This is the sign at the entrance to the University of Toronto's Varsity Centre which consists of a hockey arena and a stadium with track and field facilities. The arena dates from 1926 but the original 1920s stadium was demolished in 2002 and a new one opened here in 2006. Located in the same block along Bloor St as the Royal Ontario Museum and the Royal Conservatory of Music, this is a prime site downtown making it perfect for a variety of events.
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click here for more signs.
This was the scene down at the lakeshore of Lake Ontario last week before we started our present stretch of day after day of rain. I have never seen so many swans in one location before and can only assume that they were stopping off on their way south for the winter. They were all along the beach preening and mucking about in the shallow water looking for food. I hope they got past the Hurricane Sandy pathway before this week! That is our ever present CN Tower in the background.
This is yet another of the murals done in the Islington area of the city by John Kuna. This one was done in 2009 and is titled "The Pub With No Beer" and features a scene from the prohibition time (around 1928) showing empty pop bottles being loaded onto a truck outside the old Islington Hotel which stood near here at the time. Another super job by this artist!
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click here for more murals.
I think this is what Deb from York would call a ginnel. It is a little public walkway between houses midway down a block allowing you to get through to the next street without walking all the way around. I don't think I've ever seen another in the city but it seems such a good idea that there should be more!
Our weather forecast for the next several days seems to be mostly lots of rain and quite windy so I fear that most of the leaves will soon be gone from the trees. This beautiful tree is on the grounds of Spadina House and was caught in the afternoon sun on Thursday. Lovely isn't it?
One of my favourite trees is the Ginkgo biloba and there are many examples of them around the city right now in a wonderful glowing yellow such as this one that I spotted yesterday. I find the fan-shaped leaves quite lovely in summer but now they are incredible. Ginkgos are disease resistant and tolerate pollution which makes them perfect for city life!
I took this pic of Casa Loma a couple of weeks ago when all the flowers were still happy. We haven't had a real killer frost yet but most of the tender flowers have been hit by the cold now so this scene would be different today. Somehow Casa Loma looks great no matter what the season!
