Toronto, a Canadian Beauty

I had heard so much about Toronto, Canada that I was breathless with anticipation. My partner and I reserved our vacation package a month in advance. After comparing vacation packages which included that other Canadian city Montreal, we chose Toronto.

Not even the red eye flight after working a ten hour shift could blind us to the beauty of Toronto. We took a 4 hour flight from Seattle to Cleveland, OH, then boarded a small plane for the one hour flight into Toronto. We made our way through the almost deserted airport through the Canadian Customs. We tried to find a train, but the train was out of service. We settled on a taxi from the airport to our hotel, which cost us $49.00, plus tax, plus tip, you get the picture.

Toronto's skyline is stunning even in day light. It is hard to image the world wide recession had reach Toronto. There appeared to be construction cranes everywhere, with massive condo developments in progress. Many of the new construction sits shockingly close to the freeway, a very Manhattan style development.

As impressive as the skyline was, it was Lake Ontario that took my breath away. A vast shimmering silver blue beast of a beauty, it commands attention. Oddly enough I had not even thought of Lake Ontario whenever I imaged Toronto. "What is that" I asked our taxi driver like a child on Sunday drive with his parents. I wanted to get to it, to walk along its shores to put it at the top of my lists of must see Toronto attractions.

If you are visiting Toronto I recommend:
Take a walk along Lake Ontario it will take your breath away and it's free.
Queens St West for sight seeing, several historic building, shops and restaurants
Dundas Square for shopping, many retail and dining options and free stage performances
Dundas square to buy day of show theater tickets at discounts[we did]
The Gay Village , this place is full of life, great restaurants. The nightlife in this neighborhood is vibrant and spills into the streets on Friday and Saturday nights.
Tarragon Theatre, this little neighborhood theater company puts on great shows. On stage
during our visit was "House of Many Tongues" a very excellent play. Theater location 30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5R 1X3 info@tarragontheatre.com
Web: tarragontheatre.com . We took the Metro from the King Street Station to the theater on a weekend pass very cost effective and relaxing.

• AGO [Art Gallery of Ontario] this building is newly redesigned interior and exterior space by renowned Architect Frank Gehry. My only regret is that greater attention wasn't paid to the neighborhood space around the museum. the surrounding neighborhood appeared run down and overwhelmed by the massiveness of the museum building. It is my view that such a design requires greater spacial distance for the Architectural beauty of the building to be appreciated. The most interesting was The Thomson Collection of Canadian Paintings and First Nations Objects.
  


• AGO Hours of Operation:
  Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 10 am – 5:30 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8:30 pm Closed on Monday

Art Gallery of Ontario: Dundas Street West Toronto Ontario Canada M5T 1G4

Dining Out

Hair Of The Dog Restaurant 425 Church Street, Toronto, ON M4Y 2C3
(416) 964-2708

Little India Restaurant
255 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 1Z4 0.22mi
(416) 205-9836

Tim Hortons for the donut and coffee lovers; Locations everywhere and draws a late night crowd well past midnight in neighborhoods like the Gay Village. After a late night of party and alcohol on church street you can sober up at Tim Hortons with donuts and coffee or even a sandwich or wrap.