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