Cruise with Toulouse: Cave Tubing in Belize

“Belize has some of the best cave tubing in the world!” Nina said gleefully to me in our stateroom aboard the Carnival Dream. That was supposed to make me feel better? Can you visualize me—the cool travel cat—roaring down some underground river, getting soaking wet, fur a tangle and not even seeing where we’re going? I gave her my best scowl but she wasn’t looking; she’d dropped her gaze to study her papers.

There was no way out of it. I knew. She’d booked us on what’s become the “most popular shore excursion in Belize” and the ship had just anchored off the port of Belize City.

“Come on!” she said. “You don’t want to miss the adventure of a lifetime!” That’s what I was worried about. I wasn’t ready for my life to be over just yet. Nina seized me by the tail, like she always does when she’s excited, and stuffed me into her day pack. Maybe she’d have the compassion to leave me inside the backpack that would be left behind in the bus. That was wishful thinking.

We left our sanctuary behind and met our bus near the pier at Belize City. Our tour guide was a native Rastafarian, who looked far too cheerful and whose first words were, “Are we flexible?” My little pile stomach turned. This wasn’t going to be my day, I thought.

As the bus wove through the milling traffic of Belize City, Jack cheerfully described the rather turbulent history of this major port and financial and industrial hub of Belize. Belize City was once a small Maya town called Holzuz. Because of its location by the sea and because the Belize River empties there, the British found Belize City ideal for shipping logwood and mahogany.  The city was real popular with hurricanes too, it seems. One came through in 1931 and more recently Hurricane Hattie swept through the city in 1961, destroying huge portions. “Are we flexible?”

The bus parked at the Caves Branch Archeological Reserve. Grinning like a fool, Nina pulled me out of her pack and stuffed me into her pocket. I had one last longing look at her blue backpack before she leapt out of the bus to join the others.

After we received our giant orange tube (of death) Nina joined the rest of our party on a hike through Belize jungle in the Reserve. I didn’t see any naughty monkeys, poisonous snakes, or jaguars thankfully. That didn’t mean they weren’t there. We climbed stone staircases that wound into deep caves, known to house hundreds—if not thousands—of bats. I didn’t look up.

That was bad enough… then Nina decided to check out the acoustics inside the cave with her signature Olympic Elk call. No one should be subjected to that kind of torture, especially a poor cat about to get drenched. A few blazing stares from fellow adventurers soon quieted her down.

When I saw my first glimpse of the Sibun Caves Branch River, my tiny heart went pitter patter. I knew it was even worse when I caught sight of a rope tautly stretched across the river at human hip level. “No problem, Toulouse!” Nina assured me as she plunged into the river and waded across, tube slung over her left shoulder and rope clutched in her right hand. My heart raced like a Ferrari at an Indi race when she slipped on a slippery rock and wavered. But she recovered with a giddy laugh and patted me on the head. “Are we flexible?”

We wove around tangles of buttressed roots and vines, rich with the pungent scents of exotic flowers, to our final destination: a quiescent bend in the river before it narrowed and churned toward the yawning mouth of a cave. The cave entrance dripped with Spanish moss and epiphytes harboring snakes and heaven knows what else. My little heart beat like a tiny drum. If stuffed cats could scream this was the time to do it.

Nina grinned down at me and jammed me further into her pocket. Once she’d determined that I was safely tucked inside, she slapped her tube into the water and waded in, poised over it. Then, in a rather ungraceful halting move she let herself “fall” into the tube with a bounce and we were launched. Hulario, our guide got a dozen of us to link together, intertwining feet and elbows, into a long snake that would meander down the river through the inky blackness of these sodden caverns. Everyone wore a little headlight on their head. It’s not what you think. The light they give off in the black cavern is too miniscule to make a difference to the bearer, Hulario informed us. The purpose of the light was so he could see us (in case one of us got separated from the human “snake”. Sweet, as Nina would say (it’s all in the tone of voice).

Toulouse dries off...

Then, we were off, careering down the river, the spray of turbid grey-green water splashing my lovely fur coat, and Nina hollering with glee (I hate it when she gets like that). The first cave yawned ahead like giant jaws of Hell as the tube pitched over foot-high standing waves toward it. In no time we were sucked into the cave; we’d entered the bowels of hell. I noticed that the lights made absolutely no difference to our ability to see. The cave was pitch dark and the currents pulled us here and there on a whim.

Hulario's voice echoed in the watery cave: he told us that these spectacular cave systems were regarded by the ancient Mayans as a sacred underworld and home to many powerful gods. I sighed as we emerged into the daylight toward the last leg of our tubing adventure.

"Butts UP!" shouted Hulario, as we glided over the shallows. Several tubes shoaled up on gravel shallows and one of the human snakes broke up.

A few renegade tubers, who'd broken off from the human snake, found themselves flying into the fast part of the river (Nina called it the "thalweg" of the river--smart aleck limnologist!) where the current pulled them effortlessly into the thorny bushes. I heard a POP! One young "genius" seized an overhanging thorny branch to slow him down and cut his hand: "OW!" Followed by a POP! It was a Three Stooges show for the rest of us as we glided by the mayhem of wet sods as they negotiated the river's challenging shoreline, carrying their deflated tubes and egos.

Our tubing adventure was over at last. Back onboard the Carnival Dream, Nina dried me off with her hair dryer then consoled me with several French martinis.

Ah, the life of a COOL travel cat...

I Love New York in the Summer

Nina and I began our New York experience with Manhattan and Morgans Hotel. Designed by Andrée Putnam in 1983, the hotel celebrates a retro-contemporary/faux-industrial visual and tactile experience that starts with the lobby’s elegant “3-D” design carpet and the Spartan somewhat oriental-style furniture and reception desk. We got a room on the twelfth floor and as Nina made herself comfortable in the soft Paris sheets, I negotiated the bathroom with difficulty. As I did the water slide down her sink—WOO! Splash!— I realized that I’d become submerged in Putnam’s world of French subversive design.

Putnam says that, “To not dare is to have already lost. We should seek out ambitious, even unrealistic projects…because things only happen when we dream.” Ah, a lady after my own heart…

Morgans Hotel lies in the heart of Manhattan, on Madison Avenue with a view of the Empire State

Lobby of the Morgans Hotel

Building and blocks away from New York icons such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Grand Central Station, Times Square, Broadway and 42^nd Street, Rockerfeller Centre, Radio City and the United Nations.

We wandered the streets, rather aimlessly—letting New York reveal herself in vignettes and catching glimpses of character, texture and history wherever we turned.  

We started with the Empire State Building, whose tiered Egyptian-like Art Deco structure reminded me of Fritz Lang’s “Metropololis”. Towering 1,250 feet, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in North America when it was built in 1931 and is now again the tallest building in NYC. The spire at the top of the building was designed as a mooring mast for dirigibles (anyone remember the cool scene in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow?). They abandoned it because of too high winds. Kind of burst their bubble, I guess…

Bryant Park

New York bustles with an intense mercurial energy and New Yorkers are a multi-cultural melting pot of genuine, forthright people on the move. In other words, you need to move to keep up! They bluntly let you know if you’re being stupid and lose patience with you if you lack the confidence and direction that they have come to accept as a given in this city of the self-made man, woman and cat. But, if you earn their respect by demonstrating genuine motivation and intent, they will go to great lengths to help you.  I loved their clean honesty and straightforwardness. You get what you see in New York.

When we reached Times Square, we were greeted with an interesting sight: row upon row of lawn chairs filled the square. The lawn chairs in Times Square form a new initiative of the city (just in time for us!) to open up parts of the town to pedestrians with a traffic ban between 47th and 42nd Streets, turning the once bustling crowded sidewalks and honking horns of thick traffic into a giant urban picnic. The city placed brightly colored lawn chairs along the street to encourage pedestrian traffic. It worked!

Says one New York blogger: “Everyone sits there in haphazard rows facing the Jumbotron, like they

Times Square in the summer

were home in Toledo watching their wide-screen TV. They turn the City That Never Sleeps into The City That Ever Sits."

Our unguarded wanderings led us to one of New York’s hidden gems: Bryant’s Park, a green oasis nestled amid towering buildings in the heart of New York City’s Midtown, located just behind the New York Public Library on 40^th and 42^nd Streets and 5^th Avenue and The Avenue of the Americas. I felt immediately at home as we strolled along the twin promenades, lines by London plane trees (Platanus acerifolia). The plane tree is also found at le Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, and contributes to Bryant Park's European feel. Did you know that these trees can grow up to 120 feet in height? NewYorkFirst.com shares that "Bryant Park is a remarkably peaceful space in one of the most urbanized parts of the planet."

Bryant Park

As we rounded toward the south south side of the park, Nina practically shrieked and ran toward an old carousel. As she spun around--thankfully leaving me unscathed on the bench--I reflected that le Carrousel at Bryant Park complemented the park's French classical style. The rounding boards, inspired by the park's elegant baroque-style torcheres along 40th Street, blended rather nicely into the levy canopy of the park's plane trees.

After a few dizzying turns, Nina bounded back, face flushed with joy, and settled us on the outside patio of the Bryant Park Grill. We ordered a wonderful spread of cold meats, cheeses, salads and baguette at The Grill, and topped our feast with an exquisite Merlot.

The New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue was showing the exhibit “Between Collaboration and Resistance: French Literary Life Under Nazi Occupation”. We entered the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building to find a stately interior attended by art deco-style receptionist (complete with sculpted hair!). As Nina stood engrossed in some artwork, I glimpsed a mass of New York’s finest in blue from one of the windows. They’d

Officer Montalvo gives Toulouse a ride...

surrounded the library! Leaving Nina gawking at a painting, I slipped outside to see what they were about.

Officer Montalvo, a smart cop with a penchant for small animals, befriended me and told me that they’d assembled to form security for President Obama’s cavalcade, expected any moment. It was quite a while before Nina finally flew out of the library, looking for me in a panic.

Ah…It’s nice to be loved. And speaking of love…I love New York. :-3

Historic Distillery District

Toulouse enjoys his Mill St Coffee Porter

“The pleasant aroma of baked food seemed to permeate my soul.”—InOntario

I wasn’t long in Toronto, when Nina—who understood my penchant for fine dining, great coffee and culture in unusual settings—took me to the historic Distillery District.

Set on 13 acres in the heart of downtown Toronto, The Distillery District is the single largest collection of Victorian Industrial architecture in North America and one of Toronto’s hottest “gastrozones”. I was in COOL Travel Cat Heaven. Wonderfully restored to retain its funky retro-industrial setting, The Distillery features a wide and eclectic tapestry of shops, cafés, restaurants and galleries including: chocolatiers who produce artisan chocolate directly from the cocoa bean itself; cafés that micro-roast Fairtrade beans; Canadian fine cuisine in industrial chic settings; and galleries and shops that embrace original funk-chic.

Founded in 1832 by brothers-in-law William Gooderham and James Worts, the Gooderham and

Historic Distillery District

Worts Distillery grew into the largest distillery in the world. They exported spirits and whiskey to ports around the world from New York to Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. After 153 years of continuous production, the plant distilled its last drop of rum in 1990. Resident beer gardens, wine bars, an award-winning microbrewery (Mill Street Brewery) and even a sake distillery (which opened a few months ago) have amply filled the gap. The Ontario Spring Water Sake Company is the first and only sake brewery in Ontario. It’s prepared in the “Junmai” (pure rice) style, freshly pressed, unpasteurized and unfiltered. They have a lovely tasting room and several sakes to try along with Japanese food.

The Potter's Shed

The Distillery was restored and developed into a pedestrian-only cultural “Victorian Industrial chic village”, opening in May 2003 as Toronto’s new centre for Art, Culture and Entertainment. Pigcat and I strolled along the brick lined promenades and European piazza-style squares in what the Globe and Mail calls “a picture postcard draw”. Where ever I turned, a paradox of hip sophistication and retro-industrial funk greeted me. I was reminded a little of Soho in New York as my senses feasted on a range of motion, color, texture and fragrance: an old roadster parked in an alley overlooking the industrial punk sculpture of Dennis Oppenheim;  a collection of clay pots, dried lavender and ferns adding colorful texture to a red brick road.   As we strolled past eclectic shops and avant-garde galleries—once a distillery complex, flour mills and cooper shop—I inhaled the pleasant aroma of baked food and freshly roasted coffee. The Distillery, like a fine distilled spirit, is a feast of the senses. If Hemmingway was a Torontonian, he might have reserved his famous quote for this place.

Fleur de Sel chocolate caramel

Nina took me to Soma, where we savored a provocatively delicious Mayan hot chocolate over a Sparky chocolate (named after my good friend, Sparky, no doubt! LOL!)—a dark chocolate “half-moon” covering a “genache” of gianduja laced with paprocks. Eugenia served us our Mayan hot chocolate, made with ginger, Madagascar vanilla, orange peel, and their secret blend of spices. HA! I know that chili is one of them. The hot chocolate ran smooth over my tongue, rich with chocolate and a touch of heat.

Soma is one of the few artisan chocolatiers in North America who make small batch chocolates Veni, vidi, vici!

Patrons of Soma enjoy exquisite gelato

directly from the cocoa bean (which they get from plantations around the world including the Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Costa Rica and Panama—with a preference for Fairtrade, Organic and flavor grade. You can see them making their chocolates in their micro-chocolate factory through the display window! Toronto Life Magazine and Now Magazine voted Soma chocolates as the best in town. And why not? Their exquisite chocolates are lovingly made by dedicated and friendly staff (probably intoxicated with chocolate-induced endorphins). You can’t go wrong with names and elegant ingredients like fleur de sel caramels, almond cluster dark Peruvian, Arbequina Spanish olive oil, cherry bomb, Gooderham and Worts Whiskey, Douglas Fir and Bergamot.

Soma’s gelatos and sorbettos are also extremely popular. We returned later to savor one of their 14 flavours.

Mill Street Brewery Pub

We stopped for lunch at the Mill Street Brew Pub, a place to eat with character and its own micro-brewery. Mill Street Brewery is East Toronto’s first commercial brewery to open in more than 100 years, home to Ontario’s first certified organic lager, producing handcrafted beers and ales in historic Corktown area of the city. The pub was built around their open-concept brewery beneath 18 foot ceilings and huge skylights, successfully preserving the character and ambience of the century-old distillery district.

We sat in their patio facing Tank House Lane. Nina decided on their English Tea Beer and I asked Natalie, our friendly waitress, for their Coffee Porter. The Coffee Porter features roasted beans from Balzac Coffee, down the street, and delights the palate with complex lingering flavors of nuts. With 100% certified ingredients in their stock ales, tank house ales, and porters, who can go wrong?

The Brew Pub opened in 2006, serving exceptional pub-style food that use the Mill Street brews, brewed on site. I ordered a Drunken Butter Chicken (the name somehow appealed)—an organic lager marinated chicken simmered in the Mill’s own butter sauce and served with basmati rice and naan bread. I found large chicken pieces bathed in a delicate “rose” sauce with complex flavors that lingered with a mild heat.  Along with their cob salad, which Nina smartly chose, and their signature fish and chips, it is a favorite among Brew Pub patrons.

The Potter's Shed

   

Then it was time to exercise some of that butter chicken away. A little ways down Tank House Lane we felt drawn to the magic realism of The Potter’s Shed, whose earthy artworks looked like they’d spilled out from the tiny shop in artful chaos among the brick pavestones. Clay pots and gardening implements lay scattered among dizzying sprays of lavender, hydrangeas, and ferns.  Inside, Behar, in her rainbow sarong, added to a setting out of a classic fiction novel. When we finally stepped back into the sun, Pigcat asked me if I’d seen all the ferries sitting among the pots.

We ambled farther, poking inside eclectic shops, and ended up on Trinity Street. I highly recommend Cube Works Gallery, a fun shop that features original works created from Rubik’s cubes.

Balzac's Coffee

We followed our discerning noses to Balzac’s Coffee, the very establishment whose roasted beans provided the basis for my Coffee Porter at the Mill Street Brew Pub. The inside looked like the set of an old Bogart movie, with tall mirror, high ceiling, chandelier, staircases that lead nowhere and—what convinced me that this was a serious coffee establishment—an original nickel Elektra espresso maker, complete with soaring eagle. Although it was no longer used for espresso-making, according to the barista (they only used it now for frothing milk), its presence on the counter signified serious coffee intent. I wasn’t surprised when my single-shot espresso tasted exquisite, with a deep coffee nose and an attractive natural crema. We sat outside the coffee shop in the square that featured a kind of space-retro-industrial punk sculpture by Dennis Oppenheim. Called “Still Dancing” Oppenheim described it as “a combination of sculpture, architecture and theatre.”

We took Case Goods Lane, past several galleries, toward PureSpirits Oyster House & Grill and Toronto Life—for an exquisite dinner of fresh oysters and salad. Ben, out waiter—who recognized me, because he is from Toulouse, France!—offered us Fanny Bay oysters from British Columbia and Beausoleils from New Brunswick. They came on the half-shell with shredded horseradish and several shallot vinaigrettes. I showed Nina how to throw the oyster to the back of the throat and savor the full flavor of the creamy-sweet, sea-salt meat. Pure Spirit oysters are considered “the best” in Toronto by OurFaves.com. We slurped them down with panache, licking our little pink tongues, along with a refreshing baby spinach and arugula salad.

Oyster shucking contest

decided to have an early supper of fresh oysters and beer. Ah, the life of a Cool Cat… We settled on the outside patio—called “Toronto’s Best Patio” by

It was the last Tuesday in May and Pure Spirits was launching its “Topshuck Patio” shucking contest at 6pm. Of course, we stayed and watched them shuck their little hearts out—well, actually their little oysters out …hehe… It turned out that all of Toronto’s best had come to compete for money and a huge bottle of Sky vodka. Contestants from Rodney’s Oyster House, Oyster Boy and Big Daddy’s, and Starfish (to name a few quality establishments) shucked as we gorged on oysters (Pure Spirits donated the shucked oysters to its patrons. Bonus!). Head chef Tim Miles put on the shindig. Contestants were timed on their ability to successfully shuck a dozen oysters. The fastest shuck against the least demerit points for quality won. Tim and his assistant Carlier Morejon (the “Cuban Missile”) judged each shuck. They added to the time if: the oyster wasn’t severed, the gut was still in the oyster, the shell was broken, the meat was out of shell, it was a bad oyster, it was scrambled, the count was wrong, and on number of parts. We didn’t leave until very late that night and we had actually had our fill of oysters. We felt a little like the “Walrus and the Carpenter” as we ambled home, bellies full and happy.

Judging the shucking

With more patio space than any other Toronto location, The Distillery is a favorite hangout among thirsty locals in search of a little bit of European flair. I was told that The Distillery District is destined to become the epicenter of the largest waterfront redevelopment in North America. The Pan Am Games athletes village is currently being constructed just east of the Distillery with accommodation for 6,000 athletes. Right after the games in 2015 they will be transformed into residential units along with others in the West Don Lands. Old Corktown and The Old City environs between St. Laurence Market and The Distillery are being revitalized in the old heritage vision that has made The Distillery District so chic. 

World-class theatre and entertainment thrive in X-Men, Chicago, Long Kiss Goodnight, The Recruit and Cinderella Man.

Filming in the Distillery District

The Distillery District. I noted that several theatre companies have made The Distillery their home, including The Soulpepper Theatre Company and George Brown’s Theatre School, housed in the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. The Toronto Star calls it “Toronto’s new cultural hotspot.” Nina informed me that over 1000 movies, television shows, commercials and music videos were shot in The Distillery District; some include

The Distillery Historic District, 55 Mill Street, Toronto, ON, Canada; 416-364-1177