Hello from Toronto - An Exploration of Toronto's West End

One of the beauties of Toronto is its diversity, theRiver.Once we had reached the southern edge of
fact that hundreds of ethnic groups from all over thethe park we turned northwards again and walked
world congregate here in this metropolis and givepast Colborne Lodge, the home of Jemima and John
their distinct flavour to this urban mosaic ofGeorge Howard, a monument to a couple that helped
cultures.Since I had already taken my Europeanto create one of Toronto's largest parks. The
visitors on a walking tour of downtown, coveringRegency-style cottage, built in 1837, is also a perfect
most of the main sights, as well as on a bicycling tourexample of the architecture that was so popular in
of Toronto's waterfront, I decided it was time tothe early 19th century.After High Park we headed
show them some of Toronto's residentialfurther west through the lively Bloor West Village
neighbourhoods for an authentic feel of the cityneighbourhood, which features many stores and
away from the big tourist sites.We started in therestaurants, many of them Ukrainian. A craving for
East end and drove through East York, an up andsmoked sausages and cabbage rolls can definitely be
coming neighbourhood, originally working class, wheresatisfied here. Then we turned down from Bloor
many of the older bungalows are now beingStreet towards the parking lot right next to the
upgraded into two-story homes. Crossing the LeasideHumber River. We parked our car and went for a
Bridge over the Don River, we explored the upscalehalf hour walk up the path by the river. I explained
Leaside Neighbourhood, featuring beautifully keptthat the Humber River leads towards salmon
houses sheltered by a canopy of huge trees.Makingspawning grounds and every fall thousands of brightly
our way over through the equally upscale Moore Parkcoloured salmon make their way up the rapids. We
Neighbourhood we crossed the Mount Pleasant ravinealso saw several grey herons, stalking their slippery
to get to the highrise towers of Yonge Street.prey.A nice gentleman, originally from New York City,
Further west on St. Clair I turned north towardsstopped beside us and asked if we wanted our
Upper Canada College, one of Toronto's foremostpicture taken. I immediately spotted his accent and
private high schools, an appropriate anchor point forhe admitted he had been in Toronto since 1963, I
the elite Forest Hill neighbourhood. On our driveguess he still hadn't lost his accent. He gave us some
through this exclusive area, my visitors noticed all therestaurant tips and walked on with his dog. A nice
horseshoe-shaped driveways in front of thelittle interlude.All this walking had made us hungry and
mansions, something that I had never even noticedwe wanted to return home where my brother would
before.Heading back down to St. Clair we drove pastfix us a delicious lunch. The last part of our West End
the multi-ethnic area around Bathurst Street,exploration included the very upscale Kingsway
continuing our trek westwards towards Corso Italia,neighbourhood, with its mansions, expansive front
another Italian neighbourhood in Toronto. Mylawns and majestic trees. From there I drove back
European visitors commented on how green the citythrough the Annex neighbourhood and up the
is, something that struck them as very differentRosedale Valley towards the Don River Valley, where
from many European cities. They also noticed thatI crossed the river on Pottery Road. Again, my
the residential neighbourhoods very extremely quietvisitors were commenting on the huge amount of
and peaceful and that all the hustle and bustle andgreen space that Toronto had to offer.Our second
noise was confined to the main streets. We enjoyedlast destination along our driving tour was Chinatown
looking at the little corner stores, displaying flowers,East, a collection of Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean
fruits and vegetables and the lively neighbourhoodsstores at the intersection of Broadview and Gerrard
with all the shoppers.Then we drove back south toStreets, followed up by Little India further east on
Bloor Street and explored the Polish area aroundGerrard. The ethnic mosaic in Toronto truly creates
Roncesvalles Avenue, right next to an area full ofsome astounding neighbourhoods and the diversity as
stately houses and majestic trees on the easternwell as the large amount of green spaces had left an
outskirts of High Park.Toronto's largest park was ourimpression on my European visitors. They
next destination. High Park features a variety ofcommented that away from the downtown core,
sports facilities, including baseball, tennis, a swimmingToronto didn't even seem like a large city, but more
pool and is a mecca for fitness buffs. There is also alike a colourful collection of villages.Susanne Pacher is
small zoo with various bovine creatures, goats andthe publisher of a website called Travel and
other smaller animals. The heart of the park ofTransitions( Travel and Transitions deals with
Grenadier Pond, a beautiful natural body of waterunconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips,
surrounded by willow trees. Various fishermen werereal life travel experiences, interviews with travellers
practicing their hobby, although we did not knowand travel experts, insights and reflections,
what type of fish they might catch.We strolled alongcross-cultural issues, contests and many other
the pond while overhead the "Snowbirds", a team offeatures. You will also find stories about life and the
rather outdated Canadian fighter jet that have antransitions that we face as we go through our own
unnvering habit of crashing, were practicing for thepersonal life-long journeys.Submit your own travel
Air Show. They were doing loops and flying in variousstories in our first travel story contest( and have a
formations, sometimes surprisingly close to some ofchance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the
the highrise buildings right next to the HumberAmazon River.