Toronto Viewpoints

I left off yesterday close to this location. Campbell House dates to 1822, built for Sir William Campbell and his wife. Campbell was chief justice of what was Upper Canada at the time. The house was moved here in the 1970s and turned into a local history museum.

I kept heading west along Queen Street. One of the side streets looking south has a good view of the iconic CN Tower, looking quite brooding against that sky- but the clouds weren't going to last long.

Then I started heading back the way I came. This utility box on Queen Street caught my eye.

I headed in the general direction of Trinity Square, which neighbours the Eaton Centre. This sculpture is inside an office building that borders the square.

And this one is right outside that office building.

Trinity Square includes some historic architecture, such as the Church of the Holy Trinity.

Here we have a view elsewhere in the square of a heritage building here.

It was time for me to get back to Union Station for my train. Here in the station (which is still seeing some renovation work being done) I paused to photograph some of the details.

I stepped back out front. The Royal York Hotel is across the street from Union Station. This fierce looking fellow guards one of the access points.

And so I had another perspective of the CN Tower, much brighter under mid-day sunlight. Union Station is down at lower left. Tomorrow I'm starting with Winterlude here in the national capital region.

Into The Big Smoke

The Big Smoke is one of several nicknames given to Toronto, capital of the province of Ontario. When I was leaving southern Ontario from my trip, I had time before my train was due to leave, and so went for a walk, both on the surface and using the extensive PATH network that links downtown buildings beneath the ground. My path first led me to Brookfield Place, which I've never been in before.

I passed by the Ed Mirvish Theatre on Yonge Street. It dates back to 1920. At the time of my visit, a production of Anastasia was playing. While I admittedly liked that animated movie, would it be so hard for theatre producers to come up with original works as opposed to adapting movies or putting together a story based on a rock album?

No, that's just too much work.

Just up the street is Yonge-Dundas Square. It is in my opinion the most hideous piece of real estate in the country: garish billboards everywhere, visual clutter. I didn't notice until I was putting this post together that the old Sam the Record Man sign, which once stood nearby here, now stands on a building rooftop here.

These two shots are inside the nearby Eaton Centre mall.

The geese sculpture set is at one end. Flight Stop is an installation by Michael Snow.

Here we have the city's war memorial, standing outside Old City Hall.

Old City Hall is now used as a courthouse. It stands near the present City Hall, and is here in the background at Nathan Phillips Square. The reflecting pool presently hosts skating.

Here we have a view of the present city hall. I vastly prefer the architecture of the old one.

Moving along, I passed by Osgoode Hall nearby. Its origins date back to 1829, and today it houses courtrooms and the offices of the Law Society of Ontario.

I took another shot of it on my way back from the furthest point I'd gone to.

University Avenue is one of the big north-south roads of the city, and it's close by. Here in the centre of the avenue is a monument for the South African War, with the grand Canada Life building to the left. This monument was designed by Walter Allward and dedicated in 1910. A decade later he would set to work on his masterpiece, the Vimy Ridge memorial in France.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Brown

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo. For November, that theme is Brown. You can see how others are interpreting this one right here.

I was passing alongside the National Arts Centre one evening in late April. The recessed lighting caught my eye, as did the exterior colour- appropriately brown.

Taken in July during a road trip into southern Ontario, this is a bas-relief, one of several in a subway station in downtown Toronto.

The rest of these were taken a few days ago in the same place, Major's Hill Park, while I was down here photographing fall colours. This sculpture is called Twist 1.5, dating to 1978. Alex Wyse and Ken Guild built this wooden spiral of British Columbia fir. I've shown it before, but decided it would be ideal to do so again, particularly with fall colours forming a backdrop. Buildings in the background of these shots include the Chateau Laurier, Parliament Hill, and the American embassy.

In Trinity Church

When I came back to Trinity Square, it was quieter than it had been when I'd been through earlier, what with a fire alarm sending workers out of the nearby building. The labyrinth set here was being walked by a woman.

Then I went into the Church Of The Holy Trinity. The progressive Anglican church is in the Gothic Revival style, and was built in 1847. It is open daily, works with the homeless, and has close bonds with the LGBT community. It also serves as a music and artistic venue.