My wife Paula’s idea of an ideal holiday is the great outdoors. Camping in Wales or the Lake District being favoured places, walking in the country. She is also happy to take a weekend city break, trips to London, Oxford or York being recent destinations. A flight to Barcelona, Venice or Paris and a couple of days wandering the streets also comes high on the list for short breaks but only short breaks. A spot of culture or intense gallery and museum visiting with interesting architecture is great for 2 or 3 days tops for any longer and it has to be natural scenery and away from the crowds she tells me I should be grateful she doesn’t regard shopping as a leisure activity.
The idea of going to Canada and spending a week in Toronto and not getting to see the Mountains and the lakes, basically what Canada is famous for, did not appeal. Our daughter, Joy, had spent a year in Canada on a student exchange programme and said that we would not have enough time to get to see the lakes and mountains, there was more than enough to see in Toronto. As usual Joy was right.
Joy had spent Christmas and New Year in Toronto and was eager to show us the city and I am glad to say that we took Joy’s advice and did not try to cram too much into our first visit, also in the time that Joy had been in Canada and despite going to areas were she would she one, Joy had yet to see a Moose and it was one thing that she wanted to see, so a trip to Toronto Zoo was a must. We had to see a Moose.
Canada is the second largest country in the world, only Russia is larger and the Canadian population is only Thirty-four million, there are 6 time zones, which could get confusing if you drive across Canada. The Queen is on the money and don’t be upset if someone asks you for a loonie, the dollar coin is called a Loonie, not a reference to insanity but the name of the Common Loon, the Canadian bird that appears on the dollar coin, the two dollar coin is called a twoonie, it rhymes with loonie and in Toronto everyone speaks English, well everyone we met spoke English and often several other languages as well.
Toronto is the business capital, at one time it was Montréal, until legislation was introduced in Montreal that all official business had to be conducted in French, so all the major institutions moved out of Montréal to Toronto, including the Headquarters of The Bank of Montréal, shooting yourself in the foot springs to mind.
Toronto, which means meeting place, became a British possession when the land was purchased from the Mississauga Indians in 1788 for $9000 and given the name York. It became known as Little York, to distinguish it from New York in the United States. By the 1830s the town was expanding so much that it reverted to it’s original name and in 1834 became known as the City of Toronto.
I was not prepared for how vast Toronto is, it is the largest Canadian city and the 5th largest in North America, with a very diverse population of two and a half million with PATH, the biggest pedestrian underground system in the world. Troglodytes will be happy exploring the 1200 shops; you never have to come up for air. In the winter this is a great place to avoid the cold and snow above apparently.
After our trip to Niagara we arrived at Toronto Union Street station in the centre of “Downtown” we took the subway to Bloor/Younge. It was easy to get our entire luggage and us to street level. Each time we looked lost, a Torontonian would ask what we were looking for and give us directions. This was to happen throughout our stay in Toronto, stop in the street open a map and you get a crowd of people surrounding you giving you directions and telling you the best way to your destination. On one occasion a driver stopped his car got out and gave us directions to the bus stop, he said he would have given us a lift but he had an appointment, I believe he would have done.
Our destination was the Town Inn Suites, www.towninn.com on Church Street. Our suite was large, that was the first thing that impressed: large lounge, large bedrooms; two bedrooms with two double beds in each room. A fully fitted kitchen with a large fridge, a dining room, several televisions, a bathroom with a bath and a shower, you could live here quite happily, more than adequate for a weeks stay, and it is no exaggeration to say the storage space was incredible walk in closets nearly as big as our family bathroom at home. If you wanted you could also have breakfast in the restaurant and if you are not getting enough exercise there is a swimming pool and a sauna. Add to this the friendly staff and this was an ideal location for base camp for our Toronto adventure.
Attached to the Town Inn Suites is the most unusual restaurant I have ever eaten in, O Noir, www.onoir.com you eat in the DARK. It was originally the idea of Jorge Spielmann a blind Pastor in Zurich; he would blindfold his dinner guests so that they really appreciated their meal and conversation. Taking it a step further he opened a restaurant to teach the sighted about the sightless world and provide employment for blind people. The idea spread and now there are many such restaurants O Noir is the first in Toronto. The serving staff are all visually impaired and after placing our orders we were led into a totally dark room. You then spend the next couple of hours in total darkness, O Noir, like all the waiting on staff, no light from phones, matches flashlights, you are even asked to remove you watch if it glows in the dark. The food was excellent and General Manager, Moe Alameddine, said “this was a dining experience like no other, a percentage of the profits goes to local charities, employment is provided for the visually impaired and the food tastes sensational” We had to agree with him.
I always think that the best way to get your bearing and also learn about the city is take a city tour. There are many tours available including the open top bus Sightseeing Toronto tour, the Hippo Tour, “the bus that floats” a 90 minute tour that takes in the main sights and a trip on Lake Ontario. Children will love the Hippo tour and adults will enjoy it as well or you can opt to try a segway around the distillery district, yes after a couple of minutes training you are off on a segway, great fun and an idea that I am sure will catch on here.
We joined Bruce Bell www.brucebelltours.ca on a day tour. Bruce is a Tour Guides Tour Guide, he is entertaining, informative, humorous, with a terrific knowledge that he delivers without being patronizing and it was a pleasure to spend time in his company. He writes a column for The Bulletin, Toronto’s Downtown Newspaper as well as having written several books including a coffee table book “Toronto a Pictorial Celebration” filled with superb photographs by Elan Penn.
Our first stop was the Distillery District. In 1831 James Wort arrived from England and built the first mill, the original mill stone is still there for all to see, the following year his brother-in-law William Gooderman arrived with 54 relatives, families were bigger in those days, to help in the business and soon started distilling the wheat by-products to supply Canadian Whisky to an expanding and thirsty city. Said at one time to be the largest distillery in the British Empire, the site ceased to be a distillery in 1990 and was used for a long time by Toronto’s film makers before being turned into an on going heritage development in 2002. The buildings have been converted into theatres, restaurants, art galleries, even a brewery and Soma Chocolate makers.
Paula and Joy being true chocoholics went in to raptures over Soma chocolate. Watch it being made, you can then eat it or drink it. Try the Mayan hot chocolate, a mix of chilli, ginger, orange peel and Madagascar vanilla, which sounds disgusting, but was judged to be the “best ever” by those who know their chocolate drinks. www.somachocolate.com Fortunately you can order on line.
For those who would rather drink beer than hot chocolate a visit to the Mill Street Brew Pub is a must www.millstreetbrewpub.ca just to look at the award winning beer being produced before you sample the Tankhouse Pale Ale or the organic larger, the food is not bad either.
A short distance from The Distillery is St Lawrence Market were Tour Guide Bruce introduced us to a Toronto delicacy, the Peameal Bacon Bun at the Carousel Bakery, this doorstopper of a snack will keep you going all day, layers of bacon on a soft bun at $5.30 plus tax, now always remember that the price you see is not the price you get, you have to add tax at the till and it can make a difference, buy in the dollar store and add tax, it is $1.13cents. So check the final price if you are buying a high value item. There is farmers market on a Saturday and on a Sunday from dawn till 5p.m. over eighty stalls at an Antiques Market were you would lose half the day just browsing.
We then boarded a Coach and Bruce took us on a tour of the neighbourhoods, Toronto is known as the city of neighbourhoods, several Chinatowns, Greektown Little Italy, Little India and Koreatown, just to name a few. It is easy to tell were you are as the street signs are in English and the language of the district. You want to eat Chinese; you go to China Town or Little Italy for Italian. I had not realised how vast Toronto is and a tour really is the how to get the best out of it, then you can decide which neighbourhood you want to see more of.
Two very popular neighbourhoods are Kensington and Old Cabbage Town. Kensington Market is like stepping back to Carnaby Street circa 1968. The vintage clothes shops, the antique or junk shops, depending on your point of view, I liked the one called “Funky Junky” retro finds said the sign, most of what was for sale I had owned in my lost youth, which is why it is a retro shop. The sides and fronts of the buildings are decorated with the most intricate and in some cases psychedelic designs imaginable. You will not know which way to point the camera, this is the most photographed area of Toronto and it is easy to see why. Since 2006 it has been classed as a National Historic Site and the local community want to keep it that way and are fighting a planning application by Starbucks to open a branch in Kensington Market, they don’t want the multinational chains spoiling the ambience and I agree with them, when you have an area as unique as Kensington Market it would be a shame to spoil it with bland shops.
Another neighbourhood that is fascinating is Old Cabbage Town; you will see the name on the street signs. www.oldcabbagetown.com Cabbage Town is supposed to have got it’s name from the time in the 1840s when poor Irish immigrants grew cabbages in their front gardens to supplement their meagre diets. Cabbage town is now the largest preserved area of Victorian housing in North America and there is a large selection of pubs and restaurants as well as plenty of places to stay. The mix of houses again makes this area a must for photographers. Make time for a stroll round the free to visit, municipally operated community 7 acre Riverdale Farm
We called in at Old Cabbagetown Community offices at 237 Carlton Street to get a Cabbagetown flag, Doug Fisher, who runs the community offices was only too happy to tell us about Cabbagetown and the events that take place in the neighbourhood. It would be easy to spend the week here. The Cabbage Town flag is White and Green, think of the Canadian flag and instead of a Maple Leaf replace it with a cabbage and you have the flag. Doug showed us photographs on the community web site of People holding the Cabbage Town flag, up mountains, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower and Sydney Opera House, in fact all over the world the Cabbage Town flag is flying. Doug asked if we would go to a popular site in Liverpool and pose with the flag then send a copy to him for inclusion in the community news.
We have sent photographs taken on Liverpool’s Canada Boulevard, which seemed appropriate and several Beatle sites including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field.
A visit to Black Creek Pioneer Village www.blackcreek.ca proved to be more of an adventure than we expected. This is a day trip, take the train to Finch, then ask for the bus to the Village, there isn’t one that goes directly there you’ll need to change and it is a bit of a trip round the houses or more accurately apartment blocks. Black Creek is rural Ontario in the mid 19th Century and for all the heritage interpretation buffs out there, this is a must. The very enthusiastic and informative costumed staff makes this a highly entertaining venue. It is not a theme park, there are no rides apart from a horse and cart, but you do get to see and smell the authentic rare breed animals as you chat to the farmer. You can also meet the doctor, newspaper proprietor, even the Mayor if you are lucky. Many of the traditional village industries and crafts are demonstrated and the skills are being kept alive. Some of us were more interested in the brewery than others! Either take a picnic or eat in the Heritage hotel.
Coming from a country were admission to museums is free, I had to ask would spending $31 or twenty pounds to visit the Royal Ontario Museum be worth it. The answer is yes, www.rom.on.ca/ not only do you get to see the existing exhibitions until January there is also the opportunity to see The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracotta Army. The ROM, as it is known locally, is Canada’s largest museum with and opened its doors in 1914. The ROM has had several extensions since then, the most controversial being the 2007 Michael Lee-Chin “Crystal” extension. According to the blurb the Crystal is “composed of five interlocking, self-supporting prismatic structures” go and see to work that one out. Michael donated $30 million towards the $270 million cost of the 5 story extension, which is really a separate building only joined to the main museum by walkways. Do not miss seeing the Crystal even if it is only from the exterior and ignore the fact that it recently appeared on a list of the worlds ugliest buildings, I liked it, it really does look like a crystal, none of the walls are straight, all leaning in or out. I am not normally a fan of “modern” architecture but I loved the Crystal. This may have something to do with the fact that we went for dinner in the c5 Restaurant, on the 5th floor of the Crystal, hence c5. See Toronto is Magical.
"It's a Wonderful Life"
(Thu 02/12)
TURN IT DOWN.
(Thu 11/11)
Do we need another Beatles book.
(Mon 11/10)
President or Pope, who is most welcome?
(Mon 16/08)
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