12.08.2005

we see toronto

A big chunk of it, anyway. We had a great afternoon with James and Lori yesterday, thanks to their PT cruiser, Lori's driving and James's knowledge of Toronto: a driving tour. It really furthered my mental map of the city, gave us a great taste of what many T.O. neighbourhoods look like, and pinpointed several places to go back and explore on foot.

Some highlights. Kensington Market, which reminded us of New York's Lower East Side - I will definitely go back, probably regularly. Mirvish Village, and Honest Ed's, which we immediately recognized from the exhibit we saw at The Archives last week. Yorkville, which I can easily imagine as a hippie hangout, despite its pricey pedigree. Many neighbourhoods along Bloor Street, full of the kind of shops that make an urban village. High Park. Gorgeous houses in and around High Park, Swansea, Leaside and Cabbagetown. Hideous houses in the Bridle Path. (Always fun to make fun of rich people without taste.) Views of the trails and bike paths along the various ravines and the Belt Line, once an old railway. Several Toronto architectural landmarks, including Queen's Park. And more... Courtesy of James's GPS device, here's a map of our route: (Cool!)


For the sake of The Brown Dog waiting at home, we cut the tour a bit short, and ended the day with an early dinner at Spring Rolls. And, because our friends told us not to worry about the GO train schedule, we copped a bonus drive down Lakeshore Drive, back to our car, which was parked at the Port Credit GO station. Great fun for urban explorers, and great company.

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A word of clarification about yesterday's weather update, since I'm already fielding feedback about saying it's cold. I like the cold. I prefer cold weather to hot, any day. But I'm not macho about it. I don't get into that whole "You think this is cold? You should come to..." mentality. I need a winter jacket, gloves and a hat to walk comfortably outside, therefore, it is cold. It's not prohibitively cold, not bone-shatteringly cold - but it's cold. Well, it ain't warm, is it?

Plus, it's cold inside. Tonight we're putting plastic over the windows (purchased weeks ago at Canadian Tire, but unused during our recent family crisis), and our landlord has to show us how to adjust the thermostat. I'm all for wearing an extra layer inside, but my hands are too cold to type.

4 comments:

Marnie said...

Excellent! What a good idea -- an overview of the city, to get the Big Picture.

zydeco fish said...

At one point, you were a mere stone's throw of my house. Did you know that Prince lives somewhere on or near the Bridle Path?

James Redekop said...

Doesn't surprise me about Prince. The Stones have -- or had -- a house up there.

Lori & I had a bit of celebrity spotting on our way to picking our passengers up: we were stopped at the Esplanade lights on Sherbourne when George A. Romero, King of the Zombies, crossed the road in front of us, chatting with a friend or colleague.

laura k said...

At one point, you were a mere stone's throw of my house.

Had I known, I would have thrown a stone.