Toronto - City of high rises and multiculti

What a whirlwind visit,,, and now it's over already. On the way to NYC, and glad to get out, since it began to snow early this morning.

It's been three packed days, we walked approx. 60 km (38 mi), plus much more distance covered by public transportation. We had day passes and took streetcars, subway trains and buses frequently to get around and check out the different neighborhoods. Unfortunately, our otherwise superb hotel's internet was a little spotty (at least on our floor) and therefore couldn't set up pictures before. Also, time was on short supply. Weather was better than we expected at this time of the year, didn't get rain and only today we had an icy wind and temps close to frost. But,,, sunshine!!!

Main things we noticed, not having visited Toronto for four years: Still more construction going on everywhere, seems to be never-ending. Old buildings are being torn down (sometimes the old fassades are kept standing) and new high rises for horrendous rents come up. Crazy! One day most of the historic buildings will be gone. Also, neighborhoods get more "gentrified", more chain stores, more fancy stores, less uniqueness.

One still "authentic" neighborhood with mom & pop operations and a colorful hippie population from all over the world is Kensington Market, for the rest, well,,, Greektown still has a couple Greek restaurants, Little India is mostly about fabrics and saris (who the heck is wearing them all?), Chinatown - the same, more frequented by locals than visitors. Not to be misunderstood: the city is still one of the most "multi-ethnic" cities we know, races and cultures are more mixed up than anywhere else, but it's not the "touristy" ethnic neighborhoods you'll find in San Francisco or NYC. The majority of the population seems to be Southern Asian (Indian/Pakistani, etc.) and Asian in general (Chinese, Korean,,,), at least that's what catches the eye in this city with its three million people.

We had a fantastic food tour at Kensington Market with our knowledgeable guide Jusep and learned a lot about Canadian Food from Peameal Bacon to Butter Tarts and Canadian Bagels (boiled in honey water and roasted over open fire).



Culinarily the city offers cuisines from all over the world, which is fantastic, especially, since meals are affordable. St. Lawrence Market - a market hall - is another paradise for foodies (pics below), besides Kensington Market (above). What a variety of meat, fish, dry foods, cheeses and many other goods! Many little craftbreweries popped up, too, in the meantime, hard to keep track.



Also, a new feature is all the murals and graffitis which are to be found now. Not only "Graffiti Alley", which is promoted strongly, but in every neighborhood such paintings came up and are mostly artistically remarkable.


We watched a hockey game of the Toronto Maple Leafs (against L.A. Kings) and, of course, checked out the Hockey Hall of Fame, where the famous Stanley Cup is a highlight.

More pics to follow,,,