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jenni_blogThe day of the River Plate game we decided to make an adventure out of it and drove to the stadium rather than take the commuter train. It was a nice day, one of the few in a so-far rain-from-hell summer, so we thought we'd revisit an old haunt from when we both lived in Toronto city - the Beaches. The Beaches is home to Kew Gardens, Eddie's old baseball stadium, as well as the Balmy Beach Canoe Club where his family were members. The Kew Beach area has a nice long boardwalk along the lake's edge, some parks, gardens, and is not far from a very funky, kitschy area of Queen Street. Queen Street in Toronto is home to an artistic culture that includes actors and others in the film industry, musicians and music industry workers, artists, writers and other creative types. It has lots of cute & unusual shops and restaurants. Eddie and I walked for two hours after having a nice lunch in a Chinese restaurant. We live in Whitby, a small town to the east of Toronto proper, so this was our first experience with the City workers' strike that has resulted in parks and stadium areas being piled with tons of garbage that has not been picked up. The strike is in its 31st day today, and we were in Toronto just 3 days ago. During our walk in the Beaches we noticed that the area was pretty well deserted. There were a few people surf-gliding and a few kids practicing beach soccer at the Canoe Club, but all of the washrooms were closed along the boardwalk and we were told we'd have to walk up to Queen Street and use facilities in one of the restaurants there. I took some pictures.
Picnic tables deserted.
Unkempt gardens.
Deserted beach and pavilion.
Deserted park.
EDIT: Ooops! This is actually outside the TFC stadium. I had mislabelled it!
A lone walker on the boardwalk.
A little lifeguard building. There were lifeguards but hardly any swimmers.
A few surf gliders down at one end.
We drove to the stadium which is in the Exhibition grounds, home to the CNE, or the Canadian National Exhibition, an annual fair. We got super parking, right outside Gate 2 of the BMO Fields soccer stadium. Upon walking inside we could see how different it was from last year when we were there. It was very 'open concept', with fans able to sit at umbrella-protected tables where the visitors' end stands would normally have been. I imagine the stands will be replaced for the Real Madrid game coming up in a couple of weeks.
Just outside the stadium gates.
Open concept visitors' end.
River Plate players warm up. We were right above their bench, although our seats were quite high up. The one bonus was that we were under the roofed side so that when it rained a bit toward the end of the game we didn't get wet.
I wanted to try to get Martin Galmarini in this shot. He didn't play, but before the game he was joking around with fans and taking pictures with a camera someone gave him. He seemed like a real livewire with a great personality. I also saw Diego Buonanotte (who didn't play either, most disappointingly) get off the bench and have a few laughs with the crowd as well.)
The game starts. I took a few pics of some corner kicks and stuff.
We could watch match details and replays on a big screen to the left.
The Toronto fan section at the other end.
Night-time shot.
Toronto skyline.
The penalties were taken down at the Toronto end. River won 5-3 on pens.
I made a few vids. Two to demonstrate the noise level and the last vid is about 10 minutes long, showing all of the penalty kicks. EDIT: I decided to leave that vid out. If anyone actually wants to see it, please let me know and I'll send it to you! LOL.
Some match pics from a professional photog. LOL.
Captain Matias Abelairas.
Gustavo Bou vs Jimmy Brennan of TFC.
Mauro Diaz vs Marvell Wynne.
Mauro Diaz again vs Carl Robinson.
Ali Gerba of TFC vs German Pezzela.
Leandro Chichizola, third string goalkeeper for River. He was FANTASTIC. Everybody's Man-of-the-Match but that was actually won by Pablo Vitti of TFC.
Mateo Musacchio, sexy defender.
Rodrigo Archubi, left back. His footwork, ball control and passes were MAGNIFICENT. He was THRILLING to watch.
A very dynamic Augusto Fernandez came in at the 64-minute mark. It was really too late for him to change things, but he tried, moving the ball forward very creatively, making his considerable presence known. Hard to believe he is only 23. He seems much older - he plays with such confidence and maturity.
Archubi and Abelairas take on Pablo Vitti, Toronto's Argentine and arguably their best player.
Diego Buonanotte watches the action from the bench.
Since this was a Cup tournament, the Carlsberg Cup, the game had to end in penalty kicks, since it ended in a scoreless draw at the end of regulation time. Here, Matias Abelairas accepts the trophy.
Picnic tables deserted.
Unkempt gardens.
Deserted beach and pavilion.
Deserted park.
EDIT: Ooops! This is actually outside the TFC stadium. I had mislabelled it!
A lone walker on the boardwalk.
A little lifeguard building. There were lifeguards but hardly any swimmers.
A few surf gliders down at one end.
We drove to the stadium which is in the Exhibition grounds, home to the CNE, or the Canadian National Exhibition, an annual fair. We got super parking, right outside Gate 2 of the BMO Fields soccer stadium. Upon walking inside we could see how different it was from last year when we were there. It was very 'open concept', with fans able to sit at umbrella-protected tables where the visitors' end stands would normally have been. I imagine the stands will be replaced for the Real Madrid game coming up in a couple of weeks.
Just outside the stadium gates.
Open concept visitors' end.
River Plate players warm up. We were right above their bench, although our seats were quite high up. The one bonus was that we were under the roofed side so that when it rained a bit toward the end of the game we didn't get wet.
I wanted to try to get Martin Galmarini in this shot. He didn't play, but before the game he was joking around with fans and taking pictures with a camera someone gave him. He seemed like a real livewire with a great personality. I also saw Diego Buonanotte (who didn't play either, most disappointingly) get off the bench and have a few laughs with the crowd as well.)
The game starts. I took a few pics of some corner kicks and stuff.
We could watch match details and replays on a big screen to the left.
The Toronto fan section at the other end.
Night-time shot.
Toronto skyline.
The penalties were taken down at the Toronto end. River won 5-3 on pens.
I made a few vids. Two to demonstrate the noise level and the last vid is about 10 minutes long, showing all of the penalty kicks. EDIT: I decided to leave that vid out. If anyone actually wants to see it, please let me know and I'll send it to you! LOL.
Some match pics from a professional photog. LOL.
Captain Matias Abelairas.
Gustavo Bou vs Jimmy Brennan of TFC.
Mauro Diaz vs Marvell Wynne.
Mauro Diaz again vs Carl Robinson.
Ali Gerba of TFC vs German Pezzela.
Leandro Chichizola, third string goalkeeper for River. He was FANTASTIC. Everybody's Man-of-the-Match but that was actually won by Pablo Vitti of TFC.
Mateo Musacchio, sexy defender.
Rodrigo Archubi, left back. His footwork, ball control and passes were MAGNIFICENT. He was THRILLING to watch.
A very dynamic Augusto Fernandez came in at the 64-minute mark. It was really too late for him to change things, but he tried, moving the ball forward very creatively, making his considerable presence known. Hard to believe he is only 23. He seems much older - he plays with such confidence and maturity.
Archubi and Abelairas take on Pablo Vitti, Toronto's Argentine and arguably their best player.
Diego Buonanotte watches the action from the bench.
Since this was a Cup tournament, the Carlsberg Cup, the game had to end in penalty kicks, since it ended in a scoreless draw at the end of regulation time. Here, Matias Abelairas accepts the trophy.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 02:04 pm (UTC)didn't know about the garbage strike. how awful! my dad and his new wife live down near the beaches, haven't heard from him in a while, hope they're not suffering.
yay that you got to see River Plate - what a team!!!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 04:05 pm (UTC)Yes, and it's not just a garbage strike but a city workers strike! With all the public washrooms being closed we literally had to 'suck it up' and wait until we got to the stadium to pee!
It was amazing to see River Plate! I can't believe that both my favourite Argentine team (River) and my favourite Spanish team (Real Madrid) are coming to Toronto this summer! The Real Madrid game is on August 7th.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 02:34 pm (UTC)I'm so happy for you! Watching River Plate must have been very special!
I would love to see your penalty vid!
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Date: 2009-07-25 04:01 pm (UTC)I LOVED watching River Plate and if I had not been with my husband I could have gone down to the players and talked to them and got closer pics!!!
LMAO. You are the only one wanting to see my penalty vid! I could not upload it because it is too big! I will try to send it via e-mail to you!♥
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 07:06 pm (UTC)I guess the vid will be too big for an e-mail.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 08:32 pm (UTC)Photobucket would not take the vid. I would have to send it to you via YouSendIt! or something. I will try!
*kisses*
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Date: 2009-07-25 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 10:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 03:07 pm (UTC)Let us go together....
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Date: 2009-07-28 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 05:55 pm (UTC)Love the pictures of the park and the beach! :)
The warming up pics are awesome too! Lucky you, sitting directly above the bench! :D
The stadium looks pretty empty, though! Wasn't it sold out for the match? (It should have been!) And what about all the Toronto fans? Or was that pic of their fan section taken during the half-time break?
The pic of the stadium in front of Toronto's skyline is GORGEOUS! It's so unusual to see a football stadium in the middle of skyscrapers! (We don't have any here. *LOL*)
Thanks for sharing these pics! :)
no subject
Date: 2009-08-04 10:43 am (UTC)We were lucky to be right above River's bench but we were too high! LOL. However, the roof covered us during the rainy spell!
LOL. I think I took most of my pics before the match began! the stadium filled up for the game - they announced there were 20,005 tickets sold. I guess I was so engrossed in the game I forgot to take more pics except at half-time. And I took some vids during the game. I filmed the entire penalty-kick sequence. It is approx. 10 minutes long and I couldn't upload it here. (I should put it on Youtube and then I can post a link!)
Toronto's downtown business area is right near the lake and they put the stadium right on the lake's edge! It's so awesome. There is even an airport on Toronto Island which is right off the shoreline too and planes were flying in all the time. (Rather distracting.) I tried to get a pic of one landing but I forgot to try to find it and post it! *facepalm*
Thanks for your lovely comments!♥
no subject
Date: 2009-08-05 01:40 am (UTC)River Plate are a great team. You were very lucky to see them. I've been to the CNE and have seen the stadium from the outside many times. My first time inside will be for the Real Madrid game. Judging by your pics, I think my seats are actually better than I initially thought. You did have a fantastic view of the Toronto skyline from your seats but I'm guessing you spent way more time watching the players and the game. Too bad they didn't have fireworks after it was over.