This is the 4th of a series of posts dealing with my 2024 trip to Eastern Canada. 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 a year later or to add further clarification. These are indicated by “NOW”.
I slept pretty soundly last night. Today I noticed that with all the shuffling of my itinerary due to the then-possible strike, I had myself walking north along Yonge St again. Too soon to do that again. Instead I made my way to Bellevue Square Park via Augusta Ave. Augusta has a lot of quirky shops etc. There's a car that's been converted to a mini non-flower plant garden. At the park I took photos of a statue of the late actor Al Waxman, possibly best known to Canadians from the Canadian TV series The King of Kensington. I decided to go there earlier than originally scheduled because sometimes people sit by the statue and block the view. There was a tent city in the park but it was away from the statue. I walked to Yonge-Dundas Square, which was mostly blocked off for an event later in the day, Desifest. More on this later. Side note: In one season 3 episode of Chucky you can see the Square because it sometimes doubles for Times Square in New York. If you watch the scene carefully someone is chasing Chucky and an ally, with Jack Astor (the store) behind them. Then the scene cuts to a different angle and now Jack Astor is in front of them.
[NOW: Yonge-Dundas Square is now Sankofa Square.]
At the Square I went down Dundas Station to get a daypass (all transit today Toronto Transit), I ate breakfast at the McDonald's I had dinner at the first two nights and then started heading south. I did a brief detour to get some shots of steam coming from the ground in a nearby street. I made it to the waterfront. At Jack Layton Ferry Terminal people were preparing for some sort of run. I got some more waterfront photos. Due to some weekend happening instead of being able to directly take a 510 streetcar directly north I took a 510 bus north a ways and then transferred to a 510 streetcar. As I got off at my stop, runners from the above event were going by. I returned to Wilson Hall to grab my memory cards. I figured I probably wouldn't need them today but there was a chance I would; I didn't need to switch just yet; probably tomorrow. Heading east through the University of Toronto, which Wilson Hall is part of, I found the Free Palestine encampment that you may have heard about from the news. I was now fenced off but there was signage all around the fenced off area. As I continued on, I saw more of the runners. It was kind of like the Ice Age movies where a creature keeps weaving in and out of the story without affecting the story much.
[NOW: The run was Shoppers Drug Mart Run for Women.]
I headed south along Yonge to College St. I saw more runners who had clearly finished. The Police Museum was closed today but I took photos from the outside, I saw more former runners and found the finish area. There were a few more encounters later. I saw a long line at the Food Bank. The info I had on Neurotica proved to be inaccurate. It was supposed to open at 10 today according to Google, but the sign said 1. It's a bit hard to find because it has a College St address but is actually on Manning Ave. I won't bother listing everything I did to kill time, but I did get a booklet at a branch of the Toronto Public Library listing locations. I walked around the Ontario Legislature, something I'd been meaning to do for a while but it was just low priority. At The Beguiling masks are still required to enter. I was hoping they would have their sale items outside like before so I could see if it was worth tracking down a mask after returning from Ottawa, but no luck.
[NOW: There were sale items outside later on in the trip.]
Heading south on Augusta again, I had lunch at a McDonald's at Dundas and Bathurst, and then caught a southbound 511 streetcar there. That one abruptly had to change direction so everyone or most people got off. I walked down south a stop and then caught another one near Trillium Park. I visited that and Coronation Park. I walked west a long ways along the waterfront or close to it (Lake Shore Blvd); one area, which I've seen a lot on transportation (Megabus and I think GO train), had greenery decorated to look like the names/logos of sponsors. I crossed the Humber River and back. Heading back east slightly, I then walked north to High Park, probably Toronto's largest park. I soon saw a drag queen doing a Q&A with a small group. I visited the park's High Park Zoo, which is free and small. They're now also calling it High Park Animal Display, but I suspect that anyone who doesn't like zoos will also feel the same about an animal display's fenced off area.
I left the park and got on a 2 train at Keele Station, heading west., I got off at Royal York Station and visited Excalibur Comics. I took a 76A bus south to Lake Shore Ave. I was going to take a 507 streetcar west, but it and the 510 streetcar couldn't operate in the area due to an outdoor market, so instead I took a 510 bus to Long Branch Loop. I crossed Etobicoke Creek but I'm not sure if I was already Mississauga on this side of the road (south). I walked a little ways and then doubled back and visited Marie Curtis Park. I think the creek might divide the park into two municipalities but I have to do a little research there. I walked south to Lake Ontario then back north a ways to cross a small bridge to the east side I would have walked to the lake again but the clouds were giving me notice again so I walked north and left the park by crossing the street. AI did another short walk that ensured that I did in fact go to Mississauga and back, then returned to the Loop.
[NOW: Excalibur Comics has since closed. On the south side of the road, you cross over a little ways to the west, so Marie Curtis Park is entirely in Toronto. Even so I did very briefly cross over from Toronto to Mississauga and back on that side. On the north side the boundary definitely is the creek.]
I took a 123B bus to Kipling Station and then took an eastbound 2 train to Yonge-Dundas Station. I considered taking a southbound 1 train but everyone looked a bit crammed in so I walked south on foot. It was raining and the wind kept trying to turn my umbrella inside out. Yonge-Dundas Square was having its Desifest: live music and food tents, including one for A&W. I walked south a little and had dinner at Burger King. Someone filled their Starbucks cup with Coke, drank a bit of it, then poured it out and filled it with two drinks. I thought it was rude to do that if you weren't buying the pop. I returned to the Square; across the street at Toronto Eaton Centre there was drumming but I'm not sure if that was intended as part of the music. It did create a bit of a stereo effect with the other music. I stood under shelter outside the fenced off area.
When I was ready to leave I got on a 505 streetcar. Lots of people got off and on. Probably the only reason I managed to snag a window seat was that there are courtesy seats that fold up when not in use; you have to give up your seat if someone who needs it more than you shows up, but anyone can use it otherwise. I was going to take it west to Spadina and then take a 510 streetcar back to Wilson from there, but a university protest diverted it north to College (University of Toronto is actually closed to the diverted area so the protest may have been at Concord University. Regardless, since I was now getting off at College and Spadina, which was a few blocks closer to Wilson, I just walked the rest of the way. With the sporadically rainy weather I decided to call it an early night. I was a bit tired and wanted to minimize the risk to the camera. It takes about an hour to do these anyway. I did leave off one more thing, nothing bad necessarily, just something I decided I didn't feel like bringing up.
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