| September 1, 2005 | | | | rational, ordered planning were hallmarks of |
| | | | the style. The station is massive and takes |
| Hello from Toronto: A First Little Driving | | | | up an entire block on Front Street between |
| Tour -The City Viewed Through the Eyes of | | | | York Street and Bay Street. The Great Hall of |
| First-Time Visitors | | | | the Station is 250 ft. long and 84 ft. wide. |
| | | | |
| So my brother is in town, together with his | | | | Our walk continued further west on Front |
| wife and 2 friends from my little home town | | | | Street past the Convention Centre to the base |
| in Austria. It is everybody's first time in | | | | of the CN Tower and the entrance to the |
| North America and their initiation to | | | | Skydome, Toronto's multi-purpose stadium with |
| Toronto. Just to give you ideas of | | | | a retractable roof, now called the Rogers |
| dimensions: Austria has a population of about | | | | Centre. We then snaked our way up through the |
| 9 million and the country extends about 900 | | | | Entertainment District to Queen Street where |
| km from east to west while the Greater | | | | we admired Osgoode Hall, built in the 1830s, |
| Toronto area nowadays probably has about 4 to | | | | and now an oasis of green in the city. An |
| 5 million people and Lake Ontario alone is | | | | ornate iron fence, built in 1867, renowned |
| over 300 km long. The first thing my visitors | | | | for its peculiar "cow gates," surrounds the |
| noticed was the difference in size: the size | | | | property and its beautiful gardens. The cow |
| of the city, the size of the lake, the size | | | | gates in particular fascinated my visitors. |
| of cars, the size of supermarkets, and even | | | | |
| of refrigerators. | | | | Our next stop was at New City Hall and Old |
| | | | City Hall, opened in 1899, which racked up |
| On Sunday we started off with a little | | | | construction costs of more than $2.5 million |
| driving tour of Toronto where I first took my | | | | at the time which caused great controversy in |
| visitors down to the lakefront by the | | | | those days. Continuing past the Bay |
| historic Art Deco style R.C. Harris | | | | Department Store on Queen we passed the |
| Filtration Plant. All of them love water and | | | | Metropolitan United Church, an English style |
| to have a lake as big as an ocean so close by | | | | cathedral dating from 1872, whose churchyard |
| fascinated them. After a leisurely drive on | | | | was filled with people enjoying the warm day. |
| Queen Street through the quaint Beaches | | | | |
| neighbourhood we parked the car close to the | | | | Once back in the car we drove through the U |
| St. Lawrence Market and started our walk | | | | of T campus, my Alma Mater and we stopped |
| around. | | | | briefly to check out Hart House and Kings |
| | | | College. Then we headed down to Chinatown at |
| Since my brother is a chef and always loves | | | | Spadina and Dundas and my visitors marvelled |
| to purchase market-fresh food, I initially | | | | at this exotic, busy market area. Our last |
| took him to the St. Lawrence Market which | | | | stop on the tour was Kensington Market, a |
| always has an antique sale on Sunday. The | | | | lively little neighbourhood full of food and |
| food market is actually closed on Sunday. We | | | | clothing stores and restaurants where we |
| checked out the wares from old furniture to | | | | ended up picking up fresh vegetables, dry |
| cameras to various knick-knacks. | | | | beans, and a variety of cheeses for some of |
| | | | the scrumptious meals to come. My brother, |
| Our exploration continued westwards along | | | | the chef, marvelled at the variety of food |
| Front Street past historic 19th century | | | | available here, combined with the inexpensive |
| houses and of course past the famous | | | | prices a food lover's dream. |
| triangular-shaped Flatiron Building which has | | | | |
| a mural on its west side. Approaching Yonge | | | | We took our loot home where my husband was |
| Street we walked past the Hockey Hall of | | | | waiting for us with a big brunch to |
| Fame, a historic Beaux-Arts former bank | | | | strengthen ourselves for attending a birthday |
| building, the magnificent Royal York Hotel, | | | | party of one of my friends that had the motto |
| built in 1929, once the largest hotel in the | | | | of "let out your inner child". The party was |
| British Commonwealth. | | | | unique in that it involved such time-honoured |
| | | | Toronto traditions as hitting a piñada while |
| One of the things that fascinated my visitors | | | | a bunch of adults were playing with water |
| most was how old and new can coexist right | | | | guns, chasing one another around the house |
| next to each other: shiny skyscrapers are | | | | with buckets of water dropping on the |
| located right beside historic sandstone | | | | combatants from the second floor. |
| churches. Our walking tour continued past | | | | |
| Union Station, Toronto's impressive central | | | | I think our visitors had a full day, from |
| railway station, built between 1914 and 1927 | | | | getting a first taste of Toronto, to |
| as a joint construction project by the | | | | participating in a rather eventful birthday |
| Canadian Pacific Railway and Grand Trunk | | | | party, their first impressions were very |
| Railway (now the Canadian National Railway). | | | | positive and they were looking forward to |
| Its monumental scale, classical detail and | | | | exploring more of this exciting city. |