Toronto City Hall

Part 1: Toronto and Getting There...

Friday, August 24th - London to New York

I had initially thought that I would take today off but since I seem to have a distinct lack of vacation days I figured that I would put in some time in the morning since my flight was scheduled to leave in the early evening. Turning on my computer to attempt to get some work done I was plagued with problem after problem (threatening the very survival of the computer as I knew it…in the contest of wills I am in NO doubt who won). I managed to hastily get a few last things done such as synchronising my computer with my new palm computer – of which, I am sorry to say, you will doubtless hear a great deal about throughout this narrative – it contains my complete itinerary and also a really neat guide to restaurants in New York. (I promise I will not dwell too much on this, skip the next bit if you are already bored…) This guide contains reviews from Zagat about many restaurants as well as information about movie theatres, but the restaurants are what interests me. Each restaurant has a small review, address information but most importantly, a map indicating how to get there from wherever you are in the city. You first tell it where you are (the corner of such-and-such and such-and-such) and it will tell you which restaurants are close, if you wish, or give you directions to a restaurant you select, either walking or taking the subway along with a map (which you can zoom in and out of and display all the various street names). This should be helpful, I have already told it what a few of the restaurants I want to visit, I should be able to figure out, at any point in time, wherever I am, the closed restaurant on this list. Did I mention it is free?

I began packing over the past few days. Since I am trying to return a few things to :travel:na:canada in the possible anticipation that I may be leaving England in January – I had packed two suitcases to the absolute limits of what I would be allowed to check in to the plane. “Leaving England” you ask? Yes, currently, I am living in England just to the Southwest of London. I have been here for almost four years now and, perhaps, the time is right to move on.

The bags are VERY heavy, containing books and other bulky or heavy items. Each bag is below my individual limits (just barely – according to the bathroom scales I really bought just for this purpose…hey, what do I need them for?). I was not about to drag them to the train station about three blocks away (American blocks that is, not British who would could a building as a block, as I understand it – STREET blocks) so when I picked up my return bus ticket to the airport (it leaves from the train station) I made sure no one would be upset if I dropped my luggage off for a few minutes with my car then returned and ran back to the station. This I did, taxing my energy to the fullest.

I caught the bus at 2:30 and we headed through the traffic (it is a Friday after all, at the M25 no less) to Heathrow. I checked in with no problems (I was told I was slightly over the limit but they did not really seem to bothered…one worry down) and waited for the plane to start boarding. It was a surprisingly small plane and I did not really have a chance to sleep (try as I might) and no good movies on the individual TVs they had in the back of each seat…I did have a few good things to eat though – I am learning to ALWAYS get the vegetarian option on the plane as it seems to be worlds ahead of any meat they might have on offer. I think I had a told of about 1 hour of sleep during the whole trip. Hopefully I will get some sleep tonight, we shall see.

I arrived into the surprisingly small JFK airport (though I understand there are a few terminals) and had no problems in customs (a relief) as I passed through into the chaos that was outside. It was VERY hot and humid, quite a surprise after the cool of the trip and airport. The terminal at JFK was also under renovation so it was very confusing to see what was going on.

I had booked a hotel quite near Le Guardia as that is where I leave from tomorrow (yes, I said leave from, and yes, I said tomorrow). Now, it was up to me to figure out how to get there, as it was about a 20-minute trip by car. I was told that there was an inexpensive shuttle that I could get to Le Guardia then take the hotel's free shuttle to the hotel but, after finding the travel information booth, I was told it was not operating at this time of night so I had to get in the line (queue) for taxis. Not nice. Lugging around the amount of luggage I have was also not a pretty site…

After queuing for quite some time I was handed a guide to taking taxis from the airport and I enlisted the driver's help to get the luggage into the trunk (boot) of the cab. There was a bit of confusion as they were going to charge me $35 for the 15 minute ride (!) since it was a “flat rate” for travel from the airport into other areas of the city (it turns out that Le Guardia is in Queens, wherever that is – hey, I just got here, I don't yet know the city!). Well, the taxi driver did not seem to care and charged me by the meter (thank God) and we chatted a bit as he weaved in and out of traffic along a very busy highway heading towards Le Guardia at a fairly great rate of knots (quickly). He mentioned that this was the first time he had picked up anyone for the airport and seemed quite friendly.

The first thing I noticed when I got in the cab – beyond the obvious plastic barrier that can be closed and locked by the driver – were the notices on the back of the front seat that included information about “taxi rider rights” (things like “driver must speak English”, etc) and how to complain along with detailed information about the driver (photo, name, registration number, complaint phone number, etc.). Really quite interesting and, frankly, reassuring after hearing some of the horror stories that you have no doubt heard about unscrupulous cab drivers.

We passed by Shea Stadium (did not really recognise it, only knew what it was because of the name on it) – VERY big and it looked like there was a game on as it was lit up.

The hotel is gorgeous – the Marriott – not the first Marriott I will stay in on this trip either (hoping that the reservations are valid). It is right beside the rather small looking Le Guardia airport. My room is a few floors up and I can see the art-deco airport from my window. The room is quite pleasant with everything you would expect in a hotel of this quality (large bed, comfortable sheets, lots of channels on the TV, etc.). No swimming pool though. Doesn't matter since all I want to do is sleep.

Saturday, August 25th - Digression: New York to Toronto

I have definitely thrown out my back. This is QUITE annoying on only the second (well, really, first) day of my holiday. I think it was my lugging of the luggage through the hotel in the morning. I got up fairly early (I HATE being late for flights), around about 7:00 and dragged my luggage into the hallway, stopping to admire the view of both the airport and Shea Stadium before heading down to the front lobby to wait for the shuttle bus (one every half hour) to take us on the five minute trip down the road (and over the highway) to the airport. Even though the main airport terminal cannot be more than 400 meters away it is on the other side of a major expressway and the hotel is on a side road so we had to go some distance to be able to cross the expressway. Having said that, it was free and the driver helped me with my luggage (by this point I was having trouble standing up straight anyway) – definitely worth the tip that I gave him.

I was able to get myself to the check-in (being promptly asked if I wanted an earlier flight – since I was more than two hours early – I declined since if I arrived early I would still have to wait for my car rental so no great hurry…) and get rid of the heavier luggage (though I was still stuck with my laptop – struggle, struggle). I headed to the basement where there was a small food court and had a good breakfast (including a GREAT bagel – my FIRST New York bagel!) and looked out onto the tarmac where there were a few planes parked.

I was REALLY feeling the pain so I sat for a few minutes and tried to read but it was unbearable (sorry about me going on about it). I tried to get up and move about as it seemed to go away after walking for a few minutes but I only got about 30 meters before I had to stop and lean against a railing and hope that the pain would go away. Serves me right I suppose, doesn't make it less painful though…

I picked up some extra strength pain pills (and a few American chocolate bars – I have a thing for Butterfinger…) and then sat for a few minutes watching the news before getting to the gate for the flight to Toronto. You see, since I was in New York I figured that it would be a good excuse to visit Toronto and some of my relatives who live there (or thereabouts), in this case my grandmother (on my father's side, who lives in Toronto) and my grandfather (on my mother's side, who lives near Toronto with his new wife). I also figured I would do a bit of sightseeing and shopping while I was at it (and get rid of this damn heavy luggage).

It was a short trip on the small plane to Toronto and we had a great view of Manhattan out the window along the way (I was on the left side so I could see the whole city as we climbed up and away). We also passed directly over Niagara Falls and the pilot banked so we could also have a good look at that (too bad my camera was packed…). It was a very clear day and the trip was quite short (though they threw a snack at us anyway).

We arrived at Toronto and were cleared through customs VERY quickly (no questions asked about my luggage, interestingly, and I went over the customs regulations and they seemed to indicate I had nothing to declare…Ok…). I did have a bit of trouble because I had been in the UK less than a day ago and due to the fear over “Foot and Mouth” (largely from about a year ago) they had me walk over a disinfectant mat – funny that they didn't do this in New York when I arrived there – also odd that :travel:na:canada made me walk over the mat after I had been walking around New York for quite a number of hours already – oh well, don't question bureaucracy. It was a VERY long walk in the terminal to where the bus was to pick me up to get to the car rental agency (annoying that it was not in the terminal itself…). My back did not like this…

I waited for a few minutes and hopped aboard the bus as it arrived at the stop. The driver was very good in helping me with my bags (seems to be nice people around if you are nice yourself…). I had a great chat with the driver as we made our way through the back streets near the airport, with the hotels all around. He was discussing the summer that Toronto has had – VERY hot and humid, quite unusual for the area. As we approached the car rental agency my heart sank – I had made a mistake. I had got on the wrong bus, I was not with the DISCOUNT rental agency I was with DOLLAR (hey, they both are Ds, OK?). I apologised profusely and the driver did not seem too put off as he returned me to the airport so I could catch the RIGHT bus.

This time, I was correct and we made our way to a hotel right near the airport. We took our luggage through the front lobby to the small office near the back of the hotel (in one of the meeting rooms, it looked like) to get our cars. There was quite some consternation going on, I will tell you. All they had for people to rent were “Pontiac Montana”s. Now, if you do not know what this is, it is a people mover car that seats 8 people – it is MASSIVE. There was a small Asian lady in front of me who was quite upset about the situation and was demanding the compact car that she had booked (as I had also done). They were not swayed, though a few people eventually said they would take cars that had not yet been cleaned rather than a Montana. Me? I didn't care, a massive car, OK, a bit of a problem but I can cope…They did not even flinch at my EU (European Union) driver's license…They assured me that the Montana was not so bad on gas…We shall see.

The first thing I did after getting to the car…er…bus, was to re-pack my luggage. I had split the weight of my luggage between two bags so each bag would be allowed on the plane but I need to get all of the things I wanted to ship to my mother (where she would store it for my return to :travel:na:canada, whenever) in Winnipeg (Canada) into one bag so that I could use the other bag for the remainder of my trip. I did this (doubtless to the enjoyment of people in the parking lot and the hotel who were watching) and then hopped in my bus for the trip to downtown. It was quite an experience, definitely had a good view of the road as I went along. It is a good thing I know the area from when I lived here as I made my way along the highways and eventually, along the Gardner Expressway along the lake and then up Young Street, turning off to find the bus depot. I managed to find the bus depot (thank God they had parking! You would not BELIEVE how expensive it is to park in downtown Toronto) and lugged my now EXTREMELY heavy luggage into the depot and plopped it on the scales. How was I supposed to know there was a limit on the weight of these things? Well, he overlooked the 3…4 pounds I was over and I got a VERY good price to ship it to Winnipeg (MUCH cheaper than any other method: mail, parcel post, etc).

I backed up my bus (surprising that there isn't the “*beep* *beep*” that you might expect…and headed back into the downtown area, parking under City Hall which is quite convenient for the places I wanted to visit (it took me about 10 times going back and forth to get the bus into the parking spot – nasty!). I have always visited certain stores when I have been in Toronto that I find quite interesting. Some people might call them “geeky” but I like them. I walked down Queen Street (heading west) and was surprised to see the number of people (I suppose it IS a Saturday) and a lot more beggars than I remember from my last visit. It is also a lot dirtier and crowded than before as well. As I passed by the “City TV” (home of MuchMusic – the MTV of :travel:na:canada) building they had a large stage set-up in their parking lot and were playing some (loud) reggae – very nice, but many people on the sidewalk as I passed by. I really like this area since there are all sorts of interesting little shops (one selling just condoms, others selling jewellery, still more selling computer bits – the ones that interest me, bookstores, etc.). I always visit a neat “Surplus” shop which has all sorts of interesting little bits – I don't often buy things but I like to get there to look around a bit.

I made the LONG walk (my back was feeling a BIT better, as I said, with walking it seems to help) back to Young Street and I was surprised to see the number of stores that are now closed and the amount of construction – one whole block just north of Eaton Centre was completely demolished. Off to the World's Biggest Bookstore for a wander around for a little while – It is interesting that New York also claims to have the Worlds Biggest Bookstore in the Barnes & Noble…(according to my guidebook).

I dropped a roll of film off for one hour developing for the visit to my grandmother for this evening and headed up Queen Street, eventually, about 12 blocks to the other store I always visit (though it used to be a bit more convenient – opposite the surplus shop on Queen Street) which is a Science Fiction (only) bookstore. It was a LOT smaller than I recall their older shop being and nothing really “grabbed me” so, with not much success so far in terms of shopping (I had picked up some portable headphones at the surplus place and that was it so far) I headed back down Young. I stopped to grab a Slurpee – I REALLY miss them in the UK – No 7-11s – I don't know how I survive. I stopped for a few minutes to let my back work it's magic on my pain receptors before I returned to pick up my photos and then I headed across the street and spent some money. There are about 4 or 5 really big record stores two blocks north of Eaton Centre on Young street with Sam's being the most famous but fighting with HMV for the honour of being the biggest store there. I dropped a fair amount of cash at Sam's picking up some albums I have not bought in the UK because of the price (they are NOT cheap CDs anyway – Ok, they are opera, you caught me out!). I also had a shopping list from a friend in the UK who wanted a few albums but they were too expensive here so I did not buy them (I am going to be in New York, after all).

I was still a bit early but I made my way (slowly) along Bloor Street to visit my grandmother for supper. It was a good drive with a LOT of traffic – but I wasn't in a hurry. It was quite interesting with all the various ethnic communities as I drove along (Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, African, etc.). Quite a lot of restaurants I would not mind trying…

The visit with my grandmother was very pleasant – it was just the two of us and we had a great evening talking about things. She keeps in touch with me all the time while I am in the UK, even more so than my mother – I am really grateful for that. She has a bad back so we both had trouble getting around all evening – it would have been quite amusing if it wasn't so painful…

Eventually, I left with quite a lot of gifts and made my way to my hotel that was back near the airport (for convenience?). My mother who has stayed there a few times recommended the motel and I had no great trouble finding it (it was also pointed out by the car rental shuttle driver – the first one). The room is very nice with much of the comforts that I enjoyed last night at Le Guardia - - it seems to be a bit bigger. The TV is very good with lots of channels as well.

It is quite late, and I think I should get some sleep, it has been a BUSY day.

Sunday, August 26th - Toronto

Another incredibly busy day – these holidays are going to kill me yet, can't wait to get back to work to relax (!).

It was an early morning as I woke up before my alarm. This is common with me – I seem to always be able to wake up a few minutes before my alarm clock, regardless of what time it is set for. Even though it was early I had missed the free breakfast which seems, for some strange reason to be only before 7:00 in the morning.

I wanted to beat the traffic to my destination for the morning, which is the CNE. The CNE is the “Canadian National Exhibition” which is the largest annual exhibition in Canada (or I think it still is). Once I found out that I would be in Toronto during the time the “Ex” was on (it runs for almost a month – August – until Labour Day) I had to go see it. The last time I was at the Ex was I don't know how many years ago and things have really changed.

I was grateful to be able to park quite close to one of the gates, but I was not aware that the buildings at the end of the site that I parked nearest to are no longer used for the Ex, so I had a bit of a walk ahead of me. The “parking lot” is actually on the grass of a park that stretches along the shore of the lake in this whole area (this is where they have always had parking) and it is NOT cheap (a flat rate, something like $8). I was about 6 parking spots from the closest point to the gates but still I had to cross a busy road (Lakeshore Blvd) and walk down the road to the front gates. The buildings had not yet opened when I arrived but we were able to wander around the grounds as everything began to open up. There were not that many people around and throughout my visit I noticed that there did not seem to be as many people as I am sure used to attend the Ex. It seems to be a lot smaller as well, with only about 5 or 6 buildings now from the 8 or 9 before.

The Ex is much more than just the (obligatory) rides, there is also the famous Food Hall (with many different places to get something to eat – or foodstuffs to take away) and the Horse Building. I wandered around and ended up sitting in front of the Food Hall waiting for it to open. There were a few stalls open but they were not selling anything interesting to eat so I waited.

When the hall opened, I went in and wandered around for a while, looking for something interesting for breakfast. It is much like the last time I visited (however long ago) with stalls all around the perimeter of the building and then rows of stalls at an angle through the middle of the building with a large part of one half devoted to seating (picnic tables). I eventually decided on what looked to be some good home-make perogies (not bad) and Kubasa. I managed to also squeeze in a bit of Mexican food (a 99-cent taco and a desert). Picking up a number of chocolate bars (also on special, something like 6 for $3) I headed out and on to the next building which happened to be the horse building.

The Fountain Near the Bandstand

I have allergies and I am allergic to horses but I always like to wander through this building. I made it to the centre ring where there was a contest on judging the best-groomed horses for younger people (teenagers it looked like). I watched as the judge went from horse to horse. When I first arrived the contestants were still grooming their horses (I take it they had a set amount of time to do this), including putting elaborate decorations of ribbon and what looked like artificial flowers in the horse's manes. It was interesting (though the one I liked did not get the ribbon…). I was beginning to have trouble breathing but I made my way over to the main show ring in the next building and watched the show. It was not only horses but also a fair amount of variety performances as well including a comedian. The “chuck wagon” race (only two wagons) was quite good as were the children performing acrobatics on the backs of horses. The show was well attended too – with probably about 500 people in the audience. They had clowns to pit one side of the arena to the other (I think our side won…). This is largely as I remembered the Ex with the horses and this type of show, it was a relief to see it still around.

CNE Bandshell Outside Horticultural Building (now children's play area)

I noticed a sign to a cat show so I paid that a visit. It was on the second floor of the area building and was not really that big. It was funny to see a few areas with judges spreading out a cat like a mat while they were describing the judging process. The way they handled the cats like a rag (and the cats seeming not to mind terribly much) was quite amusing. The cats were very beautiful and many of them were in elaborate cages and had equally elaborate names. I am not all that allergic to cats.

I made my way from the arena into the Multi-Cultural building that is in the new “National Trade Centre”. This is a new complex for me and it is VERY large, with a sweeping front entranceway all along the side of the exhibition halls. There were two large halls with booths set up in rows from various countries and selling various products (though some of the booths were simply commercial, like a local electronics store, someone selling the latest “slicer and dicer” for the kitchen, etc.). Most of the booths were ethnic and each was labelled with which country they were from. This is another traditional building for the Ex and one that I always enjoy. I wandered in and around the various booths that were selling all sorts of handicrafts and even some foodstuffs. It was quite interesting.

National Trade Centre near Prince's Gate (CN Tower in Distance)

Across from the Trade Centre there was another building hosting an agricultural display. Half of it I could not go into (the bit with livestock) because of the fact that I had been in the UK a few days ago (within the past 30 days was the limit, regardless of whether or not you had been near or in a farm) but I was able to look at the chickens which they had mocked up an egg-laying assembly line (and a chicken hut). It was actually quite interesting – it was very much “pro” agriculture and very practical information. This building was the building that used to house the Multi-Cultural booths that are now across the road.

I stopped for a few minutes just outside and sat beside a small fenced off area containing two ostriches. They were just sitting there (as was I) and we looked at each other for a few minutes as I relaxed. They are VERY big birds and I was able to pick up a feather floating by from one of them…

I wandered through the midway, which seems a bit smaller, and to Ontario Place. This is a complex to the south of the Exhibition grounds that has a number of theatres, a water park, bumper boats, paddle boats, exhibitions, etc. Access to the grounds is free with the entrance to the Ex so I wandered through. I remember a lot of this from when we used to visit when I was a child and it was quite startling to see things again now. I wandered past the Water Park to an area that I don't remember, a walk along the shore of Lake Ontario. I sat for a few minutes on a rock on the breakwater and watched the water (with the loud howling of a child in the background – for 15 minutes her parents did not seem to be able to do anything…oh well).

The paths meandered through the complex, I passed a number of thrill rides which were not here the last time I visited and there are a number of new paths through some trees. It is all quite pleasant. I headed back across the bridge (across the busy Lakeshore Blvd) into the Exhibition Grounds once again. Now, I visited the Hobby building which was quite good, but much smaller (and in a smaller building) than when I last visited. There were a number of stalls selling various things for collectors (old videos, coins, stamps, Pokemon cards, etc.).

I was just in time to catch the Lumberjack show that was between the Hobby building and the Food Hall. They had a number of makeshift stands set up so I got a good seat and waited for the show to begin. For a number of years they have had these shows where a number of lumberjacks show off their skills from scaling incredibly tall wooden pillars to hacking through logs in contests of speed and also the use of chainsaws to make pieces of art (they made the obligatory dolls chair for a member of the audience “Awwwwwww….”). It was a fun show.

I wandered through a building just to the south of the Hobby building which was devoted to sports just as the rain started coming down. Though it was quite hot today, as we watched the Lumberjack show we could see the black clouds moving in from the west. I had a raincoat (never unprepared when you have been in England for as long as I have) so it did not really bother me (though the heat inside the jacket certainly did!).

I was pretty tired by now so I made one last wander through the grounds, stopping briefly to watch a concert being put on by some African singers on the main bandstand (with seating for many hundreds) outside but the rain came down quite hard so I had to return to the Hobby building briefly before finally heading back to the car, er, bus. I only had picked up a few things at the show so I was quite pleased with myself as I performed some tricky manoeuvres to get out of the “parking lot” and get onto the Gardner Expressway for my next destination which was Burlington, where my grandfather lives.

I took the slow route, exiting the highway at Oakville and driving along the lakeshore which is much nicer than the highway while it winds it's way along through small towns, marinas, parks and the like. I was not in a great hurry (though they were expecting me for dinner!). I had no trouble finding my way there after the many years I had lived in this area.

It was a great visit and dinner with my grandfather, his wife Joan and my Aunt Lois (who is planning to visit me in England in a month or so). We spent a lot of time just chatting away – it was great to see everyone after so many years. The last time I saw my grandfather was before I left for England – JUST before, we discussed. I had dropped by on my way to the airport to London.

It was a late night as I headed out, talking for a few minutes with Lois before finally returning to the hotel, by this time, well after midnight. I did happen to stop and fill the bus with gas before I actually got onto the highway, stopping to talk for a few minutes to the attendant. I paid what seems like nothing for the gas, after being used to the prices in England.

I am tired. Good night.

⇒ Continue to Part 2: New York I