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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 16:56:40 GMT
I spent the last two weeks of September in Canada, one week of that in Toronto. Here are a few pictures I took downtown. Some of these areas are not so fancy, but they are more picturesque, and seem to be becoming more popular -- lots of bars, shops, etc. Certainly a change from when I lived there many years ago when this entire area was not a place to go out to. Bur first, this is Toronto's Old City Hall. It was replaced by a new one in 1965, but this one still retains some functions. The fountain used to be made into a skating rink in winter. I don't know whether that is still the case. This guy was feeding pigeons outside the new city hall (hidden behind the renovation sign) For as long as I remember, these kinds of trucks have been selling fast foods on the street. This one is in front of city hall, on Queen Street
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 17:09:45 GMT
I started getting error messages, but I'll try to post some more. Walking west on Queen Street, I found some interesting billboards and decorated sidewalks e c a p s
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 17:14:00 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 17:19:23 GMT
The phallic CN Tower is well placed An old bar that has been updated This is Spadina Avenue looking south (towards Lake Ontario). Heading north, you get to Chinatown
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 17:24:20 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 17:28:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2010 17:33:25 GMT
What was Jazz looking at in your "favourite picture"? Great variety in Toronto. I need to get back there one of these days.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 4, 2010 18:37:36 GMT
Wow ~~ what an interesting, vital city! You always take such good pictures, Bjd. I particularly like the ones of the old architecture backed up by the new.
The shopping looks like so much fun. I've never lived near a Chinatown and Canadian souvenirs are exotica to me. I totally see myself in that gold-colored & black dress in reply #2, and horribly covet the vertically striped hose next to it.
Great stuff ~~ I'd love to see more, please!
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Post by mich64 on Oct 4, 2010 19:18:48 GMT
Hi Bjd, I enjoyed your photos very much. I have never been to Toronto's Chinatown. I do believe they still flood the pool at City Hall for winter skating, weather permitting. If I am not mistaken, the graffiti art is encouraged to hinder the tagging type of graffiti. Were those a type of bulb for planting or something ready to consume where the gentleman was standing by that huge display?
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 19:20:32 GMT
Chinatown's shops in Toronto are a mixture of food store, clothing and various junk. In the past 10 years, there have appeared women sitting on the sidewalk selling various veggies or leaves. I'm not sure what this stuff was -- it smelled of dried seafood, so I imagine it was mostly dried shrimps. I took a picture of this place a few years ago for the Peking Duck. This time I mostly got this orange squid.
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 19:23:58 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 19:30:04 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 19:32:25 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 19:45:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2010 19:51:59 GMT
I particularly love the Chinese squid even if all the rest is great, too.
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Post by bjd on Oct 4, 2010 19:56:17 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 5, 2010 1:44:24 GMT
It must be strange for you to see these new/old places. Lots of retro hippyism, which is a fun way to see these buildings kept alive and in use. This is a nice antidote to all the places in the US and (I guess) Canada that have become politely bland &/or abandoned and run-down.
I have the same question as Mich about the round fruits? vegetables? tubers? -- the yellow ones, with all the sticks.
It's great to see all the plants and produce for sale.
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Post by hwinpp on Oct 5, 2010 2:05:05 GMT
Nice shots, bjd! I noticed the last pic in the Chinatown section showed a painting of Ben Thanh market in Saigon ;D
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2010 4:17:41 GMT
I loved this BJD! I particularly enjoy seeing the funky side of a city as well as the chic chic side.I think all I have ever seen of Toronto is the business district,downtown,very modern. Much variety and diversity in the shops. I had no idea that Toronto had such a large prominent Chinatown. Thanks for taking the time to share your holiday with us. Great photos.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2010 6:35:51 GMT
I'm like Casimira -- I have mostly only seen the CBD and the more standard suburbs. However, I have been to Chinatown in Toronto and loved it. But I have been at least once to a funky area in town, where I was taken for lunch in a French restaurant (I guess it was felt that I was feeling deprived.).
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 7:24:44 GMT
Bixa and Mich, I have no idea what those yellow things with sticks are, but I assume they are fruit since everything around them was fruit. Maybe HW would know?
I actually don't mind the modern part of downtown Toronto. At least it looks nothing like where I live now and reminds me I am in an N American city. But this time I didn't have much time and I find these areas more fun to photograph. Will post a few more pictures later.
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Post by hwinpp on Oct 5, 2010 9:45:25 GMT
These? They're long ans, dragons eyes, because of their seeds. ...
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 11:38:20 GMT
Thanks, HW. I thought you might know what they are.
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 11:46:47 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 11:49:08 GMT
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Post by mich64 on Oct 5, 2010 12:39:35 GMT
I remember a TV show in the 1970's, King of Kensington. It was sort of like Coronation Street to those who know the English Soap. As a child, it made me want to go to the big city, thank you for the memories! I am enjoying the pictures because they show the character and diversity the city has.
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 13:26:31 GMT
You are welcome. Here are a few more pictures of the area near the University of Toronto, but going west. Toronto is definitely not a bike-friendly city, despite the bikes in many of the photographs. But there are some people on bikes anyway. Going up Brunswick Avenue. This is a residential area but with lots of houses turned into student apartments or rooms. Because it's central and treed, prices are very high here. I think many of these houses date from the 1920s or so. Updating usually means ripping off the veranda which made the houses dark inside. Besides no parking on the wrong side of the street or in the wrong direction, you are not allowed to play ball or make noise.
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 13:32:34 GMT
On the corner of Brunswick Avenue and Bloor Street (one of Toronto's main east-west streets and the location of a subway line), there is a restaurant/café/bakery called Future Bakery, which has been around for years. This is the first time I saw anyone playing chess there though. And a few blocks over, there is Honest Ed's. This store has been around for 62 years (I read the sign). It is huge and sells low quality items at low prices, so there are always loads of people and over the years, the store has expanded. it's much bigger than I could fit into my lens. The owner, Ed Mirvish, branched out into restaurants and owning a theatre too. And right after that, we get into Koreatown, much smaller than Chinatown -- just a couple of blocks.
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 15:13:24 GMT
The next day I walked up Yonge Street. This is traditionally "downtown" in Toronto and the street, running north from the lake, is the separation between streets marked east and west. By the late 1970s and 1980s, lower Yonge Street had become really sleazy but has been tarted up over the years. It also looked as though they were putting in some central traffic blockers. In any case, it looked pretty empty for a downtown of a big city. This guy was playing drums on the sidewalk -- a change from guitar players, I guess. A few sleazy bits remain Downtown Toronto was never emptied of apartments like US cities, but it seems that they are building more and more of them.
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Post by bjd on Oct 5, 2010 15:26:56 GMT
Yonge Street looking south The next 2 pics are of the Yorkville area. In the 1960s, this is where Toronto's hippies used to hang out. Now it's full of expensive cafés, luxury shops and pretentious apartment buildings. This is the newish addition to the Royal Ontario Museum. The original building dates from the late 19th c or so, this was added by Daniel Libeskind a few years ago, not to everyone's satisfaction. However, Toronto considering itself a "world-class city", they needed to get a big shot architect. And this is on a side street nearby, as I was going back to where I stayed. It was one of the first red trees I saw.
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