of our gifts, our Siberian Husky and a friend (her gifts too) with plenty room to spare. We were all quite comfortable in the roomy cabin, but my girlfriend and I were pampered with massaging seats in the cockpit.

Ford Explorer parked at my girlfriends parent's house.

I was excited to have the Explorer which made it possible for me to make it up to my parents’ house this year for Christmas Eve. I love seeing how my mom has decorated the house, she is quite the artist when it comes to decorating the Christmas tree. This year was no exception as she used bronze, copper and brown ornaments on a white tree (the only thing white about this Christmas this year!). I woke up a little bit earlier than everyone and quickly filmed it in all its glory. Check that out below:

My dad ended up gifting me and my girlfriend engineered hardwood flooring to spruce up our kitchen floor. Thank the stars we actually had the Explorer or we never would’ve got that home with the sub compact car I would’ve rented to save money. Unfortunately though I now have a project to complete on my next day off…thanks Dad!

Hardwood flooring, padding and laundry. It all fits in the Explorer!

The holidays are spent with family, so we didn't just visit mine. In the morning of Christmad Day we loaded up the gifts into the Explorer and drove over to my girlfriends parents' house. My girlfriends mom is a great cook and baker, so we had an amazing spread of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, yams, turnip and veggies. Afterwords we had some home made treats and a cheesecake so delicious words wouldn't do it justice. What I love about her family is that similarly to mine they also give it all they've got to decorate the house. After a gift exchange we unfortunately had to hit the road, pick up our pooch and head back to the big city.

My girlfriends family's living room all decked out in Christmas decor!

Between both parents' homes and back and forth to the city for dreaded boxing day shopping, we put this truck through it's paces. One thing I noticed was how smooth and quiet the ride was, unless of course we were blasting Christmas Carols and singing along. The other little perks available in this model actually saved our butts a few times, particularly the park assist feature. Parallel parking with any vehicle in Toronto can be a pain, let alone a big SUV. The parking assist made it a piece of cake by doing it for me! All I had to do was hit one button and apply or let go of the brakes. While this terrified my girlfriend the first time we tried it, there was no denying it was incredible.

The controls of the cockpit, and a heated steering wheel!

As hard as it was to get in the spirit with it being a green Christmas, I am extremely glad I was able to make it home to see family and friends thanks to the good folks at Ford Canada. I hope you all were also able to get home and see your friends and family. If you have any interesting stories from your holidays please share below in the comments, I'd love to hear them!

Happy New Year everyone!

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Toronto Christmas Market - 2015 Update

December is finally here, which means Toronto is in full swing with Christmas. Shops have their decorations up and carols playing. People are running around trying to find the perfect gift with winter themed coffee cups in their hands. Office and work party season is in full gear and there is a general niceness towards everyone that only exists this time of year.

The main road/vendor section of the Christmas Market

One major draw for the Toronto scene this time of year is the Christmas Market in the beautiful Distillery District. The Distillery District is a historical site that is rich with Victorian industrial buildings, just steps away from the Downtown Core. The 47 buildings that make up the Distillery District were once owned by Gooderham and Worts (formerly the largest distillery company in Canada) and were deemed to be a historical site in 1976. Cityscape Holdings purchased the site in 2001 and imagined it to be a place where a blend of artisans and entrepreneurs could have a space to showcase their creativity. In 2003, the Distillery District was opened to the public and since then has been an area famous for its cobblestone streets, clothing and craft shops, creative businesses, Mill Street Brewery and of course the Christmas Market.

The huge tree in the Christmas Market

The Toronto Christmas Market pulls from historic European traditions and offers the people of Toronto and surrounding areas a romantic celebration of everything Christmas. There are local vendors who occupy quaint huts and sell their artisan crafts, clothing and food. There is a large "Wintergarten" where everyone can meet and socialize outside with cups of cheer by one of many fire pits. While this Christmas tradition has been modernized and is essentially another business to gain money, you can't help but get wrapped up in the feeling of the cheerful people, old buildings, twinkling lights and Christmas decor. The Christmas Market is intended to romanticize the feeling of Christmas, and it does just that. Visit here and you will fall in love with Christmas again!

The market runs from November 20th through December 20th. To combat overcrowding the market is now $5 per person on Saturday and Sunday and free Tuesday through Friday. More information can be found at the Toronto Christmas Market website. Below are some pictures from my visit earlier this week!

Are you Naughty or Nice? Find out in the Wintergarten!

Alternate view of the beautiful tree

The girls getting cozy with one of  many statues to pose with at the Christmas Market

Get a view of the entire Christmas Market on the Ferris Wheel!

Indulge in some spirits and brews! Sleeman Dark Chocolate Lager readily available for all those of age.

Vendors huts after hours.

Me crushing a Vanilla Porter from Mill Street Brewery and a massive turkey leg (totally worth the $13 price tag)!

The main street after hours. 

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Spend Light, Travel Big: Germany and Czech Republic

 

a post by Alison Preiss

A European vacation has been on my wish list for a while. So last summer when my brother did an oversea’s study program in Germany, I jumped at the chance to tour around with him at the end of his stay. In 10 days and nine nights we saw over 2,000 kilometres of Germany and the Czech Republic, with stops in Frankfurt, Berlin, Prague, Stuttgart, and Freiburg. And we managed to do it for a reasonable price: Including flight, hotel, some nice meals and some VERY light shopping, the trip cost me less than $3,000. I left with some great memories shared with my brother, and didn’t go into debt doing it. Here’s how we pulled it off:

Das Brother

Getting around

Trains: We wanted to see as many cities as possible during my 10 day visit, while still allowing for some flexibility. We opted for a Eurail regional pass that was good throughout Germany and the Czech Republic. We bought two 2nd class super saver passes for about $350 Canadian each and allowed for 5 days of unlimited travel anywhere in these two countries. This got us easily to big cities, and also allowed us to a take ‘just cause’scenic ride up into the heart of the Black Forest and back (yes we bought cake).

Local Transit: Most of the local transit systems (light rail, tram and trains) we encountered were self serve (you buy your own ticket, there are no ticket collectors but there are occasional spot checks). I’d recommend just buying 24 hour passes, it was easier to manage since not all of the machines were easy to navigate in English.

Eating

Breakfast: We either scammed the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, or we picked up pastries the night before.

Lunch: Opt for street food. This is a cheap way to experience great food, and some local flavours. In Frankfurt we had fish donair from a food boat (!), Berlin was all about Currywurst (french frys with curry, sausage, ketchup and mayo - believe me it WORKS), and in Prague my go-to street food fried cheese sandwiches. There were good grab-and-go desserts aswell: We found really good, creamy ice cream in most german cities for about 1 euro. In Prague they wrapped leavened dough around a wooden spit, dipped it in sugar and then baked it over an open flame.

Dinner: Dinner was where we splurged a little, or really planned out where we were going to eat. Things you should eat in Germany: Spaetzle, handkase, schnitzel, flammkuchen, beer cheese, apfelwein, and every different kind of sausage you come across.

Biergartens: I loved biergartens, and I don’t even really like beer. Imagine a really beautiful park, filled with long picnic tables and shaded by big sprawling trees. There are little play areas for kids, dogs are welcome, and if you want a cold beer and a sausage, you just head up to a cute little hut and order one. It’s seemed like the sort of place where you just run into your old friends of favourite neighbours. Seriously, it makes me really angry to think about our uppity liquor laws here in Canada. Try taking your dog into a patio in Toronto, let alone finding a place where kids can play while adults imbibe.

Biergarten food

In these glorious places, the food was cheap and delicious, and I discovered a beer that is suitable for my sweet-tooth palate - Radler (beer mixed with 7-up). We hit up Prater Garten in Berlin [http://www.pratergarten.de/e/index.php], and Augustiner Keller in Munich [http://www.augustinerkeller.de/en.htm].

Sleeping

Hotels: At first I liked the idea of not booking anything and then just seeing where we wanted to go, but when you only have 10 days, we decided it would be better to have a plan. To allow for some flexibility, we booked hotels for the first 6 days, and then left some flexibility open for the last three. After doing some comparisons on hostels, versus AirBnB, I actually found the best deals were hotels booked through Priceline. If you don’t know Priceline, it basically lets you bid for hotel rooms, you get a geographical area and a star rating, but once your bid is accepted, you’re locked in. We used the express deals functionality and got decent hotels for between $40-$70 a night. The app made it really easy to book places on the spur of the moment, and they kept sending me 10% off coupons with every room I booked. A word of warning, the Priceline star rating doesn’t hold up as well in Europe. After two nights in a Prague three-star, I insisted on a four-star in Germany complete with an indoor pool.

Couchsurfing: Okay, so my brother kind of tricked me into my first Couchsurfing stay. He had visited Freiburg earlier in his trip and fell in love with it. Freiburg is close to the French border and right on the edge of the Black Forest, and basically looks like a village out of a fairytale. He arranged a Couchsurfing stay with a friend of the person he originally surfed with. He told me we were staying with a friend of a friend. This was technically true.

The best part of Couchsurfing is that you truly get to experience local culture (have you seen a complete stranger kick a one-night-stand out of his house in another language? I have). The downside is that you don’t really get your own space and you have to adapt to your host’s schedule. It gave my brother the university style party he was craving, and I am not above sleeping on a mattress on the floor (which I did, going to bed hours before everyone else).

Doing Stuff

Tours: I have mixed feelings on tours: On one hand they can be cheesy and something deep inside me really hates proffering that I’m a tourist. BUT when you are only in a city for a day or two, tours are a really good way to see the basics and orient yourself with a new city. In Berlin we took a bus tour (Sample dialogue: “This is a vacant lot, I think this is a very beautiful site because the building that used to be here was ugly”). In Prague we took a ‘tip tour,’basically you go around with a guide on foot for a few hours, and then you pay what you can. We chose a nice lady named Jana and we wound up being the only people on her tour that afternoon. She showed us the sites and explained some of the major historical events. On any Prague tour you’re probably going to hear a lot about Kafka and bridges.

Fun in the Streets: Some of the best events we attended were the cheapest. In Stuttgart we attended a street festival called Sommerfest. We were wandering through old town in Prague when we came across a street performer’s show. ChickenJoe contorted his body, laid down on broken glass and did all sort of other entertaining things. At the end he asked us to chip in the cost of a beer.

Explore: Most nights, we would just wander. It’s perfectly legal to drink in public, so we would grab a beer at a bodega and then just walk and talk, following the streets that seemed interesting, We found beautiful little parks, old churches, and had some great conversations along the way.

Travel Tips

Starbucks: I didn’t buy an international phone plan, and my european SIM card was pretty flaky, but Starbucks always offered free wifi, clean bathrooms and familiar coffee. I tried to drag my brother into one once a day to check my email and grab a coffee. Finding free hotel wifi was hit or miss.

Bathrooms: Be prepared to pay to pee, most public washrooms cost about 1 euro, but the upside is that they are convenient and clean. At the Berlin Aquarium you can pay an attendant 50 cents and she will disinfect the toilet seat in front of you. I daydream about this service at most public washrooms I encounter in North America.

Highlights:

Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt:

Movenpick Hotel Frankfurt City:

http://www.moevenpick-hotels.com/en/europe/germany/frankfurt/hotel-frankfurt-city/overview/

Palmengarten - Botanical garden

http://www.palmengarten.de/#/de_DE/index/index

Berlin

KaDeWe Department Store - Go to the grocery floors!

http://www.kadewe.de

Berlin Aquarium - Perfect for a rainy day

http://www.aquarium-berlin.de

Burgermeister - Grab a burger then head down to walk along the Spree and the remainders of the Berlin Wall.

http://www.burger-meister.de

Topography of Terror - documentation centre on the Nazi party

http://www.topographie.de/en/

Prague

Old Town Hall and Astronomical Clock

http://www.praguewelcome.cz/en/visit/monuments/top-monuments/58-old-town-hall-with-the-astronomical-clock.shtml

Rent a paddle boat

http://www.prague.net/blog/article/20/rent-a-paddle-boat-on-the-vltava-river

Freiburg

The whole city is just wonderful

http://www.freiburg.de/pb/,Len/225797.html

Packing - with all this travelling I wanted to pack light. Read more about how I fit 10 days into one backpack on scribbled-down.com

Alison Priess

About Alison:  Alison is a former reality TV personality, craft wizard, foodie, and long time friend of the guys over at Real Man Travels, because lets face it, every group needs a sassy red head. Alison also a has her own blog www.scribbled-down.com where she writes about crafting, eating, and living. You should check it out!

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Jack Daniel's Barrel Tree Lighting Ceremony

Every once in a while something truly unique happens in your hometown or city. Toronto is never an exception to that rule and this year is the proud host of the Jack Daniel’s Barrel Christmas Tree.

Located at 544 King Street West in front of the marketing firm The Hive (who happen to share a rich history of business with Jack Daniel’s) the barrel tree is constructed out of Jack Daniel’s barrels that are decorated with lights, garland, ribbons and stands approximately 20-30 feet proudly. Sorry to burst all the bubbles of Jack Daniels fans but the barrels are empty!

Scott (@SFRealManTravels) and I (@EdRealManTravel) were lucky enough to be invited to the tree lighting ceremony on December 11^th, 2013. At this ceremony we were introduced to a seasonal blend from Jack Daniel’s called Winter Jack. It is a mixed blend of apple cider liqueur (which really takes over the entire taste of the drink) Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whisky and holiday spices. The drink is best served warm and was nice to have after standing in the cold.

While I wasn't a fan of Winter Jack because I’m not fond of ciders, those who are will definitely find joy in this beverage during the winter season. You can find it at most LCBO’s across Ontario.

Many thanks to The Hive (@The_Hive) and Jack Daniel’s (@JackDaniels_US) for inviting us out to the lighting ceremony.

And if you are in Toronto be sure to get a photo of that beautiful barrel tree and share it on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #JDBarrelTree.

Happy Holidays everyone!

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