Into The Big Smoke

Toronto is the capital of the province of Ontario, and business central for the country. It bears its share of nicknames, including the Big Smoke and Hogtown. This is actually the first shot I took on the road trip, in an area beneath the downtown core. This being late on a Saturday afternoon, the area was largely deserted.

Pretty much the same view, but on the morning that I was getting into Toronto to return home. The PATH network is a system set beneath the downtown core linking numerous office buildings and landmarks. Retail stores abound here, and it's particularly busy at rush hour. I was here around nine thirty in the morning, so rush hour was over. 

I had arrived in Toronto around a half hour earlier in Union Station, which is linked to PATH. The station is a grand one, constructed between 1914 and 1920 and is the third of its kind. The last time I was in Toronto it was under the siege of renovations. That appears to still be the case, as pedestrian detours and construction cladding was still to be found. This transportation hub handles passenger trains, city transit, and GO commuter services.

Here we have a view of the building from the outside.

I had time on my hands, so I decided to get some walking and photography in. The Eaton Centre is a large mall downtown with a glass roof overhead. It also features a set of life sized sculptures of Canada geese hanging from above. Flight Stop is a 1979 installation of fibreglass that is an institution in the city, by the artist Michael Snow.

This particular monstrosity is called York-Dundas Square. This was deemed a revitalization effort and a public square, finished in 2002. The fountains are a nice touch. But the place is surrounded by endless billboards and corporate logos, which leads me to muse on strangling the bloody prat who came up with the idea.

Nearby a street view includes a glimpse of the iconic CN Tower.

And for today I finish with something that's iconic in a way that would shock the Sisters Of Little Or No Mercy. Zanzibar is a nightclub that goes back decades along Yonge Street, and which has been a strip club since at least the 1970s. More from Toronto to come.