I love Toronto

Toronto is truly one of the most beautiful cities. I’ve a fondness for my birthplace and all the good times I knew here as a child.  Those memories are of house and family and friends.  Later as a teen I’d visit for weeks at a time.  Then in my 20’s I was back for months with my first wife Baiba.  Since then there’s been many trips.
I loved to visit  my much loved Aunt Sally whose apartment was at St. Clair and Yonge.  After her death my brother and I visited Toronto together. I came other times for meetings and conferences .
This trip I’ve been staying at the Hyatt on King and walking the 20 minute jaunt to the Hilton on Chestnut.  This is the Financial and Art Districts of Toronto. I’ve taken pictures on the walks delighted with the views.
I”d forgotten what incredible sky scrapers we have here. Being in New York at Christmas this year I was impressed by this architecture there.  I do love Chicago for it’s sky scraper architecture too.  But here, Toronto has  it’s own wealth of beautiful buildings.  Walking head down in the rain it would be so easy to take the grandeur for granted.  Yet looking up and around there is man made beauty everywhere.
Vancouver has it’s share of high rises with all the beautiful glass buildings. But the snow capped mountains in the distance really make the view.  Here the denseness of buildings makes one seethes as distinct.
Cranes adorn our Vancouver skyline as  a sure sign of the prosperity of a city. Here too there is such evidence of growth and renewal.
Living in Toronto I loved it best for the subway system and the ease of movement from district to distinctive district.
This trip I came in on the Go Train from Oshawa. Earlier when I arrived and went to visit family I  took the Via Rail to Kingston.   They were both great rides with lovely country views.
There’s something about the design of the city that keeps it feeling less congested than other cities.  Vancouver, though much smaller ,has far more insane traffic to my mind.  Toronto drivers when I’ve driven here seem more purposeful.  Perhaps they're just  less stoned and this may well change with Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau's legalization and increased sale and distribution  of marijuana.
Even walking seems easier.  Certainly there are fewer people than New York.  I can see why people are moving here.  New immigrants are reaping the rewards of hundreds of years of design and deep thought by those who have gone before.  Canadians in the past made things to last.
It has forever been my favourite city as a city though I love the proximity to the outdoors that Vancouver has, with the ocean and ski mountains so close.  People do complain about the long drives to the cabin country.
I remember enjoying the beach in Toronto though nothing like the beaches we have in Vancouver.  Fresh water though and that's a plus.  When I was a kid I loved the beach here  but haven’t visited the beach here as an adult.
I took a picture of the Alexandria Theatre and plaque if only to remember  my aunt who loved to attend musicals there with her good friend Babe.
I looked down at the side walk and saw a plaque in honour of Don Cherry.  Another was for Anne Murray and another for Bryan Adams.  One definitely feels in Canada when one sees those famous Canadians celebrated.  Canadians are blessed to have had the city planners and architects we’ve had.  Canada is a beautiful Country. Toronto is such a beautiful city.  I do love Toronto.

New York City Views

There’s no story to these pictures. We’re just a couple of Canadians from a little city in the north who don’t have a cacophony of skyscrapers and 24 hour city life happening in our little part of of the galaxy. New York City is a hub for people. We’re out on the coast.  New Yorkers probably take for granted what we think is amazing.  I’m blown away by the architecture. I’m overwhelmed by the crowds. I love the functionality and efficiency of the place. I’m astonished at the police keeping things calm.  I’m amazed at the civility.  New York gets a lot of bad rap but in the last week we’ve only met one psychopathic business man and seen a couple of loud drunks on the subway.  We’ve felt incredibly safe considering just how many people from all over that there are.  The only real time I felt unsafe was visitting the Trump Tower because of terrorist threats, not because of New Yorkers.  Considering how many people have guns and likely how many are carrying I feel safer in New York than I felt in Athens.
One of the reasons I wanted to come to New York was to restore my faith in my fellow man. I love God and I love creation. I normally would be spending this time in Mexico or Hawaii scuba diving and enjoying looking at corral and fish. I might otherwise be skiing in the north at some resort.  In the summer I’m sailing. I get away from people and enjoy nature.
But working in this fentanyl epidemic in the Vancouver DTES with all the deaths and the insanity and losing my brother to cancer I just felt I needed to see art and culture and restore my faith in my fellow man.  Certainly I have. It’s easy to focus on the negative. It’s easy to have a crick in one’s neck and not see the goodness.  I’m here in New York and despite the traffic I’ve only seen one little scraped fender bender.
People are always looking out for each other. People are 99% of  the time following the rules. In New York City I have been in the centre of thousands of people moving through a packed street and no one pushed or shoved me or got angry.  Being in the centre of Rockerfeller Square is a veritable love in considering how much care people are taking not to step on children or trip over strollers.  Imagine that.  I get more attitude on a day to day basis in Vancouver Canada than I do in New York City. There’s been more civility and respect for person here than I often know elsewhere.
I love the churches here.  Trinity and St. Paul's and St. Patrick's. I love the uplifting nature of church architecture. I love the old and yes I love the new too.
I loved the ice rink and zamborni machine in the Rockerfeller Centre.
Maybe we’re getting older but several times Laura and I have had people offer us seats on the subway. There’s human kindness everywhere.  But what’s amazing is the excellence. There is genius in the works on Broadway. There’s genius in the building of the tunnels to move traffic in the bridges and the buildings where people work and  live. We have been able to see the world’s greatest production of beauty and creativity in the art galleries and museums that are everywhere here.  We have eaten fresh fabulously prepared food.
I love the architecture. Architecture has always been art for the poor people. Everyone gets to view architecture but a sculpture or painting may be hidden away by a collector in a private study. Architecture is too big for that. So mostly I’m just amazed at the architecture in New York.  That’s what a lot of these pictures are, just beautiful views of architecture and street scenes.
Thank you New York City.