I caught this wonderful red sandstone carving on a house on Spadina Rd built in 1894 for a former mayor of Toronto. This devil/satyr (?) looks to me as if he knows how to have a good time as I hope all of you do too. Have fun, be safe, and enjoy the New Year's eve!
I thought I should show you what our present-day streetcars look like so I ventured down to the Bathurst St station and caught this one just leaving the station. There are 11 streetcar routes in downtown Toronto and they provide most of the surface transit service in the core of the city. There are also some articulated cars that are almost twice as long as this one! As you can see in the background we finally got a bit of snow last night.
In November the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) held an open house to show off a mock-up of our new streetcars - not sure when we will see the real ones on the street. A huge tent was erected at one of the transit yards and this model of the front half of a new train was unveiled. The real cars will be 30m long, have more & better seats, bicycle accommodation and air conditioning. What amazed me was the number of people (with cameras) who turned up for the viewing!
Located in the heart of Little Italy on College St, the Royal Cinema is located in a wonderful Art Moderne building which was constructed in 1939 and opened then as the Pylon Cinema. Threatened with closure in 2007 new operators took it over and it now shows 2nd run and indie/art films in the evening and during the day functions as a post-production studio for film and TV. I love that the original signs and building details have been maintained and restored during its upgrade! And that a middle eastern restaurant flourishes in Little Italy.Taking part in Signs, Signs. For more signs click here.
I think I have captured them all now - this is the last of the bike stands beside the ROM and I am pretty sure that this references the dinosaur collection of the museum (which is quite wonderful). I have never seen a bike on this one possibly because there is always a food truck parked right beside it and the serving window is right behind the stand. I have heard that the same artists who did these ROM racks have done another series in the city so will have to check that out!
Wandering past the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) I managed to catch a pic of another of the bike stands which previously had been obstructed by too many bikes. The stands are meant to reflect the collection inside the museum but for the life of me I can't figure out what this one is supposed to represent! Any ideas?
I hope all of you who celebrate it are having a Merry Christmas and those who don't are having a great day too. This tiny red skate is my favourite Christmas tree decoration so I thought I would let it shine for the day. I will try to get around to some blogs but if I miss you - Merry Christmas!!
Every winter since 2004 the Koreatown BIA (business improvement area) on Bloor St has installed this gorgeous tiger of lights to brighten up the dreary days and to act as a symbolic guardian of well-being and prosperity for the community. A nice change from the usual Christmas light displays, he is 17' x 8.5' and is made up of 22,000 LED bulbs!
This pic typifies what is happening all over Toronto - someone buys a perfectly good older home, tears it down and then builds to the maximum size that the city will allow. Even in the wealthiest areas houses that sold for $2-3million are demolished (and sometimes 2 in a row) to make way for enormous places. At least this new house I like - will have to go back in the summer to see some landscaping!
I finally admitted to myself that winter is coming and it was time to wash my cosy down coat which requires the use of a large-scale commercial washer and dryer and so a trip to the laundromat was in order. There is something unique about these places - all the symmetry of the machines, the slight untidiness, and most of all the interesting characters coming and going. I spent a couple of hours just observing everything around me!
The touring version of the Broadway production of Mary Poppins the Musical has landed in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre (which was named after Diana). A perfect play for the holidays, all the reviews I have seen have been wonderful!Taking part in Signs, Signs. For more signs click here.
While running a quick errand yesterday I ran into this cute display which was a nice change from the usual blow-up snowmen and Santas. I had no idea that the guys were in town for the holidays! As you can see we are going to have a green Christmas this year unless there is a huge change by Sunday.
As we approach the winter solstice here the days are so short and seem to be so grey that I thought I would post another bright shot from the summer, this one a pic of an Annex area private school which is a real anomaly in that it hasn't got the usual bland colour scheme found in the neighbourhood. What a way to excite the kids in the mornings!
I love this pretty walkway and door leading up to an old factory near the Annex area that has been converted into lofts. The factory had been used for plumbing storage which is reflected in the cool door handle. I showed you the loading doors of one of the lofts here. Obviously today's pic is from late summer when we still had green plants but it so grey today that I needed to see some colour.
I found this wonderful Art Deco door in the downtown entertainment district which is an area of old factories and warehouses that were converted into a multitude of nightclubs and bars. Over the last few years as real estate prices soared downtown, and more people wanted to be there, condos have started to take over the district. That is the case for this building too as an application has been made to build a 49 storey mixed-use structure covering several addresses along Mercer St. The facades of the buildings are to be retained however!
I discovered this wonderful bike mural in a laneway that runs through the campus of Ryerson University which is one of 3 universities in the city of Toronto. Running off Dundas St near Yonge St, the laneway had long been a prime target for graffiti so when Ryerson set up a secure, indoor bike parking area off the lane the decision was made to beautify with a suitable mural! I have been unable to discover the artist responsible but will keep searching for the info. This is just one part of this really long mural!
The temperature is +13˚C (55˚F) here today when it is usually only 1˚C at this time of year. If it wasn't for the light rain coming down this patio would probably be filled with happy Torontonians cheating winter for a little while more. I took this pic at the end of October when temps were much the same never thinking that patios could still be open today. This is one of my favourite restaurants, Kalendar, which has such a lovely European vibe that you would think you were in Paris when you walk through the door! (The clock is not working!)
This lovely sign is located on a building on College St that opened in 1892 as the Victoria Hospital For Sick Children. Designed by architects, Darling & Curry, it was the first hospital in Canada exclusively for paediatrics and remained in use until 1951 when the renamed Hospital For Sick Children moved to University Ave. The building was used as office space and then sat empty until 1991 when it was restored and adapted for use by the Canadian Red Cross, reopening in 1993. I love the elegant old-fashioned angels! Sorry about the wires but College St has streetcars and as result has lots of overhead wiring.Taking part in Signs, Signs. For more signs click here.
A local flooring company, Floorworks, gives their front window over to various artists for a couple of months at a time. This installation called "The Orphans" has just been installed by an artist group called AT.AW that has previously done a lot of street art of the paper graffiti type. With 14' tall walls this window provides a huge canvas for the orphans who are said to be a "reflection of the chaotic anonymity of urban life"! I showed a previous window from last year here.
If you continue walking along the street of the last 2 days the road ends at the property and gardens of Spadina House, a historic manor beside Casa Loma that is operated as a museum by the city of Toronto. What a view with Casa Loma peaking through the trees!
Being an equal opportunity blog I thought that I would show you one of the traditional homes from yesterday's street, Ardwold Gate. I think it is quite lovely and I especially like the eyebrow window and the icy tones of the shutters etc. Being one of the smaller houses on the street, we could probably get this one for a couple of million $$ - I would still have to win a lottery!
A few weeks ago before all our leaves were gone I went for a walk down a dead-end street that curls around just east of Casa Loma. Most of the homes along this very high-end street are traditional Georgian & Colonial styles but there are a few exceptions including this wonderful Brutalist beauty. There are a lot of Brutalist public buildings in Toronto but few private homes like this one that was designed by Taivo Kapsi and finished in 1968. Kapsi unfortunately died in 1967 at the age of 31 and never saw it finished. I am ready to move in if I had several million $$ and if it was for sale!
The pool at Christie Pits Park is built into the side of a steep hill and so there are 2 of these exposed sides to the pool foundation. On the other side from yesterday's post, murals have also been painted to help fight against graffiti and this is part of that. The lovely ladies were painted in 2009 by Alexa Hatanaka working as part of "Under The Radar" which is responsible for the murals on both sides. Research turned up the info that Hatanaka will graduate from art school next year so there will be more great work to come from her! I also rather like the black and white outline section on this wall but couldn't decipher the signature.
Here is another of the beautiful fish from the mural I showed 2 days ago from Christie Pits Park. It is such a lovely mural that I am sure these kids who painted it have a good future ahead as artists and designers! I love the way the bubbles float up and around the edge of the pool deck.
It's Wednesday so it is time for a sign. The Hard Rock Cafe has to have one of the better known signs in the world since they seem to be everywhere! Ours is located at Yonge & Dundas which I think would be considered the centre of everything happening in the city - across from the Eaton Centre mall and beside Dundas Square which features many free outdoor concerts and events all year. I have always loved their red guitar! Taking part in Signs, Signs. For more signs click here.
I found this lovely Japanese-influenced mural painted on the side of the pool complex at Christie Pits Park, one of the larger parks in downtown Toronto. This spot had been the target of a lot of tagging and so a neighbourhood group, The Friends of Christie Pits, commissioned a group of local youths through their organization, "Under The Radar", to paint murals along the walls. It is quite an improvement! I will show you more of it later this week.
I spotted this small, rounded window on the side of a large Victorian house in the Annex. I am sure that its purpose is to provide a bit of light on a long staircase and can only imagine how jewel-like that glass must be from the inside when the sun shines through it! It's the kind of detail we miss in a lot of modern homes.
I found this colourful guy on a wall by the art school earlier this summer but never got around to posting it. On a dull day like we are having today I thought he would be just perfect. Signed by Horus, I have found several works on google by this artist around town so will have to keep my eyes open. I like how the inset window is in total contrast to the guy!
I am going for the prize for oddest graffiti with this post. I am not sure what it represents but I found this "paper graffiti" stuck on the wall of a very private tennis club (indoor clay courts & very deco interior & no signage) in the city. It was gone within the day! Fierce & bold raccoons roam our city in huge numbers at night but I don't know if they would take on a snake!
A couple of years ago construction of this cool modern house began on a lot the size of a single car garage which was located at the junction of a laneway and a busy street (Harbord) near the university. It resulted in this 2 storey house with a roof deck but each floor must be really tiny and there is no yard at all. I wish it would go up for sale so I could see inside!
I spotted this squirrel nibbling on a leftover Jack O'Lantern and thought I would sneak up for a shot. I didn't need to sneak - he had no interest in me at all and continued to reach inside for more bits of pumpkin even when I was just a few feet away. Bulking up for a harsh winter? I hope not!
