Compare and Contrast

My last post on Toronto.  Compare the Toronto and New York "Walk" signs.  One looks eager, the other grimly determined.  (I don't have to tell you which is which.)

Toronto has versions of just about every cultural and fun attraction one could find in the NYC area, except within a smaller area, surrounded by smaller crowds, made up of more-relaxed people.  So it's sort of a distilled and sweeter version of NYC.  I'd say New York is to Toronto as a full-bodied red wine is to sherry. 

(Sherry is not actually distilled wine, but you get the idea.)

Different Looks

Toronto has:

Much better looking mailboxes.

An excellent subway station font.

And a surprising number of stylish black squirrels.

Museums, etc.

Royal Ontario Museum (with the edgy facade) had a great Mesopotamia exhibit, with many stunning pieces from the British Museum.

The Ontario Science Center had a video game exhibit with dozens of games available to play for free -- including pinball machines and the original Asteroids. 

Casa Loma is the castle-like estate built in the early 1900s by an industrialist who helped bring electric lights to Toronto.  The place and his story (ten years after it was finished, he was broke and had to leave it) are both fascinating. 

CN Tower

Taller than the Empire State Building.  And it has an impressively disturbing (but safe) glass floor.

Incredibly Nice

Time and again, we were struck by how incredibly nice and helpful people were.  After we had arrived at the airport and were still figuring out the public transportation, a Toronto bus driver, and later a subway token clerk, waved us on without payment.  When we bought tickets from Toronto to Niagara Falls, the person selling the tickets pulled out a schedule, and using a pen and a highlighter, explained exactly where to go and when.  At Niagara Falls itself, a local shuttle driver saw several of us waiting for the shuttle back to our bus for the return to Toronto.  He told us to jump in and he took us to the bus stop (for free) even though it wasn't his route - just to make absolutely sue we wouldn't miss our bus.

In every one of these cases, these folks spontaneously offered this help even though I hadn't even thought of asking for it.  I was really touched.

Even the buses apologize when they're not in service!

Maid of the Mist

Niagara Falls!

Have you ever said to yourself, "One of these days I'd like to see Niagara Falls?"  If so: Do it.  It's awesome.

Yum

We had some great food in Toronto, including:

Poutine (google it) at Smoke's (pictured)

Amazing amazing ribs at the Canadian National Exposition

Delicious chorizo, butter tarts, and sourdough bread at St. Lawrence Market

Thai food at a Hungarian-Thai restaurant in Kennsington Market

Canadian bacon sandwiches, of course, also at St. Lawrence Market

Cornish pasties and ginger cake in the Distillery District

Lettuce wraps with braised pork shoulder in Queens West

And, also at the Canadian National Exposition, the most decadent dishes of all, from a stand that served nothing but dishes with Nutella on them: one fantastic concoction with fried banana, peanut butter, strawberries, and Nutella -- and then, believe it or not, jalapeno poppers filled with cream cheese and, yes, topped with Nutella sauce.  It was good. 

Oh Canada!

I want to quickly post some pictures and impressions from our great Canada trip before fall obligations overwhelm us all.