Monday, May 8, 2017

Eastern Canada Trip 2016 Day 11 Friday June 24: Toronto, Vaughan

UPDATED: February 11, 2021

This is the 11th of a series of posts dealing with my 2016 trip to Toronto, Montreal, and vicinity. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports (typos, bits I don’t feel like making public). Also, I’ve added additional thoughts with the hindsight of two years later or to add further clarification.  These are indicated by “NOW”.

I got up around 5:30 and had breakfast at McDonald's. I took the 1/Yonge-University-Spadina Line train (TTC/Toronto Transit Commission) from Dundas Station to Downsview Station. There to board an Orange Line ViVa bus (YRT/York Regional Transit) I put money in a machine for a ticket. Since a transfer is two hours I should have waited for the driver to return but it turned out not to make a difference. I took this bus to Vaughan and transferred to a 20 bus (YRT) which I took to Canada's Wonderland. I got lots of nice shots of the exterior of this theme park. I was tempted to go in but didn't want to tempt fate with an expensive camera in a roller coaster park. I took another 20 bus to the north end of Toronto. The rest of buses/trains this day were TTC.

[NOW: The hostel was Backpackers on Dundas, now closed. The McDonald’s is on Yonge St just north of Yonge-Dundas Square.]

I just missed a 195 Rocket (express) bus so I took a 35 bus to Jane Station and then a 2/Bloor-Danforth line train to Royal York station. I visited Excalibur Comics and then heading east along Bloor (or near Bloor in brief stops): Red Nails II, Book City, Doug Miller Books. I had lunch at KFC. Continuing east I visited Suspect Video, Honest Ed's (bought DVDs), Queen Video, Seekers Books, BMV Books.

[NOW: Suspect Video, Honest Ed’s, and Queen Video are now closed.]

I walked south to Bellevue Square aka Denison Square. Someone had spayed graffiti on the statue of late actor Al Waxman. On College St I visited She Said Boom!, passed through construction to Soundscapes (no longer sells movies), then doubled back and eventually caught the temporary 506 bus to the Toronto Police Museum. After exploring there I walked to College Station and took a 2 train to Queen Station. On Queen St I took a 501 streetcar to Woodbine Beach. I sun-soaked myself there and wandered around the area before walking east to explore the adjacent beaches areas.

[NOW: The other beaches I passed through were Kew beach and Balmy Beach.]

I headed north and got a 502 streetcar, then 12 bus to Victoria Park Station.  There I took a 2 train to Donlands Station. Walking east along Danforth Ave, I bought a book on the philosophy of Watchmen at Circus Books & Music. I had dinner at Pizza Pizza (I have to get there at least once each trip) I visited Re: Reading, Book City, Mike's Music. Crossing Price Edward Viaduct I became tired, perhaps in part due to the pizza so headed to Castle Frank Station (no idea if the name was the inspiration for Frank Castle, the Punisher, but some comic writers are Canadian so anything's possible). I took a 2 train to Yonge Station then a 1 train from Bloor Station to Dundas Station. I visited Yonge-Dundas Square, got a DVD from Edward St's BMV Books, revisited Yonge-Dundas Square, and returned to the hostel. BTW keep forgetting to mention, staff are in same sleeping room as me. I think two guys sleep above me going by sound (I've never looked).

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