I know this seems a bit "bloggish", but here are some pics from my past week. I
like to jump on the subway or streetcar and photograph some of the neighbourhoods
in Toronto. This week I was briefly in Little Italy/Portugal, and yesterday I visited
The Beaches (or, as some yuppies insist, the grander sounding "The Beach"!).
I will start with a few pix from Little Italy:
The Beaches is an area about a mile or so due East of downtown. There are several
lovely beaches there, and it is about as closest thing to Vancouver life that exists
East of the Rockies. Fiercely proud and very family oriented, the Beaches are always
an excellent place to visit on a sunny day. As always, my pix are in no particular order,
just snapped as I go along my wanderings. Let's start with the 1850's Ashbridge House, which still charms us to this day:
The beach I chose to go to yesterday was Kew Beach, in the heart of "The Beaches".
It is still too early for sunbathing, but the charming Victorian habit of "promenading on
the boardwalk" is still a big part of life in the beaches. Yesterday was no exception and
the boardwalk was crowded all afternoon:
Even the housing is different in The Beaches... because there is very much a
"seaside" feeling (albeit on a lake), much of the residential architecture has a
mediterranean flair, with an emphasis on outdoor balconies:
the quaint old 1915 Beaches Library:
and some street scenes:
The Beaches has a bit of a reputation as being a laid-back, hippie community
which stems from the 70's. Remnents remain. This is the Church of the Universe:
Let's catch the streetcar and head toward downtown.
Here are scenes along the way:
St Paul's Basilica.. a Roman Catholic church which is an unusual Italian Renaissance
style:
The old 1879 Dominion Brewery, since renovated for office space:
and various downtown shots:
Our Lady of Lourdes Church across from the No Thrills in Jamestown:
Here is an empty old Georgian style brick building, almost 200 years old.
Handsome, but in poor shape... will this survive into its second century?
More downtown buildings:
a smart old Greek Revival townhouse from the 1850's:
an old Knights of Columbus hall:
a landmark hotel, The Selby, whose claim to fame was having Ernest Hemingway as a tenant while he lived in Toronto as a reporter for The
Toronto Star:
Victorian rowhouses..
and various downtown sights:
men playing chess:
an old library built in the now toney Yorkville, by the Carnegie Foundation,
about 100 years ago:
an old mid 1800's firehall in Yorkville:
evening sets in:
Construction is everywhere downtown, and only rests at night:
and then finally home, and one last look off the balcony before bed: