Toronto - 20 Years Later


Toronto in November? It does seem an odd choice, save for the promise of fall color and the fact that culturally rich big cities are a joy to visit any time of year. Besides, we thought we were being strategic when we planned this trip a few month in advance. The house building project I am involved in back in Olympia was supposed to be in a phase that didn’t require much of my attention, plus our traveler’s health insurance required us to be out of the US at least six months per year. So it made sense to dash off to Canada for a month. As it turned out, a schedule shift in the building project had me away while framing was still going on (not ideal), and we decided to ditch our crappy traveler’s insurance (IMG, by the way, sucks) so the six month requirement went away. Oh well.

I lived and worked in Toronto back in 1997-98 and always had fond memories of my time there, so naturally I wanted to return and share it with Deborah. Perched on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, Toronto has a population of 2.7 million (about the same as Chicago), with the greater metropolitan area reaching about 6 million. It’s often referred to as the most multicultural city in the world, and this is reflected in the names of the many neighborhoods: Little Italy, Koreatown, Little India, Greektown, or one of the six different Chinatowns in the greater Toronto area. We stayed in Little Portugal at a cozy AirBnB on a surprisingly quiet street not far from public transportation.

We spent a full month exploring Canada’s version of New York City and its bounty of museums, theatres, parks, diverse neighborhoods and vegetarian restaurants. As an added bonus during our stay, friends Jan and Jeremy flew up from Maryland to join us for a long weekend. Although it wasn’t exactly warm during our visit, with highs mostly in the 40s °F (and even a few days in the 50s!) the coldest weather didn’t hit until our last week when a couple of light snow flurries appeared and the temperature struggled to reach freezing. We are planning to return to Toronto one summer when we can make better use of the beaches and outdoor cafes, and not be burdened with five layers of clothing.


Downtown Toronto



Chinatown (one of six)



The funky Kensington Market neighborhood



View from Chinatown. The CN Tower in the distance is the tallest structure in the western hemisphere.


Row houses in Cabbagetown, so named for the garden produce favored by the Irish immigrants who originally settled here.



Here we are with friends Jan and Jeremy.



No shortage of impressive skyscrapers here.



Fall Color



Old City Hall



New City Hall (well, 1965 - not really that new)



Deborah on the boardwalk in the Beaches neighborhood by the shores of Lake Ontario.



19th Century buildings of the pedestrian-only Distillery District



University of Toronto




Stately home in the Wychwood Park neighborhood



My old, not quite as stately apartment building. It took me quite awhile to find it after 20 years.



By our AirBnB

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