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,,,

In The Air Again!

Early start this morning, 5:20 am, arrived at MUC Airport much too early, but better safe than sorry,,, Departure for NYC (EWR/Newark) at 9:20 am. The plane, a B767-400 is only about 2/3 full. For the first time on UA, this time no full meal, just breakfast and a dry "panino" later. Seems they are cutting costs in the cattle class.

Wonderful views over Greenland:

,,,and flying over the Hudson River Valley - with beautifully colored trees - into NYC (pic), where we had a 2.5 hour layover (which was partly spent at an immigration counter to match our new visa with our Global Entry admission, partly to get to the other terminal. EWR isn't really a good airport to transfer!). It's been Marathon Sunday in NYC - wish we would have had opportunity to watch!

On a small plane, an Embraer for only 50 people, we left on time for Toronto and it was only a little over one hour till we arrived around 5 pm. Unfortunately more clouds there, but still a good view from above:

Quick immigration and luggage pick-up and out we were half an hour later to catch a bus first and then two subways to get to downtown and the Chelsea Hotel. Since we got a room on the club level, we not only have a spectacular view (pic) from the balcony, but, we also got access to the club level bar on the 27th floor and really enjoyed a beer and a couple of appetizers after a long day.

Rome, the Eternal City

Yes, eventually we went on a short vacation, to Rome - our 25th trip to this fantastic city. And, we stayed in the same pensione as we did when we were archeology students, long time ago. The hotel is completely renovated and modernized and a great recommendation now (see below)! We just drifted along, mostly in the city, with two excursions: first, to Albano Laziale//Castel Gandolfo (the pope's summer residence) and Lago di Albano by train, and, second, to the Via Appia (by bus). Also, for the first time we attended a soccer game of AC Roma - which was great fun! - in the old Olympic Stadium. We ate a lot of ice cream and pizza, visited new markets and walked a total of about 75 miles in six days!

Following a couple of impressions without a whole lot of comments:

The Ara Pacis, "grave site"/altar of Augustus in a fantastic modern building of Richard Meier:

Aventino (Giardino degli Aranci) with a view towards St. Peter and the Capitolio:

The historic City Center with Circo Massimo, Fori Imperiali and Mercato Traiani



Some fountains - Fontana di Trevi as the most famous one:

Museo Barracco, Pantheon and Piramide


Piazza Navonna - an antique racetrack - and the Spanish Steps with Trinità dei Monti (it's forbidden to sit on the steps now!)


Mercati and food:

The Via Appia Antica (312 a.C) with some of the villas and gravesites there:


Roman neighborhoods: Testaccio and Trastevere:


Less idyllic, more touristic: Il Vaticano:

Soccer AC Roma:


Lago Albano:

And our hotel in Via Flavia - Hotel Nuova Monaco, a real good deal in a metropolis like Rome: clean, safe, moderately priced, in a historic palazzo in a typically Roman neighborhood, walking distance to old town. Operated by the same family since 1983 and recently renovated and modernized, rooms with TV, WLAN, A/C, fridge and coffee-maker for Euro 50-80 depending on season and day!!!