Back In The City

Toronto Pearson International Airport is starting to grow on me, being that I am here on a regular basis lately. Back in Toronto, the city was presenting itself from its worst side. It was grey, foggy, snowy and horrible. Our flight was severely delayed because of the weather. Therefore, it was already quite late when mum and I arrived at our Airbnb located in Little Portugal.

The good thing about Canada is that although there might be the odd spell of bad weather it soon clears up again. The sun was shining bright the next morning and there wasn´t a single cloud to be seen in the sky. It was the perfect weather to explore downtown Toronto with mummy. We took the subway downtown and walked all the way towards harbor front. Luckily, the ice on Ontario Lake was broken into huge ice floes allowing the ferry to pass to Ward´s Island. The weather was really pleasant, although the temperatures were still below zero. Nevertheless, there were barely any people on the island. We walked all the way from Ward´s Island to Toronto Island while watching the squirrels playing in the trees. It´s hard to believe that just a few months ago this park was bustling with people and the flowerbeds were bursting with beautiful plants. As you might know I printed a bunch of stickers with the logo of this blog before leaving for Canada. I gave a handful of those stickers to everybody I know and the rest I just stick to random places I travel to. Now, I am proud to say that you can find the stickers in over 5 countries. Obviously, mostly in places I travelled to recently. During my first trip downtown in September we went to Toronto Island, too. I left my mark on the famous signpost at the pier. I was really surprised to find the sticker still in place even now after all this time. In a way it´s quite reassuring to know that even though I might be leaving Canada soon there will still be a little something of me left here. By the time we got back to the mainland it was beginning to get dark and our feet were freezing cold. Nevertheless, it was still early. So, we jumped on the next streetcar heading towards the Distillery District. The Toronto Light Festival was taking place this week and there was a huge exhibition at the Distillery. First, we had to warm up a little though. Being that the cobblestone streets of the District are lined with old brick buildings, boutiques, arty and fancy shops we found ourselves in a chocolate shop serving all kinds of hot chocolate and dishes that make your mouth water. Apparently, the shop has its own chocolate factory in Montréal where all their products are made. I went for a spicy hot chocolate. Other than the super sweet instant-powder you buy in the supermarket this was real cocoa. Oh, it was lovely! I have to admit that I have a bit of a sweet tooth and I am a true chocolate lover. This shop was a great find! There was a lot more to see. Apart from the fact that the Distillery District is rather touristy with shops selling all sorts of souvenirs the Festival´s displays were really fascinating. One alley featured a piano and some square blocks that lit up when playing the piano. Not only could you listen to the piano, but the tunes were visible, too!

After this little tourist excursion, I wanted to show mum York University. This is the place I have spent the last four months after all. Therefore, we took the subway heading to North York the next day. First, we walked through York Lanes and had lunch at Second Cup. I told my mum how I always sat on one of the seats by the window watching everyone walking by while doing some work for uni. I must have spent hours in here… After that we took a walk across campus. I showed her the Tatham Hall building where I used to live and Calumet College. We walked past the York Lion´s stadium, where Prince Harry hosted the Invictus Games just a few months ago. When we walked through Curtis Lecture Hall mummy seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the size and number of people crowding the hallways. “Oh wow!”, was all she could say. Only then did I realise how used I got to this campus. When I first arrived, I got lost on a daily basis. Everything was so huge and confusing. The massive crowds didn´t really help either. But little by little I found my way around and I even got used to waiting in line for half an hour to get some food. In Germany these massive big corporation-like universities don´t exist. Although I told mum all about York and how big everything was it must have hit her seeing it all for herself. It was fun showing mum around and introducing her to this little world of mine though.

There is a well-known natural history museum in Toronto called ROM (which is the short version for “Royal Ontario Museum”). In the past, many people told me how great this museum was and praising it highly. Now, I wanted to see it myself. Mummy and I got off the subway at Museum Station and entered the futuristic looking building. The bottom floor featured exhibitions on China, Korea, Canada and the First Nations. I was delighted to find a huge exhibition on First Nations at the ROM. I feel like I know next to nothing about the history of Native Canadians. Other than the museum in Banff this exhibition was far more informative with lots of interesting things to look at. They had different gowns and even a huge birch bark canoe. My personal highlight was the traditional gown including the beautiful eagle feathers of the one and only “Sitting Bull”. Sitting Bull is probably one of the most important Indians of all times. While in constant battle with the U.S. government he led his tribe of Sioux across the border to Canada hoping to find a better life there. It was him preaching: “Only when the last tree has died, and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money”. True words that I admire deeply, and I think we all should live by. Apart from that the other exhibitions were great, too! I really enjoyed the one about biodiversity as there were plenty of hands-on experiences. An artificial forest was put up for example and you had to find a bunch of animals and plants well hidden in the foliage. Even in the department for dinosaurs there were lots of fossils one could touch. Although the exhibitions of the Natural History Museum in New York were more beautiful thanks to the handpainted backgrounds of each showcase there was more to do here. All in all, it was really fun although we did not get to see every single thing. This museum is far too big!

Since the weather was fabulous the next day and we didn´t want to spend all day indoors in some museum again we went out exploring the city. Toronto is known for some nice pieces of street art that are scattered across the city. Of course, it´s always great to take the streetcar or walk around and find a stunning piece of art spread on a wall or fence somewhere. Nevertheless, there is one location that features a whole street of colourful painted facades. The Graffiti Alley is located in a side street next to Spadina Av in Chinatown. It´s a dingy narrow alley but the graffiti are stunning nonetheless. After we walked the whole length of the block admiring the colourful murals we took the subway to King Station and started walking towards the Financial District. Mostly, there are posh restaurants and huge skyscrapers to be found. One hidden gem is the Dineen coffee shop though. Squeezed right next to the building where one of my favourite series “Suits” was filmed lays the historic building of a former fur clothing company. Nowadays, it is a prime location for people to sit and immerse themselves in some work on their laptops or for business people to pop in and grab a hot drink. We sat down for a cup of coffee while watching busy people rushing by, constantly talking into their phones. After, we walked a little further towards Front St. I read about of a huge food market that was supposed to be the best in the world according to National Geographic. As I am a huge fan of National Geographic I totally believed them and had to see this market for myself. Now, I might not be as experienced as the authors of National Geography when it comes to food markets but from what I can tell, this was a beautiful market! During week days people come to the historic building to shop on the farmers market. Vegetables, fruits and bread are on sale, as well as fresh fish, stinky cheese, meat and fancy wine. You can find anything here. If I lived in Toronto long-term I would come here on a regular basis to shop some local goods. For now, I had to settle for some freshly baked bagels and homemade maple butter. Yummy!

Two weeks flew by just like that and eventually it was time for mum to fly back to Germany. Although I would be seeing her again soon I was a little sad waving her goodbye at the airport. After all, we had such a good time and her flying back home meant that there were no more major adventures to come.