Sunday 26th October - Au Revoir Toronto

We got up, had coffee and started to pack and clear up the apartment. We had arranged to leave our bag with the concierge in the building so we could spend some more time in the city before our flight which was scheduled for 7.10 p.m.

We took the subway, Wow!! what a subway!! for a couple of stations from our local station at University and Queen. The transit system allows the purchase of a day pass which costs C$11 and allows two adults or one adult and several children to travel all day. This is a great deal.

Toronto subway - open from end to end

Of course, the NYC subway which has just celebrated its 110th anniversary is a lot older and often shows its age, but Toronto's subway is the way a modern subway should be.

Our destination was ROM or the Royal Ontario Museum and its neighbor the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics at Bloor Street.

ROM is in a wonderful old building with a very modern and controversial new annex.

The modern annex and entrance of ROM

The Museum holds a large collection of prehistoric and dinosaur pieces, a costume exhibit, a large First Peoples' section, a large Asian collection as well as the history and development of Canada in furniture, paintings and other art.

There is an excellent children' section.

Part of the Chinese collection

The cupola in the old building of ROM

Some of the exhibits from the 'First Peoples' Section of the ROM

MAC in a 'modern' chair!!

Part of the large dinosaur display at the Museum

Another view of the cupola

Doesn't look too happy, does he?

An Axotl

Mac strokes a stuffed raccoon

An enormous totem.

A statue outside the Gardiner Museum.

 At the Gardiner Museum there was an exhibition of work by the British ceramic artist Clare Twomey. She had taken three characters from the collection of Commedia dell Arte collection in the museum and replicated them many times. The small statuettes are set out on the floor and will be added to every day until there are more than three thousand of them. When we wer there they were already about two thousand in positon

Clare Twomey's 'Piece by Piece' exhibit

Below are some of the Gardiner Museum's collection of  Commedia dell'Arte figurines 

Some of the wonderful Gardiner Museum collection of Commedia Dell'Arte figurines

A display of ceramic vases, can you spot the two boys?

After the Museum we took the subway back to the apartment area. I stocked up at a local pharmacy on some Buckleys cold and flu medicine. It tastes awful but it works and it seems to be unobtainable in NYC. we had a quick lunch before retrieving our bag and taking a cab to the airport ferry.

After the short ferry trip to the airport we checked in and were again offered an earlier flight and after a short delay left at about 6.30 p.m. A short but at the end a bit bumpy flight saw us home again in Newark. A quick passage through the airport and a cab home ended our very enjoyable short trip to Toronto.

Saturday 25th October - Toronto

Saturday dawned bright and clear. We rose and dressed and went to the City Hall Plaza where the Zombie Parade was starting to form up with some great characters dressed 'to kill'. 

And above....preparations for the Toronto Zombie Parade in City Hall Plaza

On a more somber note, some retried military personnel formed an honor guard at the war memorial in front of Old City Hall to pay their respects for the fallen soldier in the Ottawa Parliament incident.

Honor guard for Cpl Cirillo who was killed in the Ottawa Parliament attack

Brunch called so we took the streetcar east to a small restaurant called Lady Marmalade which came highly recommended. Guess what? We weren't the only ones. There was a line outside waiting for tables at the small storefront on Queen Street East in the Leslieville section of the city. We waited about half an hour before a table opened up but although the weather had turned cloudy and threatening it was not cold. During this time we met and chatted with a couple of ladies one of whom lived here and one who was visiting and agreed that if a table for four came up we would combine and that is what happened.

The brunch was really good and we had a couple of different versions of Eggs Benedict both of which were excellent and easily justified the wait to get in. After brunch we embarked on the streetcar once again and headed back west to City Hall where we explored some of the extensive underground passages, mostly shopping malls, in the area. When we surfaced the Zombie parade was fully underway. 

AAaagh!! Canadian Zombies!!!!!!!!!

We strolled home via a roundabout route which took in the plaza of the Courthouse with its effective statues on equality and legal protections

Freedom of Religion

Gender Freedom

Statues in Court House Square

In the evening, we went again to the Distillery District and had dinner at a seafood restaurant called Pure Spirits which is housed in one of the old distillery buildings. The restaurant was very pleasant and the food very nice too. I had mussels and MAC some Lake Erie pickerel.

My mussels at Pure Spirits

The welcoming wall hanging at the Young Peoples' Theater

After dinner we walked to the Young Peoples' Theater where we saw a superb production of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which was produced for students but very satisfying for adults as well. The acting was excellent although the play had been abridged from the original novel, the main issues of the play were put in clear for the younger part of the audience and the language which is disturbing in places was not censored. At the end, a facilitator asked for questions from the audience, especially the younger members and some of the cast answered them. This was such a useful and well-thought-out show which could be copied elsewhere. I have written to congratulate them and also to the local New Victory Theater here in New York to tell them of the production and encourage them to emulate this. There was a full house and much very warm applause at the end. I think this is a wonderful way of bringing out many issues which young people can think about and evaluate. Live theater just trumps movies and TV all the time.

We walked home after a great evening out. 

Toronto Adventure

So, really on the spur of the moment we decided to go to Toronto. Why? well we haven't been before, it isn't too far, it IS in a different country even if sometimes we in the USA think it is just an extension of the 'lower 48'!! Also we thought that being retired gives us the chance to just up and go when we feel like it.

So we booked on Porter Air which flies from Newark to the Billy Bishop airport in downtown Toronto in not much over an hour's flying time. We also booked an AirBnB apartment for the four days we were there.

We rose early on Wednesday 22nd October 2014 and having packed for about three months!! set off with our bags to Newark. Our departure was nearly disrupted by MAC who, having washed here hair, somehow managed to get her hair caught up and seriously entangled in her hairbrush which took quite a lot of untangling!!! Eventually we had to use shish kebab skewers to slide underneath the bristles of the brush but it was a close run thing. A certain amount of hair and some dignity was lost in the process!!

We took a cab which dropped us at terminal B and the Porter Air desk in short order.Our flight was at 10.10 a.m. and we arrived just about 7.45 a.m. and immediately we were offered an earlier flight at 8.25 which we accepted. So, by 8.45 a.m. we were on the plane and taxiing out to take off.

The weather in New York was not good and the forecast was for a Nor'Easter over the next few days so we were glad to be getting out of town for that to the relatively tranquil weather in Toronto. The flight was failry smooth and mercifully short and it was not long before we were looking down on Lake Ontario, the CN Tower and the skyscrapers of Toronto.

We landed and were quickly through immigration and picked up our bag. We then walked the short distance to the small ferry which takes you to the mainly land. Billy Bishop Airport is on a small island just off the shore. A new pedestrian tunnel is being built which will mean that the short ferry ride will no longer be necessary. the ferry was, this morning filled with determined looking business people who had arrived from the various places served by Porter in both Canada and the USA. The ferry made the short run to the mainland in about 5 minutes and then we took the free shuttle bus into the center of the city close to Union Station. We were not too sure of the direction to the apartment we were to stay at from there so we repaired to a coffee shop, had a cup of coffee and tried to raise some sort of GPS map to see where we were  and how to get to the apartment. As we realized that it was not too far, we decided to walk, it being a very nice, brisk, sunny morning. We dragged our suitace up University Street and eventually came to 111, Elizabeth Street which is a large, modern apartment building the front of which is in a cul-de-sac just behind the modern City hall building. (We were soon to learn that Toronto has a New City Hall, and Old City hall and an Old, Old City Hall!!).

The building has an entrance on both Elizabeth Street and LaPlante Avenue both quiet streets but it is only one block away from Bay Street and a maximum of 10 minutes walk from Nathan Phillips Plaza in front of City Hall.

Making our number with the concierge we obtained the key and door-activating key fob and went up to the 8th floor and our apartment.

The apartment was a one bedroom, one and a half bathroom nicely furnished space. There was a small terrace and a sliding door. The apartment faced the inner courtyard and the adjacent building so it was quiet even if lacking a 'view'. The apartment was well-appointed with a well fitted kitchen, TV, comfy couches, dining table, very comfortable bed and everything we could need for our short stay.

As usual, as we ourselves do not have a working TV at bhome we were completyl unable to operate the TV in the apartment which seemed, as usual these days to need two remote controls to get anything. We did get snow and hiss from the TV but that was all and, to be sure, maybe that was enough.

We unpacked and took a short rest before venturing out for our dinner reservation at Canoe atop the TD Bank building.

We walked past the new City Hall and tried to find the right skyscraper with the restaurant. After asking for directions we found the TD Bank Tower and ascended to the 54th floor of the TD Bank Tower. The restaurant is very nice indeed and the table set a good distance apart. There are 360 deg views from the windows which look out over nighttime Toronto. The menu is very good and I had some Alberta lamb which was very good indeed. We both drank Ontario wine which is (perhaps surprisingly to us), very good indeed. The food and service are excellent and the whole experience was a very memorable, (if rather expensive) one.

It was a short walk from the restaurant to our apartment.

Friday 24th October - Toronto

We were a little late in rising this morning and it took us a while to get our act together. When we eventually did and had made some coffee, we decided that, despite it being such a touristy thing to do, we really had better go up the CN Tower and see if we really could stand on the glass floor.

We walked over to the Tower and paid for tickets to the observation deck as well as the Antenna Pod.

OK here we go with the statistics, figures in brackets are meters):

Total height: 1,815 ft (553.33)
Height to Skypod 1,65 ft (447)
Height to Observation Deck 1,136 ft (346)
Height to the Edgewalk 1,168 ft (356)
Elevators from ground to Observation Deck 15 mph or 22 kmh and reach the Observation Deck in 58 seconds.
Glass floor is at a height of 1,122 ft or 342 m
If you don't like elevators, there are 1776 stairs!!
Construction was started in 1974 and took about a year
It weighs about 130,000 tons.

We were lucky as it was a quiet day and so the line was short and the elevator soon whisked us up to the Lookout Level or Observation Deck. There you can descend a set of stairs to the glass floor.

The CN Tower, it looks a long way up!!!

MAC shows it can be done

The Glass Floor

Reassuring news about the strength of the glass floor

The view down

Some people actually laid on the glass floor, MAC just knelt... (and prayed!!)

Then there was the Edgewalk which cost a further C$175 - this and a healthy dose of fear was enough to ensure that we left that for a future visit!!

The edgewalk which opened in 2011 - not for us I am afraid

Yep, people actually get married out there.

After spending a time at the Tower we descended and sought out lunch. I had fond memories of smoked meats at Dunns during my business visits to Montreal and we decided to go to the Toronto version where the smoked meat sandwich brought back memories.

On our way 'home' we stopped off at AGO

The Art Gallery of Ontario - we did not go in we just visited the shop.

From here we walked back to our apartment, wondering all the way about the frenzy of building which is going on in Toronto. There seem to be cranes everywhere and tall condo blocks are arising all over the city. Who will live in all these apartments?

After the obligatory rest, we set out for the Distillery District where we were to meet Rob Darlington, a friend of our NY neighbor, Mark Dimor. Rob had supplied us with advance information about what to do in Toronto.

We arrived at the Mill Street Brewery in the old Distillery District. This area which as its name suggests was the site of an old distillery and where the buildings have been converted into apartments, shops, restaurants and plazas. It is a very attractive area mostly full of high-end type stores and restaurants. At the entrance, there is a wall with a metal frame in the shape of the word 'LOVE' upon which many people have placed padlocks.

Mill Street in the Distillery District

The Mill Street Brewery was crowded with Friday night celebrants. Although there was a mix-up with the table assignment we sat at a table and waited. I saw someone who might fit Rob's description sitting at an adjacent table and went over and asked him and sure enough it was him!!

Although having a cold, Rob had kindly agreed to meet us and we had a very pleasant hour over a beer and some chicken wings where we got to know each other. Rob was a charming guy and we hope very much that we will be able to meet him again either on a return trip to Toronto or when he comes to New York. Rob lives in Mississauga which is a short drive from Toronto and left us to go home to his wife. We were very grateful for him making time to meet us and we are so g;lad we had the opportunity to touch base with him.

After we had something to eat, we walked through the Distillery District and then home on the chilly but bright evening.