Today, I’m not going far afield. Let me introduce you to Toronto, Canada’s largest city, and fourth largest in all of North America. The southwestern suburbs have been my home since 1969.
The Toronto skyline is instantly recognizable, thanks to the CN Tower, which is 553.33 metres (1,815.4 ft.) high. Completed in 1976, it was the tallest freestanding structure in the world at that time and is still the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.
It attracts more than two million international visitors annually. In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It also belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers, where it holds second-place ranking. Admittedly, I have a bit of a fetish and take photos of it every time we go into the city:
The revolving 360 Restaurant offers a fantastic view, stretching for miles. Speaking from personal experience (but to be fair, that was decades ago), the view is better than the food, which is of course, over-priced, like many tourist attractions.
On August 1, 2011, the CN Tower opened the EdgeWalk, where thrill-seekers can walk on and around the roof of the main pod of the tower at 356 m (1,168.0 ft). It’s the world’s highest full-circle, hands-free walk. Visitors are tethered to an overhead rail system and walk around the edge of the CN Tower’s main pod above the restaurant on a 1.5 m (4.9 ft) metal floor. Closed throughout the winter season and during periods of electrical storms and high winds. (I would hope so! Not something I can see myself doing. How about you?)
Toronto is a multicultural city, home to many ethnic groups, which adds a wonderful international flavour. There’s a myriad of festivals to indulge in and be entertained by, year-round.
Every September, Toronto hosts the world-famous TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), which plays host to countless celebrities and airs the best of up and coming films.
From Wikipedia:
Founded in 1976, TIFF is now one of the most prestigious events of its kind in the world. In 1998, Variety magazine acknowledged that TIFF “is second only to Cannes in terms of high-profile pics, stars and market activity.” In 2007, Time magazine noted that TIFF had “grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period.” This is partially the result of TIFF’s ability and reputation for generating”Oscar buzz”.
Toronto is rich in culture for every taste, including museums, art galleries, concert halls and much more. There are professional sports teams for Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, Football, Lacrosse and Soccer. Beautiful parks abound, everywhere. We had our wedding photos taken in High Park, which spans 161 hectares (400 acres), back in 1973.
For music fanatics like myself, Toronto is the best place to be! I would even go so far as to call it a “Music Mecca”. All the big-name performers come here. Concert-going is one of my favourite activities! 🎵🎸🤟❤
This video, from 2010, (geared to investors) highlights all the best points about Toronto. Update for 2019: The City of Toronto has over three million people now and the Metropolitan Toronto area (ie. including suburbs) over six million!
Of course, along with the positives are some negatives. Case in point would be Rob Ford, Toronto’s bad-ass, butt of comedians’ jokes, alcoholic, joint tokin’, crack smokin’. patois spoutin’ mayor from 2010 t0 2014. Sadly, he died of cancer at the age of 46 in 2016. (His brother, Doug, is now Premier of Ontario, but that’s a whole other tale of woe!)
[courtesy of Bitstrips Facebook app – now discontinued]
Toronto survived and is growing by leaps and bounds! Unfortunately, along with that comes more crime and grime, but it’s still safer than most other big cities. Traffic can be chaotic and rivals the gridlock of Los Angeles, despite the excellent public transit network of commuter trains, buses, subway lines and trolley cars.
Have you ever been to Toronto? If so, what did you like/dislike about it?
If not, would you be interested in visiting?
Looking forward to your comments!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
39 thoughts on “TANTALIZING TORONTO”
Incredible photos and very interesting video!
Thanks! 🙂 I appreciate all your support, Jean.
Thanks for sharing your view of Toronto with us :). Canada is on my bucket list–maybe some day.
Ah yes, the bucket list, All we need is more money and more time! 😉 Thanks for coming by, Damyanti.
I love your photo from 1974. Your dress and hair! <3.
One day I’d love to visit and explore Toronto. Actually, I’d love to visit and explore Canada in general. I’ve only really been to Montreal and Quebec City. Despite being so close, I feel like it is still a haul to get there from where I live. Aside from the weather, I’m envious of those in the northern states who only have to drive a bit to get there.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this fantastic post on Toronto and your wedding photo! It was very insightful and I learned a bit.
Montreal and Quebec City are also beautiful, but their winters are truly brutal. Here in the “Banana Belt” it’s usually not so bad (although, it’s still cold and my least favourite season). We got married in 1973 and I stayed true to my hippie vibe. No staid and boring dress for me! 😉 Thanks for reading and for the compliment. I hope you do get the chance to visit Canada one day. It’s a huge country with lots to see. 🙂
I would love to visit any city in Canada, Debbie! Thanks for the lovely tour of Toronto!
Best to come in the summer or early fall. 🙂 Thanks for coming by, Terri.
Okay, first of all, that edge walk? That’s a big, fat no from me. As for Toronto… I haven’t been in ages but I don’t remember it having soooo many people and Toronto was a clean city. I liked that about it. I liked everything about it! I need to go back!
I think the Edgewalk is for daredevil types. Not me, either! Toronto used to be much cleaner (and safer) than it is now, but I guess that’s what happens when populations increase. It’s still a beautiful city and has less crime than many others. Let me know if you ever come back this way. I bet we’d have a great time, together! ??
Toronto is one of my all time favorite cities! Love it but haven’t been there in at least six years. LOVED your wedding photo (we have to be around the same age) I graduated from High School in 1973
Nice to see you, Caren. 🙂 Toronto has grown a lot in the last six years. Now, you see those “lovely” construction cranes all over town, as more and more highrise condos are springing up. It’s a bit out of hand, in my opinion. Still, it’s a great city and we love it, too. ? I finished high school in 1972 but skipped a grade, so we likely are the same age (born Jan. 1955). Fashions were so interesting back then! ? Thanks for coming by.
When I was touring, our stop in Toronto was always one of the highlights. Though we never played our show in the city, we would play some surrounding towns and would usually stay in Toronto for several days with at least a few days off for sightseeing and entertainment. One of my favorite activities was to go downtown to the record stores on Younge St (across from the Eaton Center) and spend my Canadian dollars on cassette tapes. I’d spend a fortune back then on music. Now I wish I had my money back instead of all those tapes in my garage. However they gave me hours of listening enjoyment.
Toronto is one of my favorite cities.
Lee
Sam The Record Man with the huge, rotating records sign was a legend! It was such a sad day when it closed! ? The sign has been resurrected, though.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sam-the-record-man-sign-shines-again-1.4481696
I still have cassette tapes and a stereo that plays them. Those hours of enjoyment are priceless, in my opinion. 🙂
Toronto is bigger and dirtier now, but remains a great city! Let me know if you ever come back this way.
I’ve made several trips to Toronto, but have to admit it has been several years now since I’ve visited. Loved the museums!
The museums are a high point, for sure! Toronto has grown a lot and is not as nice and clean as it used to be, unfortunately. Thanks for dropping in! 🙂
My Canadian penpal posts a lot of TiFF pictures on facebook so I get to enjoy that and see it through her eyes. Thanks for sharing your pics and info. Someday I hope to visit Toronto.
You’d like Toronto, Suzy, but not in the winter. 🙂 I’ve never been to TIFF, but it does look like a real glamfest. Thanks for coming by!
I have never been to Toronto and love your fascinating virtual tour. I would love to visit your exciting city and adding it to my bucket list.
I’m glad you enjoyed the tour, Eugenia. 🙂 Best time to come is summer or early-mid fall. After that, things go downhill, weatherwise. 😛
I loved this travelogue! I have been to the rotating restaurant at Cedar Point (presumably much smaller, and also decades ago) so that part of the tower looks fun. The outside walk- not in one million lifetimes. I do remember Mr Ford- we all have people we question how they got elected. Here in Fort Wayne, we have a homeless guy who always runs on the Democratic side in the primaries. Never wins, barley gets votes, and this year, got arrested election night for spray painting racial comments on a park bench. So don’t despair, it could be worse. One of my favorite bands, Alvvays, is based in Toronto.
You have to be a daredevil to try that Edgewalk! Not for the faint of heart. Rob Ford certainly made Toronto famous, but for all the wrong reasons. And now, the whole province is stuck with his brother. At least he doesn’t appear drunk or stoned in public. 😛 Had to Google “Alvvays”. Interesting to learn they have roots in the famous, east coast Rankin family. They have a mellow “indie pop” kind of sound.
I’ve never been to Toronto, but I’m sure I’d like it. It looks much more fun than Jacksonville. I could not do that tethered walk. I’d be terrified.
Love,
Janie
Toronto is great, but I’d rather be in Jacksonville in January! 😉 I couldn’t do the Edgewalk either. 😮 Thanks for coming by, Janie.
Thanks Debbie – it’s great having an up close look at Toronto. Lovely pics! My biggest regret is that I left Canada without bothering to get my citizenship sorted out. So shortsighted. And of course my immigration status ran out after a few years of being back in the UK. Getting immigration status in Canada was the most valuable thing I’ve ever had and I gave it up!!!!!! Can’t believe how the city has changed since I was there. Rod Stewart was one of the first live bands I saw at Maple Leaf Gardens. Is the Brunswick Tavern still a music venue? And what about Yorkville, has that changed much? That was a favourite haunt. And a place called Sammy’s Cellar where we used to go on a Saturday afternoon and listen to blues music. And we all used to go to an all night club called Bellows and dance the night away – no alcohol was served, just soft drinks. Oh and the El Mocambo! Was living in a bedsit on Spadina when the Rolling Stones made that historic appearance. God I was so pissed off that we hadn’t gone down there that night! It still annoys me all these years later! Thanks again for this. There was talk of a mass family holiday there but now that the boys have young families, not sure it will happen. This makes me want to come back though!
I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Gilly! 🙂 The Brunswick House closed in 2015, was completely renovated and reborn as a Rexall drug store. At least the new owners are honouring its history:
https://nowtoronto.com/news/annex-brunswick-house-toronto-rexall/
Yorkville, which used to be such a cool place is now an upscale, YUPPIE enclave:
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g155019-d12959157-r418862868-Yorkville_Village-Toronto_Ontario.html
We missed The Stones at the El Mocambo too but were able to catch their 50th Anniversary Tour in 2013. Although it closed a few years ago, the El Mo has a new owner and is currently undergoing renovations. Hopefully, it will reopen in the fall. Maybe The Stones could be the headliner.
If you ever do come back for a holiday, let me know! I’d love to meet you in person. 🙂
Thank you for those links. A drug store! Well I guess it must have been a relief for the locals. I remember the beer flowing the way they describe in that article, slopping everywhere. Big trays of it and jugs as I recall. And there was an oldish woman working there called Mama Chicki. She had quite a large ‘chest’ and the guys used to chant Mama Chicki! Mama Chicki! until she got up to sing ‘I’ve Got a Luvverly Bunch of Coconuts’ while throwing her ample busom around. It was hilarious. She was a bit of a legend I think. Those were the days. Not a care in the world. We used to follow Goddo around too – Greg and Gino were our hero’s! Shame about Yorkville but it was going that way while I was still there. Used to go to Ontario Place Forum a lot too and I remember a brilliant night there with Count Basie. Oh dear Debbie – what have you started! One of these days, I’m sure I will come back – just have to brace myself for the flood of emotion it will bring. And yes, it would be great to meet up!
Thanks for sharing your memories, Gilly! 🙂 The Ontario Place Forum was demolished and replaced by a bigger concert venue, currently named “The Budweiser Stage”. It’s beautiful there! We’re going again this coming Sunday to see HEART (which means more CN Tower photos. 😀 ). I think we visited the Brunswick House a couple of times in the 70s, but there was nothing major going on that I can remember. I found a couple more articles you might enjoy. I just read them also. Goddo is still a local icon and Mama Chikie was quite a character! 😀
http://www.smalltowntoronto.com/Interview_Goddo.html
https://torontoist.com/2017/05/historicist-mama-chikie/
Several things. 1. my daughter went to toronto last WINTER. had a blast even if she did freeze. 2. the picture of the flowered dress and the brown tux has to be from 1977 or so. My mom wore that dress to our wedding and our tuxes were brown as my wife hates black ones. Also, the shoes. I so miss not have to hem my pants! Bring back platforms for men. And disco while you’re at it. Cute post.
Your daughter was brave to come here in the winter! 😮 Actually, the last one wasn’t too bad, compared to some. The flowered dress (which I still have, even though it no longer fits) and the brown tux are from 1973 — August 4, to be exact – our wedding day. 😀 The shoes look rather silly, IMO, but they were the height of fashion back then. Interesting that your mom wore the same dress for your wedding. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Cheers!
P.S. Please DON’T bring back Disco! 😛 I’d have to try and find my “Disco Sucks” T-shirt.
I didn’t know most of this. I do now. Thanks for the history lesson.
Have a fabulous day, Debbie. ♥
Thanks for reading, Sandee! 🙂
A unique and great city. I tried to stand on the glass section of that tower and look down…could not do it. Love the Canadian…I mean peaback bacon.
I’m glad you enjoyed your Toronto visit. 🙂 That view is a little scary, for sure. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Buffalo.
Very cool! I have never been to Canada but it looks very interesting. Great concert shots! We’ve seen Rod, The Who and Scorpions too. Thanks for sharing!
Lots to do and see in Toronto! 🙂 And the concerts are always fabulous (but ridiculously expensive! 😮 ). Next up for us is HEART, (fourth time), at a beautiful outdoor venue, right on the lake. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. 🙂 Thanks for coming by.
Hi Debbie – lovely to read about Toronto … I think I’d rather not be tethered as I walk near the clouds! Wonderful idea though – because many are braver than I. Congratulations to the two of you … it looks to be a fun city to be a part of … cheers Hilary
Thanks for coming by, HIlary. 🙂 I wouldn’t have the nerve to try that Edgewalk, either. Cheers!