Desolate
New Member
^Definitely use the TTC. It's pretty convenient.
You could pickup a couple of day passes for about $18 total (I think they're $9.00 each).
I wasa hoping ya had them. We have them here.
^Definitely use the TTC. It's pretty convenient.
You could pickup a couple of day passes for about $18 total (I think they're $9.00 each).
I'd recommend
1)the Annex (Harbord/Bloor St West/Dupont/Palmerston/Avenue Rd)
2)the Beach (Queen East)--just take the streetcar from one end of Queen St to the other--$6 and 4 hours well spent!
3)Queen St West (Spadina to Roncevalles, about a 2 hour stroll and well worth it!)
4)Roncevalles--contining the walk from Queen St West, maybe another 30 minutes
5)Eglinton and Yonge north to Lawrence
6)Mount Pleasant--St Clair to Eglinton (Yonge St excluded)
7)Kensington Market
8)Yorkville
9)King St East
10)Up Ossington to Dundas St West to about Dufferin (then down to Queen St West via Dovercourt Rd or Lisgar)
11)Baldwin/McCaul/AGO
12)College St West from Spadina to Ossington
13)Forest Hill Village (Spadina and St Clair)
14)Cabbagetown
Avoid: Yonge St, east to Parliament, Queen St West from Yonge to Spadina, the office district and anything north of Eglinton
Yeah, it's a big loop. Check out the system map on the TTC website to track what I suggested. I would expect it to be more like 2-3 hours.
GO I'm guessing is regional trains but what's a GO bus?
If this helps I'm an architecture buff, love transit. Study the history and neighborhoods of my own city so it's not actually that hard for me to kinda get a feel for a place like Toronto by listening and reading this site.
Our message board is eerily similar to yours.
The architecture-buff part reminds me of an inherent flaw in the "tourist marketing" of PATH: by treating it as a destination in and of itself, it all too often pays little or no regard to what lies overground, whether it be the TD Centre or anything else. It's treated as a faceless, dateless, placeless vacuumland like any old megamall. It isn't. And for true, curious architectural and urban buffs with a yen for the energy of being in The Financial Heart Of Canada, that's part of the fun.
Speaking of the TD Centre, one of Toronto's great instances of unsung urban poetry can only be experienced from the PATH during banking hours: ascending the escalator into Mies' banking pavilion. The monumentality positively envelops you, in a way that a prosaic street-level entry cannot. It's like you're ascending to the Pearly Gates of High Modernism. (And while there, you might check out what's happening at the Design Exchange next door--often a good free ground-floor exhibit. And hey, why not do what the Romans do and join the execs in buying an overpriced bowlful at Soup Nutsy down at concourse level.)
I did a search on Phillyist and had problems finding any refs or reflections on the changing PECO signage. Maybe it'd be different if Phillyist were more like Torontoist; I don't know...
And amidst all the chain stuff, Pages Books still lingers (for now).Urbandreamer's list is a pretty good one, although I would disagree with his suggestion that you avoid Queen Street west of Yonge. A walk along this street takes you past several of our best examples of architecture: Old City Hall, New City Hall, Osgoode Hall, Four Seasons Centre ("opera house"), the somewhat "monumental" University Avenue, Canada Life building, and a few others. Go as far as Spadina Avenue and see a bit of Chinatown. Also, this walk would offer several opportunities to get "street meat" (hot dogs vended from carts on the street), a Toronto experience and a fairly cheap and quick way to eat if you have limited time.
Avoid spending too much time in the PATH. It's essentially a mildly interesting shopping centre, and you'll see more up on the streets above it.
... ascending the escalator into Mies' banking pavilion. The monumentality positively envelops you, in a way that a prosaic street-level entry cannot. It's like you're ascending to the Pearly Gates of High Modernism.
I don't know if anyone will read this but I really loved visiting your city.
Loved it. Did all sorts of touristy things and still had an awesome time.
You should be very proud.
after four days I wanted to stay.