Hot Off The Press!! New pix of Toronto

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Scorcher in TO with temps hitting 35C yesterday and today. I started off the weekend by walking home from work Saturday night in my 'hood, on Church St.









Love for sale (and yes, she does have clothes on. Poor girl must not be able to afford many clothes as these were miniscule):





Billboard for anyone who is not sure which neighbourhood they are in:



Woke up yesterday and decided it was too hot to not go to the lake, so I jumped on my speedy blue Canadian Tire bike and zipped off to Queen St at Kingston Rd to ride up to the Bluffs. The area is relatively hilly, and made for an exhausting day in the heat for cycling:



Made it to my secret location to go down the cliff to a very secluded beach that is a lot like Wreck Beach in Vancouver. Come with me down the rather steep 300ft cliff:









The air was cooler and fresher than in the city above, and I could hear none of the buzz of a city stretching and yawning in the heat:





Unofficial "clothing optional" beaches along here:



After lollygagging around listening to my radio and cheering the Blue Jays as they whooped the Mariners, I headed back up the cliff (ten times higher than coming down):

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along Kingston Road til I hit The Hunt Club.. very posh and dating from 1843, but the only hunting done nowadays is for golf balls:



Seeing as no one said I couldn't, I whizzed through it on my bike:



This is how the rich spend a hot day... tooting around the cool lushness in their motorised golf carts:



Peeking around the corner of the Club House, a gaggle of matrons getting tipsy on wine while their hubbies bravely wield their mashie niblicks froze and stared at me as if I were the Abominable Snowman. I suppose "Dress Code" does not include a shiny reflective skateboarding helmet! Feeling about as welcome as a boil on your bum I took my cue and vamoosed.... Here are some typical houses in the neighbourhood of Fallingbrook Road:



more hills:





This street dips down to look out on the lake. People are forever whingeing that they wouldn't want to live in Scarborough, but I would be quite happy settling down in this little nook:





I can picture myself waking up to this view every morning:



Back in the saddle, and peddling furiously toward Queen St in the Beach area, I pass a fairly typical brick apartment building from the 20's, with reasonably common Art Deco detailing:



I hit more up and down riding on Queen Street. It struck me for the first time yesterday how heavily treed Queen Street is in the Beach. A pleasure to ride down:



But quite frankly, by this time I am ravenously hungry, and gagging for a cold drink. Stop in at a Fish and Chip shop:



and had, without question, the best Fish and Chips I have had in many, many years. And a nice frosty brewski from the country where cougars do not wear lipstick

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Suitably refreshed and energized, I head back out into the sweltering 35C heat:



As were the golf matrons, this young boy seems suitably impressed by my chrome reflective helmet. Either that or he is terrified of me on my blue bike:



We continue on, toward downtown. I am cycling slowly as it is waaaay hot:



I stop at the Toronto Transit yards to scan over the streetcars:



and look lovingly at an old Red Rocket:



Sadly the TTC has scrapped most of its old fleet of these beauties I reach the bridge going over the Don River. Looking north at the Don Valley Parkway:



The Don River (which was "improved" in the early century by being straightened out. It is technically a canal now)



Typical warehouse renovation to condos.. this is the Queen City Vinegar Co building:





and over the bridge. The steel artwork here was done by a Toronto artist Eldon Garnet. If you read the inscription, you will see he has taken inspiration from our old friend and Greek Philosopher Heraclitus, who wisely noted:" You cannot step in the same river twice". Ain't that the truth?



Glancing over we see the BMW Toronto showroom:



no that is not a billboard on the side, it is a "Living Billboard" of windows to showcase BMW's. Clever and very attractive building:

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Lower Broadview is a "mixed bag".. some warehouse reno's and some houses in need of a lick of paint. This was a nice middle of the road Victorian in this working class part of downtown:




I saw a steady stream of folk dressed in their Sunday-Going-To-Church clothes coming from this church:



Broadview hosts Toronto's second downtown "Chinatown", but having said that it is a mixture of Chinese and Vietnamese. Best place in the city to buy live lobster and crabs for cooking at home:









What a gem of a library:



a closeup of those men playing Chinese Checkers:

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Next stop (luckily a voluntary one) at the Don Jail (or Don Gaol as it was originally called). Built in 1859 it held a host of bad-guys and ne'er-do-wells at Her/His Majesty's Pleasure for over a century. It is a fascinating building, grandiose in its Italian Renaissance Revival style:









Prisoners arriving at the gaol could hardly not notice Father Time above the entry portal glaring down at them... not a cheery thought, is it?



imagine my shock moments later when I saw Father Time sitting on a bench around the corner, in Riverdale Park:



70 men were executed in the gallows of the Don Gaol. When it was new, public hangings were held outside, right where I was standing. I will not lie to you, I felt a strange sensation when I entered the area. Not fear, but very intense and almost one of building anticipation. I swear on a Bible my heart was pounding as I looked up at the old jail and imagined all the poor souls who must have stared out these bleak windows waiting for Father Time to take pity on them and set them free:

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On now to Riverdale Park... one of our treasures in Toronto. First the statue of Dr Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925), a political activist instrumental in the overthrow of the tyranical Ching Dynasty:





I parked my bike, took off my sandals, and lay down on a beach towel to soak up the cool lushness of the peaceful oasis in the heart of Toronto:



I know Toronto got scolded a lot in City vs City fisticuffs over the fact it is not as densely built up as some other cities in the world, but give me a bit of parkland anyday and I am happy:







I sat for a few hours, and captured some views of downtown with the sun going down. Apologies to out-of-towners who will wonder why I am posting so many photos of the same view, but seeing as it is mostly locals who view my thread I think they will enjoy seeing this familiar sight!













Every few minutes a streetcar would rattle by at twice the speed of light behind me:





ain't it a beauty? I love my town!!!





and one last study before we move on:



I biked my way to the corner of Broadview and Danforth, and turned onto the bridge:



and a final parting shot of the Don Valley Parkway stretching north into the night:



That was the first half of my weekend. Today and tonight is the second half as I get Sunday/Monday's off. Thanks everyone for patiently putting up with all the downtown skyline shots!

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I took the ferry to the Islands tonight hoping to both escape the heat of the city (34C) and to catch a nice sunset. Successful on escaping the heat, and the sunset was a dud. But, got some nice other
pix:

Royal Canadian Yacht Club:









a swan that was terribly interested in some of my picnic lunch. I am a sucker and parted with a half a biscuit

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I'm going to hold off on the Little India pix til I get a few more. In the meantime here are a few random shots I took this past weekend. The first is a sign in Kensington Market that I have shown before, but it always makes me crack up laughing!!



Community Art project- Kensington style:



Moving onto King Street East I see some of the magnificent steeds used by the Toronto Police:



And some various old warehouses along the street and in the area that have been renovated for modern use:

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and one final shot from Avenue Road and Davenport, when I needed to go shopping for flowers:



til next time, !

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Finally I have organised my Little India shots from the past week. I went on two days, one being before the crowds arrived so I could properly photograph the shops, and the second day being at the height of a Sunday afternoon shopping/entertaining day for families. Little India is on Gerrard Street East, and is within a comfortable bike ride from my home in downtown Toronto. While the community is prominently Indian, it is really a centre for South Asian nationalities in Toronto like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc... my Sri Lankan friend goes there to get his cricket equipment. I rode my bike down from Greektown (a future thread), and I will give you the lay of the land by showing you a couple of shots of what the terrain is like in that area:





I am not all that knowledgeable about the history or the intricacies of this 'hood, so if any of my fellow Torontonians have more expertise, or would like to correct me, please feel free! The official 'hood name is Gerrard India Bazaar, which is a tad business oriented, I suppose:



I loved these movie posters on this cinema. Is this man proud of his set of chompers, or what!:





The first time I went through Little India was on a very hot summer night... a number of years back. I was shocked to stumble across it, with its exotic sights and smells and musical sounds... the gorgeous colours of the saris and everyone eating fragrant barbecued corn on the cob. I longed to come back and take photos some day, and finally have had my chance. I think, in a small way, I have been able to capture a bit of the magic that is Little India:









Everywhere are these stands selling roasted corn... they fiercely compete and one pretty lady convinced me to sample her wares:





her son was barbecueing the corn, and as he pulled it off he asked if I would like it "spicy". Why not? He rolled it in a heady mix of spices and handed it piping hot to me:



It is everywhere... everyone seems to be eating it. Like hotdogs, I suppose, but more delicious and infinitely more healthy:

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This picture is for our good friend Ashok from Montreal!



Vibrant colours everywhere.. a delight to the eye:



Fruit and vegetable markets spill out onto the sidewalk. Some I recognise from Chinatown:



and some I have never seen before. Have you ever seen a more beautiful fruit than these?

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I met a befuddled middle aged couple from Hamilton, who had come all the way into Toronto to visit Little India, and had asked their cab driver where would be a good place to eat. He seemed to not think much of the suggestions they had written on their notes, and instead encouraged them to get back in his cab and go downtown to
a restaurant in Atrium on Bay (a small mall). I told them to do nothing of the kind and to just stay put and try one of the restaurants on the street:









to give you an idea of what the houses are like in the neighbourhood, here is an example.. Neat, tidy but very definitely a working class blue collar neighbourhood:



a sign I noticed on a pole:











and everywhere there is South Asian music... blaring from speakers to entice shoppers to come in.









more corn:

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my first visit was cut short by a thunderstorm, which forced me to spend an unpleasant hour trapped in a Donut Shop which was freezing cold due to excessive air conditioning! LOL!




the aforementioned cricket supply store:



ICICI bank:



and that fellow who pops up on our tv screens quite a lot:





the local library:



















Thanks to everyone for joining me today! Also thanks to Jan for making this great website... had it not been for SSC, I would probably not have done this photo tour. I am surprised how much I have learned about my own city since joining SSC! Ironically, the reason I began this thread was that I very much enjoyed one about Colonial architecture in Bombay.. that got me started thinking to start my own photoblog! I guess now I have come full circle. Due to an extremely efficient day yesterday, I have pictures for a few more entries "in the can" ... Greektown, The Annex, and Bloor St Yorkville area (including the new and glamorous Gardiner Ceramic Museum reno! I just need time to organise them all... Cheers!

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