JamesM

It's a long weekend. All the stores and foodcourts in PATH are shut.

Partially discharged

I wonder which one created the inspiration for the other

https://goo.gl/maps/ktsFRuPsUpC2

turn around 180 degrees and you're faced with malltastic america

dbd33

Surely it's no more interesting when they're open. It's just strip mall chain stores without any natural light. I used to walk from Union to College above ground year round to avoid having to go down there.

The Beach is an area I considered mentioning but didn't as it's a bit embarrassing to show that to any one who lives by the sea; it's just a few truck loads of sand dumped next to the sewage outlet. Granted the view from the Boardwalk to the CNN Tower is the best view in Toronto but that's all it is.

JamesM

I prefer above ground. PATH can be marginally quicker though because there are no traffic lights and it gives you some angles across the City that aren't vertical or horizontal.

A couple of the better up and coming newer Toronto founded restaurant chains (Kupvert & Kim, Mos Mos) were born down there but most of the shops are more convenience than of any interest.

One is clutching at straws though with the PATH as an attraction. It's a bit like going to London to take the tube but with out the magic of someone telling you to "Mind The Gap".

caretaker

The architect was a Finn (TO City Hall). When I first saw it in '68 it was still a big deal, and the statue in front. It's still well respected as a nice bit of architecture, isn't it? Oops sorry, it was James M's post, but the Bristol pic is also fascinating.

woodworm

I see you are having fun with this one... lots of good ideas, thank you...
I think I will do some of the exploring of the neighborhoods you mentioned that I can reach by street car and subway , just for something new.. I will also change rooms after 2 nights and go to an airbnb in Bloor West area, which seems to have a nice feel to it.
I had forgotten to mention that for work I have to spend ample time in TO in the summers , and have visited all the regular tourist attractions like museums, the islands, the tower, the mall , the tall ship cruise, the Distillery and the market (which I like), etc...pretty much the whole downtown core that is accessible on foot from the hotels.

I will check out what exhibits at the AGO have changed since June, and the TIFF is a good idea. (And I don't know the zoo and the aquarium).
I was after some stuff that are not obvious tourist attractions, and wanted to graduate to finding the more hidden treasures where the locals would go on a weekend...
I also read that TO is the most multicultural city I the world and was wondering which ethnic neighbourhoods are interesting to explore for a more in-depth look ... (not the tinder kind ) ,


I will report back what I found.

Shard

Toronto architecture is boring, maybe, but not particularly ugly.

City Hall on the other hand is iconic. It needs to be seen as a whole (three structures) and with the plaza. Hadn't seen that Cosmos Hotel before, but nothing wrong with that either.

dbd33

Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world, in Canada. It's like NYC or London in terms of diversity.

Trams are better than the subway as you can see out of the windows. That said:

- The Brazilian bars on College at night. Yes, any bar called Cococabana is clichéd but it's a laugh.
- Spadina and Dundas in the day. Hold nose. Don't eat.
- Greektown, eat and eat and eat.
- Little India has moved to Brampton, it's a bit sad now, the Gerrard car goes through it so you can see if you think it worth a wander.
- Kensington market has a bit of a Spanish/South American feel to it.
- Bathhurst/Lawrence is the place for bagels and lox, it's like Hendon (though I don't know if it's an eruv)
- the epicenter of gangsta culture in Toronto is Jane and Finch
- Scarborough has a good collection of Newfie shops, should you feel the need for salt beef and sad songs of the sea.

Ethnic areas are really about the food so it's down to what you feel like eating.

dbd33

The cumulative effect of all that vaguely brutalist and derivative plate glass construction is ugliness. Specific buildings, such as the AGO, are defiantly, finger in the air to artistic pretension, ugly; a giant **** you to the eyes of innocent passers-by. The best building is a water treatment plant that would be consider humdrum were it in Birmingham and the picture postcard view from the lake is all but indistinguishable from the same view of Pittsburgh.

It's not a place the builders can be proud of. It is better than Mississauga admittedly.

BristolUK

I stayed there in 1989. A few years later BBC's Panorama did an exposé on prostitution there. I wasn't surprised.

JamesM

I was on Roncesvalle recently. That might actually now be the first street in Toronto where one can do a proper pub crawl with out having to walk too far!

JamesM

How was your Yoga/Pilates search doing?

I'd think if you are on Bloor West there should be some proper yuppie drop in's.

Lululemon on Queen street does the odd drop in and there is a new chain of Coffee shops called California Love that also offer them.

dbd33

Roncesvalles? That's moved on then, I recall wandering around near Hugh's Room thinking I was at the end of the earth. It seemed like the sort of place that would be sparked up by adding a Costco and an IKEA.

bats

I'm surprised the BE locals aren't offering tours or at least a trip to the Yard. Are you all away?

dbd33

I thought that nowadays you frowned upon men making invitations to women.