Toronto 2024

[Grant Lamontagne]

As the title says, Megan and I are in Toronto for a few days.  I lived here for a while years ago, and it's always great to be back here.

We arrived yesterday and are leaving tomorrow.

There will be picture soon, so bear with us as we try to pack as much as possible into a short time and I think we've been doing well so far!

Yesterday we visited the Royal Ontario Museum and today we went to St. Lawrence Market and we stopped by one of my old haunts- that was the absolute highlight of the trip for me, and was little more than a spur of the moment thing- but more on that later.

Megan is going to see Green Day with friends later, and I'll probably have some time to do a write up then, so stick around!

[AzteCypher]

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Okay, Megan is off to her concert and I am back at the hotel by myself watching Top Gear reruns.   

We had an early flight (5am) on Wednesday, and it's only a two hour flight to Toronto, which meant we had most of the day to play with in the city, especially since we couldn't check in to the hotel until 3 pm.

Unfortunately the flight wasn't super pleasant as we'd paid a bit to choose our seats and pre-pay for a meal, then the airlines switched our seats and forgot to load any of the meals on board.   

With any luck we will get our money back on that, but whatever.  poo happens as the saying goes.  We'd rushed around in the morning to get out the door, and were looking forward to breakfast on the plane, but it's only a two hour flight so we will wait and eat somewhere nice.

We hop on the UP, a new train service since I lived here 25 years ago, that goes between Union Station and Pearson Airport- hence the name UP.  Personally I m glad they didn't name it going the other way- good choice, marketing people!   

When we got to Union Station (Toronto's answer to Grand Central Station) we noted how well it cleaned up after it flooded just a few weeks ago we then hopped on the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto's subway, bus and streetcar service) and went off to Museum Station, where, coincidentally, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

The ROM was amazing- it pretty well covers everything from dinosaurs to interactive exhibits to modern animals and ecosystems to medieval weapons and tactics.  If you ever find yourself in or near Toronto, it's well worth taking the time to go here.  It's $30 per person, but well worth it.  Because we'd had such an early start and the weather was well over 30C we were exhausted and didn't make it all the way through.

Still, it was astounding- in the mineral and gemstones area we spotted this one million dollar coin.  Well, it was minted as a million dollar coin, but doing the math (well, making Chat GPT do the math ) with today's current gold prices, a million dollars is a bit off.

To calculate the value of 100 kilograms of 99.999% pure gold:

100 kg = 100,000 grams
Price per gram = $108.91 CAD
So, 100,000 grams * $108.91 CAD/gram = $10,891,000 CAD

Therefore, 100 kilograms of 99.999% pure gold is worth approximately $10.89 million CAD at the current market price.

But hey, the government made it and they are always a little off on valuing things, right?   

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Oh, and that was a Douglas Fir section.  not as big as the redwoods in our recent trip to California but still plenty big.  Sorry for the blurry photo, but I like how they labelled the rings to show how much of human history this tree has lived through.

As with many museums, some parts were closed for updating and whatnot, so the T Rex and mastodon skeletons weren't really on display.  If you went down a hallway and peered behind the partition you were able to see the King of dinosaurs, and we also managed to see the mastodon as well.

Wandering upstairs we managed to see all kinds of medieval art and armor- lots of good things to kill each other with and for!

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

After finally leaving the museum we headed off to the hotel, which was easy to find as it is a block away from this pointy building called the CN Tower- once the world's tallest freestanding structure, but as since been eclipsed by a number f buildings around the world such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Tokyo Skytree in Japan, the Shanghai Tower in China and a few others.  Still, Canadians are pretty proud of it, and it stands right over top of the Rogers Center, formerly known as the Skydome, or the place where the Toronto Blue Jays (MLB) and the Argonauts (CFL) play.

And apparently Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins, as Megan is experiencing first hand this evening.   

On the way to the hotel I got myself a street hot dog- I don't care who you are or what your diet is, if you are ever in Toronto, get a street hot dog.   25 years ago I pretty much lived on them, and I am very disappointed in the lack of street hot dogs in my current city of Halifax.  Years ago some restaurateur decided to get rid of street vendors by getting his buddy on city council to outlaw any food vendors who didn't have access to running water banned.  That means no hot dog carts, no street sandwiches, nothing.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to snap a photo of the hot dog as I ate it way too fast.

And the best part?

Twenty five years ago when I ate these things daily, they cost $5.

Twenty four years after Y2K they cost......

FIVE DOLLARS!

Dang I was happy about that!

Anyways, we checked into our hotel, got cleaned up, went out to supper, had a few drinks and the rest of the evening is a blur.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

This morning we got up and went for breakfast at a diner in an area called Don Mills.  If you've ever been to Toronto, you re probably familiar with the area as you've likely traveled on the Don Valley Parkway, locally known as the Don Valley Parking Lot, and the Don Mills were mills powered by the water flowing down the Don River.

None of that matters, other than we ended up in a neighborhood where I spent a lot of time, and so, after breakfast, I informed Megan we were taking a side trip- to a place I spent several years of my life, the Don Jail.   

I actually worked here for many years, at least sort of.

There was a jail called the Don Jail, which stood for many, many years, then was added onto with another facility called the New Don.  I worked in the New Don after the Old Don was shut down (still with me?) and I always wanted to see the Old Don, but it was at the time quite condemned.

Unless you happened to be Tom Cruise (which most of us aren't) and you were filming scenes for a movie called Cocktail in the basement of the Old Don, in which case you could go in there.

As I was not Tom Cruise (nor have I been since), I was never able to go into the Old Don- that is, until today.

The New Don has been torn down and a hospital has been built in it's place.  The Old Don was completely restored (well, not completely obviously!) and turned into the hospital administration offices.

The New Don was utilitarian and ugly as smurf, but the Old Don was made back when buildings were ornate and beautiful, and seeing the old fixtures, floors, bars etc redone was absolutely beautiful.  I am still smiling thinking about it and my time there, which is an emotion I'm sure very few people have when visiting a jail.

We visited the Death Row cells and we visited the punishment cells.  I visited the regular cells, which have all been glassed in as offices, but still retain the bars and doorframes.

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[Grant Lamontagne]

I'm sure very few people have as many fond memories of the Don Jail as I do, but the hospital staff I spoke to were very interested in hearing my stories and memories of the place.  Or they were very polite in tolerating me.

Either way, I had a great time, despite realizing I was way too fat to fit through the doors.   

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

These are the death row cells- I feel like after staying in one of those for any length of time I think I'd welcome the length of rope.   

Mind you, I have stayed in hotel rooms in my time that weren't much bigger.   

I also made a boo boo, and I apologize profusely for this, but I shot a 360 photo in the main entryway (the red stairs area above) and forgot to take regular photos of it.  And it was astounding.  The wrought iron dragon bracket below was one of many that were holding up three levels of catwalks leading up to a beautiful skylight.

I mean, I wouldn't suggest anyone goes to jail if they can avoid it, but you could do a lot worse than this one.

I love being back in Toronto and this was absolutely the highlight of the trip so far, at least for me.  Megan is probably enjoying her highlight as I type this.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

After the Don Jail we went to the St. Lawrence Market, which, if you like to cook and/or eat fine things, is exactly the place you want to find yourself.

Unfortunately as we had recently eaten a very large breakfast and had no way of preparing anything in our hotel room, the only purchases we made were a novelty Shih-Tzu on Guard Duty sign for my father and a rubber Toronto magnet for my fridge.  It's been a good fridge, it deserves a present to let it know that I appreciate it.

After the market we made our way back t the hotel, collected ourselves a bit, then went across the road for lunch.  We then came back to the hotel so Megan could be ready then, as I walked her to the TTC stop for her streetcar to the Rogers Center we saw something we didn't expect- the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Air Force Aerobatic Team.

I tried to get a photo, but I was quite unsuccessful, which is too bad because they were very cool.  Fortunately someone else was able to get some video of them.

https://youtu.be/ikRE-Lpjzvk?si=ndfINWfgytaLbEoj

And that brings us up to date!

Megan is at the show and I am having a nice quiet evening watching the Stig take a Cadillac around the track.   

Def

[Farmer X]

I am having a nice quiet evening watching the Stig take a Cadillac around the track.

With Clarkson, May, and Hammond? That, in my opinion, was the best Top Gear lineup.

I awlways enjoy seeing your vacation photos! Too bad you aren't in Windsor and able to cross the Detroit River...

[AzteCypher]

Looks like y'all are having a good time.

Buddy of mine just got back from a wedding in Toronto and he had a blast.  I've talked to the wife about visiting Toronto some time but she wants to go to Ireland first.  I reply that Canada is closer. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, there is no other version of Top Gear worth watching!

As for the Windsor thing, one of my closest friends is in Windsor and he keeps pestering me to visit as well. 

Might happen someday.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Looks like y'all are having a good time.

Buddy of mine just got back from a wedding in Toronto and he had a blast.  I've talked to the wife about visiting Toronto some time but she wants to go to Ireland first.  I reply that Canada is closer. 

If you come to Toronto you get to see this.   

I just took this while picking up Megan from the concert.

Def

[Frenchephaistos]

OK, rule of thumb. When you go for the Comte, you can't go wrong. I've yet to taste a bad one, even if the cheap ones are noticeably less tasty. I like cheese, and there are some grander ones but IMHO Comte always seems to hit the right spot. Oh, and the older, the better.

I've always wanted to visit Canada, especially Quebec which sports a French castle whereas LA or NY just don't. 
Now you've put Toronto on my bucket list as well ! 

[Farmer X]

I just took this while picking up Megan from the concert.

[Grant Lamontagne]

OK, rule of thumb. When you go for the Comte, you can't go wrong. I've yet to taste a bad one, even if the cheap ones are noticeably less tasty. I like cheese, and there are some grander ones but IMHO Comte always seems to hit the right spot. Oh, and the older, the better.

I've always wanted to visit Canada, especially Quebec which sports a French castle whereas LA or NY just don't. 
Now you've put Toronto on my bucket list as well ! 

I am going to make my French ancestors angry with this next statement, but here goes- I tend to prefer Italian cheeses over French cheeses.   

Quebec is beautiful.  I grew up in Quebec and we go there and/or pass through frequently.  Megan is a big fan of Montreal, but Quebec City is also not to be missed.  I think you will enjoy them both.  What is interesting is that France has an island not far from me, smack dab between my province of Nova Scotia and the province of Newfoundland called St. Pierre and Miquelon that you guys keep specifically to retain fishing rights on the Grand Banks.

But, it's closest shipping hub is Halifax, and we get much of the European exports here first, then trans ship them there. 

It's a place I have always wanted to visit myself!

Def

[Frenchephaistos]

I guess you'd find your French ancestors much more tolerant than you make them. I'm pretty sure they also enjoyed some good old Italian food, even if that meant having to invade huge chunks of the peninsula to get freebies… 
More seriously, what was the Frecce Tricolori doing there ? Is there an official reason ?

Funny enough, I was once offered a job at St Pierre et Miquelon (somewhat in the fishing business, but no boat involved). Turned it down at the time for good reasons, yet it was still a fun offer to consider for a  minute. If my family and I had gone, we would have represented 0,1% of the population… That would have been a whole different life !
I agree with you, Montreal and Quebec first in any case. Well, it's more of a dream than actual plans, but who knows ?

Well, back to your trip. Loved the Old Don. Thanks for sharing !

"We wouldn't suggest anyone go to jail if they can avoid it, but you could do a lot worse than this one."
The 1860 Michelin Guide