The City of Toronto

• Hardly settled into our apartment, Patty suggested we could make a 6 pm guided walk of “Cabbagetown” provided by the Royal Ontario Museum staff. Although we first had to get dinner and figure out how to reach the starting point at the right time, this was the only guided walk that would fit our schedule. She was right. Traveling on two electric trolleys got us to our destination in plenty of time despite extremely heavy rush hour crowds.
  
  After spotting the group assembling, we tagged along on a very interesting tour:
  

  

  Cabbagetown, a Toronto subdivision dating from the 1840s, remained a poor, working-class neighborhood into the 1970s. Since then, many of the homes have been renovated, making it now a pleasant place for an evening’s stroll.
  

  

  The front entrance of the house below, we were told, was once oriented to a different street. After street changes, the owner had the facade removed from its original side and reattached to face the new street. You have to admire such determination to put on a good face!
  

  

  This Gothic chapel, built in 1872, graces the grounds of the Necropolis Cemetery:
  

  

  After the tour, we managed to find our apartment again by 8 pm --- though, being unfamiliar with the bus/trolley schedules, we wound up walking half-way home.
  
  Refreshed by a good night’s sleep, our touring began in earnest. In Nathan Philip’s Square is the old City Hall (1899), now a courthouse:
  

  

  It stands cheek by jowl with modern skyscrapers ....
  

  

  and not far from the new City Hall, in business since 1965:
  

  

  The square itself is a popular spot to rest one’s weary feet:
  

  

  
  Venturing farther south, we approached the CN Tower and photographed the “finished neighborhood” on its east side. (Note the woodpeckers, one of many decorative sculptures funded by the city.) The vicinity of the tower is a-changing with construction of a huge $130 million aquarium. The mess and dust we observed adjacent to this scene will be but a memory when the aquarium opens in June 2013.
  

  

  We entered the CN Tower to view its indoor exhibits with no intention of reaching the top. Others, though, had no such reservations, such as these folks suiting up for the EdgeWalk, the latest adrenaline rush available at the tower:
  

  

  Here is an Internet photo showing what they came for:
  

  

  For a price of $175, you, too, can enjoy this 20-30 minute tethered walk around the outside of the tower, 1200 feet above the ground. Any takers?
  
  By the way, the name “CN” originated with Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. It has nothing to do with CNN.
  
  Next door, sporting a white-domed, fully-retractable roof, is the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. On two corners of the stadium are some comical sculptures, purportedly of typical fans:
  

  

  
  

  

  
  This city is a multicultural melting pot and its diversity can be a learning goldmine. For example, strolling through the bohemian streets of the Kensington district, we discovered a novel idea for recycling old cars:
  

  

  
  The Ontario Legislature Building, home to Toronto’s Parliament, has a more serious purpose and a more prominent location in the city:
  

  

  
  Nearby, we walked the attractive campus of the University of Toronto:
  

  

  

  The photo above is of Convocation Hall, completed in 1907. Since many students were entering and leaving, we decided to have a peek inside. Apparently, the next class was about to begin:
  

  

  Lest anyone take us for tourists, we hastily retreated and resumed our campus tour:

  

  
  Later that day, we visited the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) during its half-price evening hours. Even with a dinner break in the ROM cafe, we had plenty of time to tour the exhibits before closing. The ROM’s new addition has been open just four years:
  

  

  Judging from the original facade on the right side of the photo, this addition seriously altered the appearance of the museum.
  
  Another day of exploration took us by trolley and bus to the top of High Park. Rambling downhill through the park and pausing for lunch midway, eventually we reached the waterfront. Several more miles of strolling along the beach brought us to Ontario Place, where this photo was taken. It was fairly quiet at this amusement park as the summer season was nearly over. Nevertheless, the vistas and the snacks were most welcome.
  

  

  
  Public transport also took us to Edwards Gardens for a photo shoot:
  

  

  I jest. Actually, our real reason for being at Edwards was to follow a path from the gardens along Wilket Creek as far as our legs would take us. Our legs never had a chance. The hike ended prematurely when a persistent rain began in earnest. Fortunately, a nearby McDonalds provided a warm, dry haven in which to sit, have refreshments and plot our return. That journey required a bus, the subway and a trolley, as well as our feet to get us home.
  
  Indoor Toronto, of course, has no such weather risks, above or below ground. Under the city business district, interconnected passageways link hotels, stores and office buildings with many small shops along the way. These are guaranteed to keep shoppers happy in a precipitation-free environment and, probably, spending more time shopping than otherwise. The street-level office area at Brookfield Place was a real prize winner. Its shops are mostly below ground:
  

  

  

  
  Not far away, the somewhat nondescript Flatiron Building hides a real surprise on its back side:
  

  

  

  Of this stunning creation, Wikipedia has to say, “The Flatiron Mural by renowned Canadian artist Derek Michael Besant uses a trompe l’oeil effect to not only make the wall appear to have more windows than it does, but to also give it a more mobile effect by having its edges ‘fluttering’ away where they are not ‘tacked’ down. It is a picture of the Perkins Building, which is located directly across the street.”
  
  Toronto, we concluded, is full of such surprises. It was amazing to see the number of bicyclists blithely moving along with cars, trolleys and busses as if no danger existed at all. We will long remember the absolutely packed Apple Store during lunchtime at Eton Place. Sears department stores were also a wonder: those in the USA pale in comparison.
  
  We did not see everything in our 7-day stay. Other than the above, we traipsed through the Distillery Historic District, the St. Lawrence Market and The Beach in the eastern suburbs --- although with no photos for proof. However, one very photogenic destination is awarded its very own section, the Toronto Islands.