Shakespeare in High Park off the Bucket List

My summer bucket list was fairly long but I’m glad to report that I’ve  managed to tick most of them off! Our Netflix challenge this month was to tackle our summer bucket list and boy am I glad they gave us that additional push as  I had two items that were being pushed down the list! We managed to mix in a bit of date night and family time during the August long weekend and we were quite impressed by our ability to tackle the mission. For a change we actually had a car for the entire weekend and had no travel plans so things worked out really well.

Disclosure : I am part of Netflix Canada’s Stream Team and get perks as part of my association, but as always, opinions are totally mine!

With a new Chevy Camaro for an entire weekend, thanks to a KLOUT perk I had received, we had the long weekend to tackle our summer bucket list and that’s what we did. The hubs and I kicked off the  August long weekend by catching Shakespeare in High Park ( have you watched Shakespeare Uncovered on Netflix? Prime yourself by watching this one!). This was our third attempt, and as the saying goes, third time’s a charm! We actually got in and watched the entire play which is a first for us. Shakespeare in High Park is most definitely a Toronto summer tradition and given that the hubs used to work for Shakespeare in the Park in Halifax, he’s always trying to get us out. Last summer we tried and unfortunately it was sold out. Lesson learned, this year we booked the VIP tickets online and were shocked that we got front row seats and a cushion to rest our tushy on. Mind you that cuchsion is quite useless but it was a nice gesture. The prime position was key. We had two friends join us and the four of us had quite the spread of food and wine (that we brought with us) to enjoy as we took in the bard’s first tragedy, Titus Andronicus. I knew nothing about the plot but enjoyed the tale and was able to keep up with the Shakespearean lingo. There were young kids in attendance ( I believe two of them belonged to the play’s director) and they didn’t seem bothered by the violence but we were glad not to have ours in attendance. The costumes, whilst simple, were bang on and weaved the bloody story in a fashionable way. The actors and actresses were fantastic and of course we each had our favourite but it was a unanimous vote that Tamora was on our list. If you plan to visit Shakespeare in High Park remember to take bug spray and a wicked picnic!

With the rest of the long weekend ahead of us and a sweet set of wheels we decided that we’d include the kids on our joy ride. Yes the convertible fit two car seats with no issues! The four us decided that we’d explore the outskirts of the city and visit friends we’d been longing to see. We visited Lionel’s Farm and an awesome Splash pad where Little Monkey and her friend had a grand time at. It’s always nice when your friends’ kids get along and it was a treat for us as my friend and I have known each other since we were 5 years old and living in Dubai. Continents across our kids are splashing around and talking about the adventures of Dora! Yes the Little Monkey still watched Dora and it’s taken a new form. Any garden we visit is Iza’s Garden and any task we do involves answering a question to get over the troll bridge. She’s taken her cartoons and brought them into our every day lives for her imaginative play.

The weekend was filled by crossing off visiting friends, exploring areas outside the core downtown area and sneaking out for some theatre. All in all a pretty jampacked weekend that was quite fun! Now all that’s left on my bucket list is a crawl around to the Toronto Breweries and of course a visit to the CNE! Sadly there’s no convertible to whiz us around the city but it was quite fun exploring Toronto with the top down!

p.s – There’s a new season of The Killing on Netflix and we zoomed through the episodes. SO GOOD! Watch it if you haven’t and let’s hope that they bring in a new season. This is one show that they keep saying will not be renewed and here we are on Season 4 when they said 3 was the last.