The headline act was Vancouver based “delhi 2 dublin“, according to their website they are a mix of Bhangra, Celtic, Dub, Reggae and Electronica with global rhythms and club beats. They put on a good show.
Toronto Zoo
We headed out to Scarborough and the Toronto Zoo to see the new African Penguins. It was a busy day at the zoo, we didn’t get there until early afternoon and we had to park in the overflow area. On the way to the penguins we passed the tiger, even though it wasn’t that hot, he wasn’t moving about.
There were twelve penguins out, not sure if there are more, they are in the old fur seal display. You can view from the top or you can go underneath and view them swimming around.
These things are pretty funny looking.
If one got out of the water they all got out of the water.
They came in all shapes and sizes.
Some people watching the penguins.
A couple of more pictures of the penguins.
Susan and the girls.
Three of the baboons scaling the wall, first time we have seen them do this.
Usually they are doing this.
With the cooler weather, a lot of the animals were moving around.
Even the hippos were walking around munching on the grass.
Eventually the two of them headed for the water.
It was a good day at the zoo. Will have to go a couple of more times before the summer and our membership runs out.
African Penguins
We went out to the Toronto Zoo on Sunday to see the African Penguins. There were twelve of them, all moving in a pack. The exhibit is the old fur seal display.
Port Credit Walkabout
We headed down to Port Cedit to walk around. Susan wanted to go shopping at a store down there so she dropped the girls and I off.
The girls and Chloe enjoyed the swans.
Chloe was okay with the swans and ducks, it was the sea gulls hanging around that Chloe was after.
I think Angela was taking a picture of the Toronto skyline.
Claudia brought her bike to ride around and Angela had her roller blades.
There was a guy feeding the swans and ducks some bread, actually he had a loaf of bread. He offered Claudia and Angela a slice, to feed the birds, not eat as Claudia would tell you.
Angela was trying to feed a dirty looking swan and manage to land the piece of bread on its back. We thought all the other birds would attack it, but it wasn’t until one tried that the swan shook it off into the water.
Some of the fish painted on the bridge supports.
The lighthouse down in Port Credit.
Not sure if Gillian was pushing or trying to hitch a ride.
Claudia was over at the Canada post.
Gillian trying to keep up with Chloe.
We had a good day, the weather couldn’t have been better.
Royal York Hotel
The early morning light.
We could look out the window and watch the CN Tower, with it all lit up, it was like a night light.
An empty intersection.
Looking down to the lobby of the Royal York.
Susan waiting for me to check out.
Some of the intricate detailing on the columns.
Looking down towards the main entrance.
Rick Mercer Report
Back in September I managed to get some tickets to the Rick Mercer Report. Grandma Swan came out to stay with the girls so Susan and I could stay downtown for the evening. I picked the date because it was a holiday week for me and it meant I wouldn’t be traveling this week.
We booked a room at the Royal York Hotel. Our room was facing the lake and it was a corner room so we had a view of the Air Canada Centre and looking west along Front Street.
WE did some shopping and a lot of walking. We did some of the underground PATH system and then back up to street level.
We had some time to relax at the hotel before dinner and the show. Watching rush hour at Front and York.
We had dinner at Joe Badali’s on Front St. and then it was a short walk over to the CBC Building. We had to wait in line to pick up our tickets and then we waited in another line to go up to the studio. The studio is up on the 10th floor.
We were allowed to take pictures as long as the camera’s were not on. He would come out and introduce each of the video segments.
They tape all of the desk portions live.
After the show, Rick Mercer will meet anyone who wants to wait in line. We had no where to go so we stuck around to meet Rick and get our picture taken with him. Here he is signing our tickets.
I asked him if he got up to Alert, as that was one of the places he was suppose to visit this season. He said they didn’t make it and they eventually ran out of daylight, but the militay has said they will take him up.
Looking down at the atrium from the tenth floor. The banners hanging are the couples from the Battle of the Blades.
Down in the foyer you can see into the museum and there is Mr Dressup’s Tickle Trunk.
Out in the foyer is Casey and Finnegan’s Treehouse.
Susan in front of a giant Rick Mercer.
It was back to the hotel and some shots of the Toronto nightlife.
Arrrrrgooooosss
We headed down to the Rogers Centre to watch the Argos take on the Montreal Alouettes. The game was a McMaster Alumni event. We went down with our friends from university Stam and Brenda and their daughter Kira. We met them at Union Station.
Waiting…
Part of our ticket price included an on field “tour” before the game, a pizza slice/drink, and autograph session after the game. By tour they mean the depths of the Skydome, once on the field we were able to walk around the edge and then we entered our seats from the field. The autograph session after the game was open to everyone.
The girls got a cardboard football helmet.
We were at the Alouette end of the field.
Gillian at her first football game.
Claudia, Angela and Kira.
Big guys.
Stam and Kira.
The big Argo inflatable. See the mascot chatting up the cheerleaders.
The mascot “Jason”.
Some of the game action. It was close in the first half. But then the Alouettes pulled away in the second half to win 27-8.
The announced attendance was 26,828.
Pinball Clemons was behind the Peanut Free Suite.
Can you see the girls down on the field.
“C” for Claudia!
We had a good time at the game. It was good to hang out with Stam and Brenda, we haven’t seen them for awhile. The girls can now say they have been to a football game.
Bath Day
Today was bath day for Chloe, I thought why not take her for a good run, get her tired out and then give her a bath. We headed over to the Meadowvale Conservation Area not far from the house. The girls found a sloth tree (a tree which allows them to hang like a sloth).
There was lots of open space for Chloe to run around. We stayed clear of the GINA picnic. GINA is short for “Greyhounds In Need of Adoption”. It is an organization that tries to find homes for retired racing Greyhounds.
We stayed clear of the Hogweed. It looks like giant Queen Annes Lace, the sap is bad news if it gets on human skin.
We remembered there “use to be” a bridge to cross over the river.
It wasn’t very nice down by the river, lots of broken glass and beer bottles.
We were teaching Chloe her name.
Some of the leaves are starting to change already.
We found another path to the river and when Claudia stepped towards it, the ground moved. It was a garter snake that freaked her out. Later I started stopping on the ground and he started to slither away.
Claudia poking around for more snakes.
Chloe was tired out after our walk, she decided she was going to lie down in the shade.
The girls with Chloe.
We headed back home and started to get her bath ready. It wasn’t her favourite thing, she looked like the drowned rat.
Here she is shaking away in the backyard. She looked pretty good afterwards.
Of course she was rolling around in the rocks and grass as soon as she got the chance.
Downtown
By the time we finished with the Don Jail, all the other doors were closed. We decided to head downtown and hopped on the streetcar from the corner of Broadview and Gerard.
We got off at Dundas Square, where there is always interesting people and things to see.
Dundas Square.
Deciding where to go.
We headed into the Eaton Centre and up to Indigo.
Angela and Gillian posing with Bella and Edward.
Claudia trying on a new pair of reading glasses.
Next we headed for dinner at the E-on restaurant. We went here years ago for dinner when I was small. One of the things we had was the snails. Here is Gillian trying them out.
Claudia liked them as well.
Leaving the restaurant and heading back to Dundas Square.
The angel was gone but Batman was in her spot.
Not sure if I’d be handing my infant over to some dude dressed as Batman at the corner of Yonge and Dundas.
Some drumming and dancing going on.
We headed over to the World’s Biggest Bookstore. Here is Grandma and Gillian.
After there it was to the subway and back home. It was a long, but fun day in the the city. We enjoyed the diagonal crosswalk at Yonge and Dundas, although it seems to be every other light, so you really have to pay attention to your signals.
Door Open
No there is not a typo in the title. We went downtown for “Doors Open“, but we only got through one door. The Don Jail was one of the new (and most popular) Doors Open for this year. It has never been open to the public before and starting this fall, Bridgeport Health who owns it would start renovations. This was an opportunity for the public to see it (for free, otherwise $20 per person over the summer).
We started the day at Yorkdale subway station and headed to Broadview. From there it was a streetcar to meet Carolyn, Mom and Alex.
We started out just above the G in Gerard Street when we got in line.
The lineup was long, and due to fire regulations, they could only take in 16 people, every 5 minutes. At least that was their plan.
The lineup seemed to move quickly initially, but then at some point it hit a snag.
This didn’t seem so bad when we reached this point. We had already put in an hour at this point, but we had been moving.
Watching people finish their tours.
Even once we got to this point we seemed to keep moving. After this section they led people to individual lanes in groups of 16. We were close to that point when we realized we weren’t moving anymore. One lady fainted in the heat and things were on the verge of turning ugly when two guys were taking pictures of her while she was laying on the ground. People were complaining to the event staff and pointing them out in the crowd.
The kids were good, they didn’t seem to mind. They were able to get out of line and go sit in the shade.
The back of the jail.
The police were out in full force, always a good thing around a jail.
Once we made it to the individual rows we had some hot dogs for lunch.
The old Riverdale Hospital, now the Bridgeport Health Centre.
This guy was an actual guard in the jail at some point.
Finally it was our turn to tour the jail.
Looking up in the rotunda
Some views from inside the Don Jail.
The old jail closed in 1977 (it opened in 1858), the new jail next door was completed in 1958. They use to serve salmon as part of their meal, the salmon was caught in the nearby Don River.
Some of the prisoners.
They filmed the bar scene from the movie “Cocktail” with Tom Cruise in the rotunda.
This was one of the Death Row cells, a little more room than the regular cells, but they spent their entire time in there.
We got to see the execution chamber where they hanged twenty six men between 1908 and 1962. Previous executions were done outdoors for public viewing. You can see the painted outline of the gallows on the wall.
These were the rows of cells for the general population
The cells measured 1×3 metres.
From the inside looking out.
Without the flash, this probably more likely what a prisoners view would be.
More cells.
These were office areas on the main floor.
“Every man who walks through these doors, walks through time”
The front entrance to the old Don Jail.
This was our tour guide who was pointing out the Govenor’s Residence.
The new section of the Don Jail is built right up against the old section.
They still have a little section of barbed (razor) wire on the grounds.
On the brick wall were names of prisoners that were carved into the bricks.
By the time we finished the line-ups were gone. They turned away alot of people and alot of people just turned away when they saw the line-ups.
There were still people waiting to go in.
It was a long day and we can say we saw it. It’s been a part of Toronto history and it was an opportunity to see it in it’s somewhat original condition. The tour was good, just a little rushed. I’m glad I went, not sure about everyone else. We ended up back on Broadview and walked past the new Toronto jail. This one is slated for closure in a few years when the new Toronto South Detention Centre is completed in Mimico.
