Scratching the surface of Toronto Sept 2017

[lugg]

I have so many memories of such a fantastic week in Toronto (and so many photos) that I really don’t know where to start with this report. I usually write my report in full and then up –load but not so this time . Should I do a chronological report? a report by area? by experience. No idea, so I am just going to start it and see where it goes. Maybe it will fall into natural sections? I guess this will be a report that states … “more to come “several times. I also guess I will take some artistic license re the placing of photos in the report.
So we landed afternoon at Toronto Pearson after our flight from London –we had decided to base ourselves in the harbour front area in a modern apartment (none of us are particularly fond of hotels for anything more than 1- 2 nights)
We were exhausted after the long day travelling from home to London and then the air travel and, as we took a taxi into Toronto, it was heart sink at first, partly because of the traffic, the fumes and the generally uninspiring surrounds ( seemed almost grim at the time ) on the drive in to the city . Plus another downer was that many people we passed were dressed for Winter mostly in black, wearing boots, coats etc. We each had a suitcase of summer clothes with just lightweight jumpers; cardigans etc. and so we were immediately recalculating our spending budget to include the buying of warmer / winter wear. As an aside we later learnt that Toronto had had mostly a terrible Summer up until we arrived and then the weather changed – we were just so lucky.
Anyway things certainly improved when we arrived at our destination and our moods lifted as we walked into our apartment which was immaculate clean and much more than we expected. Here is the link to the apartment if anyone is interested in seeing more of it
www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/14386595
The views from the apartment balconies were the first thing we looked at after dumping our bags and they certainly did not disappoint, lifting our spirits almost immediately.




Time for a wander around our local area, there was a vegan fair in full swing which we also explored, lots of lovely food but the lines were very long and we were too tired to wait.
.
Our apartment building is on the left, with the CN tower directly behind it


and to the right of the CN tower in the pic below



more of what we saw that first pm / night











And we could finally breathe ; we got a fab local takeaway of shawarma , a glass of wine followed by a cup of tea and so to bed feeling much more optimistic about the rest of our stay.



"More to come" 

[bixaorellana]

Great start, Lugg! You perfectly describe that tired feeling of despair that can settle upon first arriving. Luckily (?) for me it usually takes the form of a sort of numb stupidity.

I don't know who in the family picks out the lodgings, but he/she sure nails it on the views! These are easily as wonderful as the ones you had in Niagara.

Very much looking forward to seeing more!

[lugg]

Thanks Bixa , ok I admit it I am a sucker for rooms with a view.

[lugg]

I am going to stick to the title of the thread and just give tasters of what we saw.
Day 1 – Fishes and Trains
Next day my niece wanted to go to the aquarium which suited me fine being a marine life fan and also suited my sister who is not and happily went off to explore on her own. It was an easy walk to being just a few hundred yards from our apartment.
This is a map showing the area were in,


It was a glorious day as you can see from these photos below. On our way we passed close to the CN tower and the Rogers Centre stadium home to the Toronto Blue Jays













Looking back to our apartment building



The aquarium itself opened relatively recently in 2014. It costs $30 entry. When we first arrived soon after opening it was relatively quiet but was getting busier by the time we left.
I have been to may aquariums over the years some good some not so good, for me this is one of the best, well planned and the area that houses the sharks seems huge. I particularly enjoyed the gallery which focussed on marine life in the Great Lakes as this was completely new to me. We took far too many photos but here are a few of my favourites,
Pacific Kelp tank (…plastic kelp …I finally realised after staring at it for some time)



Such colourful anemones




I love batfish so was delighted by this tank


Green sawfish with its impressive rostrum



Smile



My niece’s worth if she were a tuna, of course she is much more precious than that 



On the way out we got to see behind the scenes at the filtration and heating systems for the tanks




When we left the aquarium we discovered that there was a baseball game on and the place was heaving so we sat and watched for a while and asked a couple of questions of passers by …what type of sport do the O Jays play ?– answer baseball – honestly we had no idea although we knew it was not football.



We saw several men dressed like this- not sure why, maybe the opposition team dress code ?




We decided to head back to our apartment via the outdoor railway museum in Roundhouse Park,






That evening we had a great dinner and cocktails at the Amsterdam Brewhouse which was a stones throw from the apartment and enjoyed the night views on our way home

[lugg]

Day 2 and 3
An “almost” film premiere and further exploration of Toronto area
Next lunch time we had tickets for the second ever showing of “The Mountain Between Us” showing as part of TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) It was filmed in a concert hall so the sound was very impressive. Before the film opened the Editor gave a talk on the shooting of the film in the Canadian Rockies impressing us all , especially when we saw the film when he said the only green screen shooting was of the plane crash.





A not very good pic of the speaker set up inside the hall,


Anyway the film was not very taxing and very entertaining so we were all satisfied.
My niece wanted to do some shopping so we headed to Eaton Mall. To be honest it was the same as any mall anywhere , the stores were the same as at home but she got a couple of things so was happy and we all got to share a tray of poutine for the first time. (New guilty pleasure)



The following day, the weather was even better now getting really warm and so we decided to go to the Toronto harbour islands via the ferry. Due to the terrible weather and subsequent flooding the islands had been closed for 3 months up until the end of July .
This is a good article that considers the future of the islands which, although a major summer playground for Torontonians, is also home to some.
nowtoronto.com/news/after-the-flood-toronto-island-preservation-climate-change/

Views of the cityscape as we travelled across the harbour on the ferry








Our apartment building seen from the ferry




It was refreshing to see this sign on arrival


..and a handy map to help us get our bearings ( we had landed at the far right )



Indications that Autumn is just around the corner,




Anyway we set off to explore, stopping for a while for a read and a paddle at a couple of the beaches essentially walking anti clockwise around the perimeter and then back down through the gardens to the centre of the islands and that particular ferry dock for our journey home. We swiftly passed on through the clothing optional beach at my niece's behest





Looking out and across the lake with no sight of land made us understand just how huge Lake Ontario really is



Part of this island had a pretty garden area








I believe this is the first Monarch butterfly I have seen "in the wild" but I recognised it immediately, in fact we saw many more during our stay particularly when we moved onto to PEC.







Time to head back home,




That evening we went to the trendy Distillery district located on the east side of the city. This is a pedestrianised area in the main with restored Victorian buildings housing restaurants, bars and some independent shops. It apparently houses the largest collection of Victorian industrial buildings in North America and was designated as a national historical in the 80s
www.thedistillerydistrict.com/about-us.html













Seems that Canadians and Toronto visitors are fans of love locks too. 





Anyway we enjoyed our explorations here ,and after an just about ok and overpriced meal in one of the many restaurants , so to bed.

Day 4
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and a whole lot of walking
Unfortunately work was being done on the crystal annex of the ROM so I was unable to get any good photos of its exterior but this link has some photos which show how lovely it must be in all its glory
www.rom.on.ca/en
We spent several hours here and barely scratched the surface. We opted for a guided tour with a docent focusing upon Canadian history. This was free of charge (or part of the general entry fee) and fascinating.
Not only are we encouraged to walk on the grass in Toronto we are also compelled to touch the exhibits albeit gently in some cases.




The original building had to be expanded in the 1930s to house this and another 3 totem poles carved from red cedar wood.







The older parts of the building have some beautifully decorated features whereas inside the new crystal section it is much more austere, both are lovely in their own way I think.



















Like many museums of this size really you could visit for several hours a day for more than a week and not see it all.

So next we decided to walk down past the university buildings through the park and see where we ended up, it was easy to know we were generally heading in the right direction due to the gentle slope down towards the lake.
This was the first of many squirrels we saw , we found the colouring unusually dark compared to the squirrels we see at home . I wondered if there is such a thing as a black squirrel and later found that there is particularly in Ontario and in other parts of North America, I was surprised to learn that in fact there are some black squirrels in some parts of the UK too.


We passed some lovely and some not so lovely buildings some of which are part of the university I think,







..finally reaching the Kensington / China Town part of the city before catching the street car home. I think we may have missed some of the best parts of this area but generally not that impressive.



 

[lugg]

Day 5 St Laurence Market and the CN tower at night
If I ever come to Toronto again I would like to stay in the area close to St Laurence market, it’s a really lovely part of Toronto . A real mixture of older buildings interspersed with more modern, with lots of independent shops and bars and a nice vibe plus a wonderful market to buy produce and other things such as jewellery from.
Heading east and away from the modern high rise buildings close to the central entertainment centre


























We were quite taken with this pet inspired fountain,









…and the illusion in this wall art





Toronto’s own flat iron building





And so to the market itself



… well I did as instructed and turned off the flash 


….fortunately the light was better in some of the other areas,


















and something for the sweeter tooth too






That evening we had booked for an early dinner in the CN tower restaurant hoping to time it ending with sunset.
As we approached the tower and looked up we could just about see some people standing at the edge of one of the decks


Zooming in








Well it appears they were brave enough to be doing the CN tower edge walk , if only we had had the time

www.edgewalkcntower.ca/more.html





Anyway as we had booked dinner we avoided any queues to the viewing platforms and were whisked up to the restaurant. If you have food here you get free entry to the viewing platforms after your meal
We were seated at the window and by chance had the view we were most familiar with - of the harbour front and we could see the harbour islands and even our apartment block . We were very pleased although to be honest all the tables have good views and the restaurant rotates around 360 degrees. I think it takes about an hour to complete this rotation.


the city/ local airport



Harbour islands and beyond


A few photos taken as we rotated around Toronto







The golden coloured buildings in the photo below are the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada and together are known as the Royal Bank Plaza, a few facts from the internet ,
“insulated for heat by having the windows covered with very thin coating of 24-carat gold leaf. The 41-and-26-storey towers have a total of 14,000 windows, covered with 2,500 ounces (70,875 grams) of gold, valued at over one million dollars. This complex is said to have more glass than any other skyscraper in the world.”
“Not only does this gold give the buildings a particular look (especially in sunlight), it also reduces heating bills, as gold is an excellent insulator. The manufacturing process for the glass has made the gold non-recoverable.”





So nearly back to the harbour front


The food was actually much better than we expected , given that it was catering for the masses. Here is a little of what we had, the cost for fixed price dinner was 2 course $65 and 3 course $79.









After dinner we went up to the viewing platforms and took our chances on the glass floor





No chance of falling over ....

[bixaorellana]

So happy to see more of Toronto through the Lugg lens. And excuse me while I make excited squealing noises over the skyscraper pictures. Woweeee! The aquarium photos are awfully impressive as well, no surprise. Was it odd for you to be shooting those creatures through glass, since you're usually in the water with them? (That admission charge made my head swim. )

Was your visit close enough to October to explain the lederhosen men -- some kind of beer or other fest?

That's a lovely park, and the fact that it's right in Lake Ontario makes it seem even more special. You all did so many interesting things. Scoring tickets for that premiere is pretty cool. I particularly enjoyed this report because Canada is terra incognita to me. Which leads me to ask how you picked Canada for vacation. Since I dither over where to go at any time, I really like to know about how others choose places.

[bjd]

I can't see the latest group of photos but it's all new to me. I grew up in Toronto, but left a long time ago, well before the downtown area became all huge buildings. Of course, there were already quite a few but nothing like what you show. And not liking heights, I never went up the CN Tower which was built in the mid-1970s.

So this is like seeing a completely foreign city! You certainly had a nice view over the harbour and the islands.

Editing to add that once I posted, I could see the photos.

[lugg]

Last day –Casa Loma / I was not expecting that

I really wanted to visit Casa Loma a major tourist attraction in Toronto but my sister and niece wanted a more restful day so I headed out on my own quite early in the am. Public transport is easy with a journey to a station within easy walking distance on the subway from Union St station.

Info about Casa Loma , House on the hill Toronto’s “castle”

casaloma.ca/

It was built by Henry Pellatt and completed in 1914 at a cost of 3.5 million dollars (Canadian) It seems that, in part, he was eventually bankrupted by the taxes on the 98 roomed gothic revival house coupled with the decline in his business interests.
The house has been used as a set for a number of films including one of the Harry Potter films and the latest Beauty and the Beast.

I also read about the history of the house during WW2 ,

During this period, German U-boats threatened shipping services between Britain and North America. To combat this threat, Britain developed the ASDIC device, which was an early form of sonar that could detect U-boats at a distance of 8 km. However, in a terrifying attack, Britain’s ASDIC-producing plant was bombed by German planes. A secret location for the ASDIC device laboratory was needed. A Canadian engineer, William Corman, was assigned the task of finding such a location. He came up with the idea of using Casa Loma’s stables as the secret research lab. His idea worked, and even Toronto city councillors were kept in the dark regarding this fact.

The house has also been associated with various sightings of ghosts and ghouls and as I walked around the gardens it became belatedly clear that this was to be exploited during the days around Halloween .
Looking back as I walked up the steps to reach the entrance of Casa Loma it became clear how it got it’s name .


There are some lovely houses, both private and public, in this area




Arriving at the entrance



The current trustees are tasked with improving the condition of the building including the installation of mod –cons e.g. installation of air con. I certainly did not feel the benefits of this and the house was oppressive inside with the humid heat. I really found it so hot that I only saw just a few places in the house before I escaped to the gardens
But here is a little of what I did see inside of this grand home,
A replica of the coronation chair in Westminster UK, ( I think Pellatt was an Anglophile being born to English parents?) or maybe just illusions to grandeur





Pellatt was, in his hay day, in control of electricity supplies Toronto, founding the Toronto Electric Light Company in 1883, and together with some business partners he built the first hydro-generating plant at Niagara Falls in 1902. I like this article about Pellatt mostly because of the old photos
spacing.ca/toronto/2015/06/24/fall-sir-henry-pellatt-king-casa-loma/



… and there are a number of examples of how he incorporated what was cutting edge technology of the time this within the house





At one time after Pellatt’s bankruptcy the house was a high end hotel. I guessed that this room may have been decorated in those days but maybe not? I did have an audio guide but I gave up on it within a few minutes mostly because I had picked up the Italian language version by mistake) and just wandered around.



Some really hideous decorative styles such as this and below the mock Tudor ceiling







I think the conservatory was my favourite part of what little I saw in the house
















Anyway I really needed to escape the heat and get outside. A better idea of how the house looks externally as I wandered around the formal gardens. At times I really struggled to get a photo without someone taking a selfie in the shot as you will see.




































I have no idea what this is – I have not looked it up yet maybe some sort of angelica type or is that completely wrong ?


Anyway I was quite taken by it








I had wanted to visit the stables which are supposed to be spectacular but unfortunately they were closed when I visited. …..
The formal garden area is quite small, most of the land slopes steeply and is wooded and natural in the main . I set off downhill and to my relief mostly other people did not bother to explore this part of the garden .



There were various wooden garden ornaments scattered along the way














I had no idea about the Halloween preparations until this point; at first I just thought what a peculiar statue to place at the edge of this pond. (…In my defence it was only the 15th September)






I zoomed in for a closer look – how very odd not the usual neo-gothic type of statue


Next I saw this



…and then this and the penny finally dropped !!












Anyway I wandered around for a while longer dodging the cobwebs and skeletons and headed to the terrace for a drink and a bite to eat before heading home very glad that I had visited.




Well that is the end of this report that just scratches the surface of our time in Toronto. We loved this fab city and it really whetted our appetite to see more of this amazing country - West coat next time ?

Next day we were leaving Toronto and heading to NF and then onto Prince Edward County . I have already posted the NF part of our trip and plan to do a report about PEC

[bjd]

Is this the plant you liked, Lugg?

www.aujardin.info/plantes/ricin.php
If so, my neighbour in Toulouse has some in her garden, but it's poisonous so I refused her offer of seeds.

[mossie]

Overwhelming.

It looks like you had a great time, but I didn't fancy looking down into that pool of sharks

[kerouac2]

I have made many trips to Toronto over the years although most of them can be qualified as just "passing through." However, I did spend a week once in one of the apartment towers like the one in which you stayed, although it was completely downtown with no waterfront views. Back when I went up the CN Tower, all you could see beneath were car parks and rail lines and most of the panorama was merely flat. That has clearly changed even though the topography of Toronto is totally manmade -- if nothing has been built somewhere, the landscape is almost totally flat.

In any case, you definitely saw ten times more than I ever did in at least a half dozen trips. One thing that your photos make clear is that there are precious few historical buildings in Toronto, so they are all the more amazing when you finally find one.

I can't say that anything I saw in this report makes me want to rush back again except for Casa Loma which is a total over-the-top gem. I don't know how I could have missed it in the past.

Thank you for another voyage of discovery, Lugg!

[mich64]

Nicely done Lugg! You certainly made the most of your time and I think for a first time visit, you could not beat the location of your apartment rental. I was so thinking as I started going through your report, "I hope someone told her about the St. Lawrence Market!" I really enjoyed my visit there, so many things to see and the food choices are amazing. The area around it is quite nice and would it not be fantastic to have that Market to shop in every week? I imagine it must be sensational during the Christmas season.

Reply 5, photograph 4 is the Hockey Hall of Fame, a popular stop for Canadian visitors. I believe it was once a major Bank. I have visited, but that was more than 20 years ago, I think I remember the Stanley Cup (Championship trophy) was staged in the original Bank vault.

I have never been to the Island, the Aquarium or to Casa Loma, but will make a point of it in future!

[bixaorellana]

I might have known that Bjd would immediately identify the castor bean plant, from whence cometh castor oil. It is naturalized here and considered a weed. I've been criticized for growing it as an ornamental, but I think it's a gorgeous plant.

Casa Loma is really something, but the amount spent by the original owner is obscene. Really magnificent mixed borders though, with an interesting use of both old fashioned favorites (the Rudbeckia) and sleek newer foliage (the banded Misanthus). And the castor bean with the black-eyed susans is inspired.

I love that open-work metal gazebo thing, but truly hate the hanging skeletons -- yuck. You are so right that the conservatory is magnificent.

Wonderful report, Lugg -- looking forward to more of Canada from you.

[bjd]

Bixa, you definitely overestimate my botanical knowledge. I only identified it because one of my neighbours has some in her garden. I admired it and she offered me seeds, but I looked it up and found that it's poisonous so decided against it. But I agree that it's a great-looking plant.

Despite 18 years spent in Toronto, I have never been to Casa Loma either. While I was growing up, it was considered a bit of a joke as well as a tourist attraction. But in those days, Toronto wasn't really much of a tourist attraction. On the other hand, Centre Island was a popular place to go in summer. Not only a nice place for a picnic but with a ferry-ride to boot.

[lugg]

Thanks all
Thank you Bjd - you are of course correct - yikes ricin but I still love it anyway. I have just realised that I have missed out copying and pasting one whole day of the report !! So will edit and add it in its correct chronological place .
I'm glad both you and Mich particularly enjoyed seeing it as Canadians and thanks for extra info Mich re Hockey Hall of Fame .
Bixa - when the 3 of us go away together we have to have something for everyone and something for all. My niece mentioned Canada, at the time I did not know if my knee replacement would have been delayed and so did not want to long a journey so west coast was out. I then looked at plane tickets and got some for a fab price to Toronto with Air Transat ( under £400) and that was that built the holiday around the air tickets

Anyway if you get chance please have a look at the missing day
Now inserted in the Days 2 and 3 section

[lagatta]

I don't see the Prince Edward County section - has it been posted?

Bancroft is in Hastings county (central-eastern Ontario) just north of Prince-Edward County. There was a lot of quarrying and mining for minerals - even gold - in the area, and one of the villages is named Marmora for the marble quarries there.

Toronto seems perfectly flat and the downtown are by the lake certainly is, but there is a suprising rise northwards to Casa Loma and beyond which one really notices if walking or cycling.

The area around Kensington Market and the earliest still-existing Chinatown around Spadina is not very pretty, but there are interesting shops and some good and inexpensive restaurants, now not only Chinese but other East and Southeast Asian cuisines. It is just south of the University of Toronto so it is a very lively area and the little row houses on the side streets there have a certain charm. Spadina is indeed fugly.

There are many "Chinatowns" in Greater Toronto now including the huge modern Pacific mall in Markham, a suburb north of the city that I remember as a small, leafy town. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Mall

When the Eaton Centre was opened, large shopping malls in city centres were not nearly as common as they are now. Unfortunately the products and to a great extent the layout of the places are pretty much the same the world over now.

[fumobici]

This is great, I used to enjoy visiting Tranna when I lived not too far away in Ann Arbor. It's gotten quite a bit slicker since my first visits in the seventies, and a lot more expensive too. Ol' Hogtown's still got its rough edges though with a recent ex-mayor who makes Trump look classy by comparison and a its premier sports team with a glaring mis-spelling in its name. Thanks for this report, I'd never been to Casa Loma, a little like a Northern San Simeon.

[lagatta]

Are you referring to the Maple Leafs as opposed to "maple leaves"?

I loved going to the Toronto (or Centre) islands. In Toronto they had ridiculous blue laws; it was impossible to have a beer or glass of wine with a family picnic. But we never encountered problems on the islands.

[bixaorellana]

Nov 5, 2017 8:33:15 GMT lugg said:

Anyway if you get chance please have a look at the missing day
Now inserted in the Days 2 and 3 section

Yes indeed! You really enhanced this already wonderful report with showing the missing day. Definitely makes Toronto seem like even more of a compelling destination.

And I'd say that incredible plane fare pretty much made the decision for you. It's just wonderful that the three of you wound up somewhere that ticked all the boxes for everyone.

Being nosy -- you did or did not have the knee surgery and was it before or after this trip?

[kerouac2]

The most remarkable thing about the Eaton Centre is that it kept its name even though the chain went out of business in 1999.

[lagatta]

Yes, especially as so many places, whether hotels or sport venues, change their names so often that it is hard to keep track of them...

I still have camisoles, t-shirts and other garments from Eaton. Oh, they aren't "new"; the t-shirts and camisoles are pretty much housecleaning garments, but they keep holding up.

[bjd]

There used to be two big department stores in downtown Toronto: Simpsons and Eatons. Simpsons bit the dust years ago, then Eatons built that mall and seemed to take over. I didn't realize they had gone out of business. The Hudson's Bay Company also had a big store, renamed The Bay. I don't know whether they are still around or not.

[lugg]

Thanks again all.
Lagatta - no you have not missed PEC report, I am posting that separately , its about half done I'm just trying to find a missing SD card which has some more pictures on fortunately I have the one which has the most pics on.
Bixa - had my knee replacement at the end of Feb without any delays so it was in pretty good shape by the time we went and such a joy to be able to walk for miles without pain
Bjd - I cannot remember seeing The Bay but that is not to say of course they do not exist anymore. I cannot for the life of me remember a store we went into close to St Lawrence market but we quickly realised it was the same as a store we have here called TK Max - same layout same things for sale.
Mich - it is wonderful that area isn't it ps thanks for inadvertently making me check ....I had got the spelling wrong in my report

[tod2]

A wonderful concise report Lugg! Toronto looks amazing as a modern city with much to entertain the visitor. You showed us a bit of everything that caught your eye - you were definitely clicking away! Lovely night scenes which we could compare with the same buildings in daylight.