Back in April, we had a Day out in Toronto contest where we gave one lucky person the opportunity to win $500 to spend on their ideal day in the city.

Abigail Gamble, the winner of the contest, took some time off last week to enjoy her day out in Toronto with her brothers. Check out her pics and the details of her activities below.

“My brothers were so excited to visit me in Toronto for our day out. They came down on a bright weekday morning and we started off exploring my new ‘hood at Queen and Spadina. They put up with me dragging them shopping on West Queen West for a little while and were even semi-interested in my favourite specialty paper shop (ok, fine, they were humoring me). But seriously, it’s called The Paper Place. Check it out.

From Queen West, we made our way back to Spadina and started heading north. It was sweltering out and thus, the perfect time for a pit stop. Bubble tea is a family favourite. The boys each got an extra-large, which was ridiculous because the drinks were huge. I was a practical older sister and got a medium. Incidentally, I was also the only one of us who didn’t look a little green after.

After a long trek, we finally made it to the Royal Ontario Museum. (It actually took them the entire half hour walk to finish the bubble teas). The ROM was amazing. It was actually the first time I’d ever visited, which is pretty sad considering what a big history nerd I am. I’ve included some of our favourite pics.

My youngest bro posing with Buddha.

Me, posing with a T-rex. Yes, it’s a little embarrassing for them to take me out in public.

We took a pic with the totally cool totem pole (it’s so tall it almost doesn’t fit as you can see from the top part of it there) to send to our sister who couldn’t make it down. There’s a family joke there.

Before dinner, we checked out some of the cool shops on Bloor Street and found our first Play Me, I’m Yours piano. It’s one of about 40 sponsored pianos around the city that are just placed in public spaces for anyone to play. My brothers loved the idea because they’re both expert pianists. My brother shown here is at a Grade 9 level in piano and played Pachelbel. People passing by were so impressed, they stopped to listen and took pictures and videos of him.

My youngest brother is also an accomplished pianist and blew people away by playing music he’d composed himself.

By now I was starving and it was definitely time for dinner at the delicious N’awlins restaurant on King Street. I had the daily pasta special which was a gourmet chicken parmesan with broccoli and goats cheese. So delicious.

While we ate, N’awlins lived up to its reputation of having fantastic live jazz performers during dinner. I had to take a picture using one of my funky android apps to try and capture what a great space this restaurant has. We loved the vibe.

The big finale was definitely watching War Horse by Mirvish at the beautiful Princess of Wales theatre on King Street. Unfortunately, we discovered quite quickly that you’re not allowed to take pictures in the theatre (they are very strict at enforcing this rule, FYI). The show though, couldn’t be described in pictures anyway. But pictures wouldn’t do the show justice. It’s a definite must see. The horse puppetry is so well done you forget for a moment that the horse isn’t real. It’s a really action packed show and is incredibly acted. I love theatre in Toronto!”