Bedroom?
View of Toronto from Casa Loma
Casa Loma
Garden room
Grand corridor
Celling of the grand hall - big scotish nut
What is this?
Art work in the new town hall
Sculpture in AGO
Sculpture in AGO
Sculpture in AGO
Sculpture in AGO
Glass sculpture from in the Musuem
Mooo...
Inuit art
Inuit art
Only picture i took at the Courts in Toronto
Museum with new wing
new wing - closeup
carved pole that needed to be lowered into the roof of the musuem
bats - err
stuffed tiger
Train station and CN tower
Sports Museum in unlikely building
Along the lakefront
Lake Ontario
Evil black squirrelsToronto.....(aka Ice box city)
I caught the bus back to Montreal from Val-David. The bus stop was a post on the edge of a busy four lane road. There were no pavements and the snow was at least a foot thick!!!! I ended up waiting half and hour in snowy gales for that bloody bus. Then hoped on the train for Toronto. The train was absolutely huge. I was a bit freaked out when the guard called me over and proceeded to demonstrate the security equipment to me in detail. Apparently if he died then i was next in charge??? When we got moving another man came round and then demonstrated in French and English how to break the windows in case escape was not possible via the way i was shown. Then another man came round and started posting little posits above people heads. I'm not quite sure what they meant but i had a different colour to everyone else and a man opposite had a sticker indicating that he had purchased alcohol. Security conscious or what?? After a mammoth train journey i ended up in Toronto. I can vividly remember coming up from the station in Toronto and being presented with skyscraper after skyscraper. It was glittering and really busy - I think more than New york (as the buildings in new york were quite closely knit and getting a view of more than a couple of buildings is difficult!!!!)
I found my hostel and my window was overlooking a beautiful church and gardens. Lovely. The hostel was okay except for a really strange man in my room. He was around 50ish and had a bunk one away from me. He used to spend every evening just staring into space. I got back at various times in the evening (5 through to 10ish) and he was always doing the same. In the mornings he used to yet up ridiculously early and just sit on the sofa doing exactly the same thing. He had a brown towel (supposed to be yellow) hanging up next to his bed. He looked (and smelt) like he hadn't washed for weeks (if not months). I tried talking to him but he used to one word answer me and look the other way. I avoided being in the room alone with him. What a weirdo.
My first full day in Toronto and I started out in the Oldest post office in Canada. It is still working and I wrote a letter using a quill pen and ink and sealed the letter with an olde world seal. I found writing with a quill difficult to say the least. I cant imagine the number of letters and the subjects written about at the same desk as i was sitting at. I then headed downtown for a walk around. I walked along lake Ontario and was looking out onto the Toronto Islands. Shame they were closed (out of seaon) as they have beaches, amusement parks, museums etc. Walking along I kept on coming across these large black squirrel thingys. They actually looked quite verminous (more than greys) as they had small heads and big eyes. After managing to navigate the underground I found my way to the ROM (royal ontario museum). Canadains like their abbreviations. The subway has four lines but the trains are absolutely huge. I mean as big as the VIA Rail (National Railway). They stunk a bit of staleness as the trains would regularly get wet from people's snowy shoes. The ROM was quite interesting as they had a huge Chinese and Central Asia collection. They also have a number of carved wooden poles that had to be lifted through holes in the roof when the gallery was being made. There was some really good sound booths that you could sit down and listen to snippets in time. Some of the exhibits were closed as they are building this massive new wing. Its looks like a giant crystal and butts up against the Italianate existing building. The ROM was pretty manic as Fridays are cheap admission days. Its seemed like everyone and their dog wanted to visit the museum that day.
I started my second day in Toronto with a tour of the downtown and commercial centre. There are some underground tunnels that connect up some of the bigger buildings. They weren't quite as extensive as montreal but made a welcome relief from the cold. The skyscrapers are amazing and they dazzled in the sun. There were some weird sculptures (a square full of bronze cows???) etc. to keep you amused on some boring bits of road. I worked my way upto the old town hall. It was a pretty impressive structure with ornamental carvings and moldings littering the facade. I had heard that inside there were some impressive stained glasses, some exhibit rooms telling the story of Toronto etc. I entered and was confronted by 5 security guards. It then took 10 minutes to go through security as i removed all my money pouches, belt shoes, jackets, hats, etc etc. After what felt like an American style security trauma. I started to take pictures only to be shouted at "NO PICTURES, NO PICTURES". I had a bit of a walk round and thought it was weird that guards were walking handcuffed men in orange jump suits around the corridors. I walked a bit further only to find no exhibit rooms but just lots of seating with sketchy characters hanging out. I then noticed the "Court #" signs. I had actually got into the main court house for Ontario and there was no exhibits or nothing of note to see. I found the nearest exit pretty sharpish.
I then walked across to the new town hall. It's the iconic building (along with the CN tower) that most people recognise about toronto. It looks like a giant clam surrounded by standing napkins. I had a walk around and saw some groovy art and sculpture before getting bored. I moved onto the Dominion gallery of inuit art - it was just a floor of an office building that had a few Inuit sculptures plonked around. There was no narrative nor any information about the history of the pieces. Bizarre. I moved on to find a quirky little cinema that was recommended by Lonely Planet. After finally getting there and finding myself in a seedy part of town, the ticket man tried to con me by doubling the entrance fee and the telling me that he thought the next show was in 10 minutes. Yea right, so i gave up on that idea!! Instead i headed to the IMAX in downtown. I watched One night in the zoo (i think that it what its called). The screen was absolutely huge. I sat in the middle and i couldn't see all the screen without moving my head. The surround was wicked and the film filled all my senses. Best ever cinema experience. Thumbs up!!!!
Sunday was a day of mixed fortunes. I started at the AGO (Art gallery of Toronto). I waited half and hour to get through as everyone in Toronto seemed to descend on the gallery that morning? Only to walk around and find that the only part of the gallery open was one room full of sculpture. Just one room? I was really hacked off as i was promised some really good Canadian art, and one of the best collections in North America. Not impressed I left in a huff. The sculptures i did see though were in a gallery with large black and white stick ladies covering the walls. Really worked against the sculptures but that wasn't enough to redeem by entrance fee and wait!!! Headed to Casa Loma after that. It is a huge mansion on a hill overlooking Toronto. It was built by a millionaire who made his money in land speculation. He built a huge mansion and tried to recreate a bit of Britain in Canada. The mansion was huge and looked like a comedy castle. After only a few years the owner went bankrupt and had to hand it over in lieu of city taxes. There was a really creepy tunnel that led into the garages and that was a bit spooky walking down there for what seemed like hours.
The bathrooms really stick out as the shower and other bathroom furniture were huge!!! I'm not quite sure was one of the thingys was. The mansion also had the first electronic lift in North America, called Otis 1. I then had a walk around little Italy, which turned out to be just a rundown neighbourhood with no features of Interest. Food was good though.
I caught the bus back to Montreal from Val-David. The bus stop was a post on the edge of a busy four lane road. There were no pavements and the snow was at least a foot thick!!!! I ended up waiting half and hour in snowy gales for that bloody bus. Then hoped on the train for Toronto. The train was absolutely huge. I was a bit freaked out when the guard called me over and proceeded to demonstrate the security equipment to me in detail. Apparently if he died then i was next in charge??? When we got moving another man came round and then demonstrated in French and English how to break the windows in case escape was not possible via the way i was shown. Then another man came round and started posting little posits above people heads. I'm not quite sure what they meant but i had a different colour to everyone else and a man opposite had a sticker indicating that he had purchased alcohol. Security conscious or what?? After a mammoth train journey i ended up in Toronto. I can vividly remember coming up from the station in Toronto and being presented with skyscraper after skyscraper. It was glittering and really busy - I think more than New york (as the buildings in new york were quite closely knit and getting a view of more than a couple of buildings is difficult!!!!)
I found my hostel and my window was overlooking a beautiful church and gardens. Lovely. The hostel was okay except for a really strange man in my room. He was around 50ish and had a bunk one away from me. He used to spend every evening just staring into space. I got back at various times in the evening (5 through to 10ish) and he was always doing the same. In the mornings he used to yet up ridiculously early and just sit on the sofa doing exactly the same thing. He had a brown towel (supposed to be yellow) hanging up next to his bed. He looked (and smelt) like he hadn't washed for weeks (if not months). I tried talking to him but he used to one word answer me and look the other way. I avoided being in the room alone with him. What a weirdo.
My first full day in Toronto and I started out in the Oldest post office in Canada. It is still working and I wrote a letter using a quill pen and ink and sealed the letter with an olde world seal. I found writing with a quill difficult to say the least. I cant imagine the number of letters and the subjects written about at the same desk as i was sitting at. I then headed downtown for a walk around. I walked along lake Ontario and was looking out onto the Toronto Islands. Shame they were closed (out of seaon) as they have beaches, amusement parks, museums etc. Walking along I kept on coming across these large black squirrel thingys. They actually looked quite verminous (more than greys) as they had small heads and big eyes. After managing to navigate the underground I found my way to the ROM (royal ontario museum). Canadains like their abbreviations. The subway has four lines but the trains are absolutely huge. I mean as big as the VIA Rail (National Railway). They stunk a bit of staleness as the trains would regularly get wet from people's snowy shoes. The ROM was quite interesting as they had a huge Chinese and Central Asia collection. They also have a number of carved wooden poles that had to be lifted through holes in the roof when the gallery was being made. There was some really good sound booths that you could sit down and listen to snippets in time. Some of the exhibits were closed as they are building this massive new wing. Its looks like a giant crystal and butts up against the Italianate existing building. The ROM was pretty manic as Fridays are cheap admission days. Its seemed like everyone and their dog wanted to visit the museum that day.
I started my second day in Toronto with a tour of the downtown and commercial centre. There are some underground tunnels that connect up some of the bigger buildings. They weren't quite as extensive as montreal but made a welcome relief from the cold. The skyscrapers are amazing and they dazzled in the sun. There were some weird sculptures (a square full of bronze cows???) etc. to keep you amused on some boring bits of road. I worked my way upto the old town hall. It was a pretty impressive structure with ornamental carvings and moldings littering the facade. I had heard that inside there were some impressive stained glasses, some exhibit rooms telling the story of Toronto etc. I entered and was confronted by 5 security guards. It then took 10 minutes to go through security as i removed all my money pouches, belt shoes, jackets, hats, etc etc. After what felt like an American style security trauma. I started to take pictures only to be shouted at "NO PICTURES, NO PICTURES". I had a bit of a walk round and thought it was weird that guards were walking handcuffed men in orange jump suits around the corridors. I walked a bit further only to find no exhibit rooms but just lots of seating with sketchy characters hanging out. I then noticed the "Court #" signs. I had actually got into the main court house for Ontario and there was no exhibits or nothing of note to see. I found the nearest exit pretty sharpish.
I then walked across to the new town hall. It's the iconic building (along with the CN tower) that most people recognise about toronto. It looks like a giant clam surrounded by standing napkins. I had a walk around and saw some groovy art and sculpture before getting bored. I moved onto the Dominion gallery of inuit art - it was just a floor of an office building that had a few Inuit sculptures plonked around. There was no narrative nor any information about the history of the pieces. Bizarre. I moved on to find a quirky little cinema that was recommended by Lonely Planet. After finally getting there and finding myself in a seedy part of town, the ticket man tried to con me by doubling the entrance fee and the telling me that he thought the next show was in 10 minutes. Yea right, so i gave up on that idea!! Instead i headed to the IMAX in downtown. I watched One night in the zoo (i think that it what its called). The screen was absolutely huge. I sat in the middle and i couldn't see all the screen without moving my head. The surround was wicked and the film filled all my senses. Best ever cinema experience. Thumbs up!!!!
Sunday was a day of mixed fortunes. I started at the AGO (Art gallery of Toronto). I waited half and hour to get through as everyone in Toronto seemed to descend on the gallery that morning? Only to walk around and find that the only part of the gallery open was one room full of sculpture. Just one room? I was really hacked off as i was promised some really good Canadian art, and one of the best collections in North America. Not impressed I left in a huff. The sculptures i did see though were in a gallery with large black and white stick ladies covering the walls. Really worked against the sculptures but that wasn't enough to redeem by entrance fee and wait!!! Headed to Casa Loma after that. It is a huge mansion on a hill overlooking Toronto. It was built by a millionaire who made his money in land speculation. He built a huge mansion and tried to recreate a bit of Britain in Canada. The mansion was huge and looked like a comedy castle. After only a few years the owner went bankrupt and had to hand it over in lieu of city taxes. There was a really creepy tunnel that led into the garages and that was a bit spooky walking down there for what seemed like hours.
The bathrooms really stick out as the shower and other bathroom furniture were huge!!! I'm not quite sure was one of the thingys was. The mansion also had the first electronic lift in North America, called Otis 1. I then had a walk around little Italy, which turned out to be just a rundown neighbourhood with no features of Interest. Food was good though.
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