Toronto - A Modern City with a Historic Past
For those of you who are not geography superstars, Toronto is located on the shores of Lake Ontario, the first of the Great Lakes. It actually sits farther south in the curve of the United States than American cities like Minneapolis and Seattle, and is only about 100 miles from Buffalo, New York. Flying into Pearson International Airport, you have several options to get to the downtown area of Toronto. You can, as always take Uber or Lyft, and it will cost you about $40 (Canadian) to get into town, or you can take the UP Express train that runs between the airport and the Union Station train station in the heart of the town. The train takes about 25 minutes, and on a clear day gives you a nice view of the outer limits of the city on your ride into town. Each train ride is about $12 (Canadian), and can be bought at the UP train station at the airport. Side note, the people of Canada also call their money the dollar, and use the same symbol to denote it. For each of these three articles, when I use dollars for prices, please understand that I am talking about Canadian dollars. As of 2019, the exchange rate is favorable for American tourists in Canada. Each Canadian dollar is about $0.75 U.S. cents. While we were there, the prices we noticed looked almost identical to what we pay in Atlanta, which is great because that means we were usually paying about 25% less for meals, gifts, etc.
While natives have been living in the region for thousands of years, Toronto has been around since the end of the American Revolution, initially settled by the British as the town of York. It wasn't truly settled until 1796, when York was named the capital of Upper Canada by the infamous British general John Graves Simcoe. In 1834, the city of York took the name of Toronto, the native word which has several supposed meanings including "on the other side" and "where there are trees standing in the water." To learn more about the history of Toronto, we made our way to Fort York, the original military fortifications built along the borders of Lake Ontario in the late 18th Century. Surrounded by modern skyscrapers and even an interstate, the first thing you will notice when you visit is the fort is no longer anywhere near the shoreline. Over the last two centuries the Canadians have reclaimed miles of territory into Lake Ontario, which is odd to me considering untamed land is one of the great commodities of Canada, so why are you building new land? Construction of the fort began in 1793 as British Canadians feared another invasion from their neighbors to the south, the United States. In April 1813, American forces invaded under General Zebulon Pike captured the fort and the city of York in a matter of hours during the War of 1812, and as punishment for resistance they burned the Parliament building of Upper Canada. As repayment for this action, the British would burn Washington D.C. in 1814 when they invaded the city. The fort itself has a pretty interesting gallery of exhibits in the welcome center that does a good job of explaining their history. They also have a very modern film that tells the history of the fort, which if you watch closely you will probably see your tour guide for the day acting in the film. The fort comes with guided tours of three buildings, built throughout the seventy year history of the fort as an active military base. Despite being outdated by the end of the 19th Century, it was reopened during World War I and World War II as a training facility. Like any 19th Century building, the quarters for the enlisted soldiers were cramped, and the living conditions were challenging by our modern standards, but the officers lived in relative luxury, complete with a formal dining room and wine cellar. At the back corner of the fort is an exhibit of pistols, rifles, and cannons used at the fort. In the upstairs of that exhibit they have a unique display on the music of war, with different battle calls used to create a charge, retreat, or flanking action. If you go during the summer, which is mid-June on in Canada, they have a marching band their each day to serenade you with 19th Century sounds, and put on artillery shows at certain times during the day.
The next day we made our way out to the Royal Ontario Museum, or the ROM. Located about five miles from the touristy shoreline area, you can get there easily by taking a straight shot up the subway to Museum station. You'll know you are in the right station because it is full of copies of ancient statues staring at you through the train windows. The ROM is a catch all museum, and I don't mean that in a negative way. It's not an art museum or a history museum, but essentially is every museum you have ever seen in one location. They have an extensive collection of dinosaur fossils on display, including my new favorite dinosaur of all-time, the Wendiceratops, which was named after my wife (prove it wasn't). Another wing is a collection of some of the top Canadian artists of the 18th and 19th Centuries. While largely overshadowed by their American and European neighbors, there are some wonderful pieces inside. The real highlights are the wings dedicated to other ancient cultures. There are extensive galleries on ancient Chinese history, complete with ancient dwellings, statues, and weapons. They had an entire exhibit on the elaborate art that Ming Dynasty Chinese would paint to honor their loved ones, usually done as watercolors on very thin rice paper. There is a gallery on ancient Indian and southeast Asian cultures, with what seemed like hundreds of interpretations of the Buddha. There are also exhibits for the ancient African cultures of Nubia and Egypt. Two of the galleries I enjoyed the most were the ancient Roman and medieval Byzantine Empire exhibits. Like Fort York, each ticket comes with a guided tour included. Here is a tip I have given several times before, check to see if a museum you are a member of has reciprocal benefits with the ROM. We were able to visit for free that day because we are members of the Atlanta History Center. Check out our post called Getting the Most Out of Your Museum Membership to see if you can take advantage of this great deal. This museum is expansive to say the least, so plan to spend 3-4 hours in there. They have a wonderful cafeteria in the basement if you want to stop for lunch and get back after it with a full stomach.
Another hidden gem, that's hiding in plain sight, is the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. After we finished the ROM, we decided to walk back and try to take in some of the neighborhoods around the city. While passing through Queen's Park, we came upon the beautiful Victorian era building that houses the legislative assembly for the Province of Ontario. Canada's government is a unique blend of the monarchy of England, with the democracy of the United States. Each district has elected officials at the city, province, and national level, but they operate in the parliamentary system like their British overlords (I'm not sure what to call them). Despite being an independent nation, they are still members of the British Commonwealth, which means the queen has final say over the laws passed at all levels of Canadian government. To enforce them, the queen appoints a Lieutenant Governor for each province, and a Governor General to oversee the national government. While these appointed officials rarely act with the authority they are given, they can go so far as to disband the parliaments of their territories. The tour of the Assembly is completely free. All you need to do is walk in the front door, show your ID to the incredibly nice officer at the desk, and a docent will show you around. The tours start at the top of the hour, so try to plan on getting there around that time. The tour is supposed to last around 30-40 minutes, but the wonderful young lady who was the docent answered all of my questions, so we made it into an hour. One of the unique pieces that you will see is the royal mace that has to be in place for each session of Parliament to occur. Funny for Americans, when we invaded in 1813, we took the mace with us. You'll of course be shocked to hear that they decided not to take a 120 year break from government, so they had to have a temporary mace that they used until the original was returned in the 1930's by President Franklin Roosevelt. You will also see the building is divided into two sections. Opened in 1893, and designed by an American, when a fire broke out in 1909 and destroyed half of the building, the Canadians used it as a chance to show they could be master architects as well, designing a stone interior to the newer half of the building.
Toronto was a fascinating opening leg of our vacation. To be honest, the reason we started the trip there was because our beloved Atlanta United were playing Toronto FC the first day we could leave for vacation. What else shows dedication to a team like crossing an international border to see them play. The ironic part for me though was seeing the similarities throughout our three days between Atlanta and Toronto. Both cities have amazing dining, lavish new inner-city high rises, unique neighborhoods, and a wonderful energy level around the town. There is so much more you can do while you are there too. Walk down, or take the bus down, to the section of town known as the Distillery District. This abandoned brewing warehouse has been turned into a massive complex full of artists, shops, and restaurants. Go eat in the St. Lawrence Market, the two story food hall that has a little something for everyone, including the best meatball sandwich we've ever had. Walk down and take a stroll along the waters of Lake Ontario. If you're a lover of heights, take a ride to the top of the CN Tower, the 1800 foot tall sky needle that overlooks all of the city. If you get hungry at any point in Canada, find your way to one of the dozens of food trucks or restaurants advertising poutine. Potatoes, gravy, and cheese curds are this gift from God to your mouth. We decided to make it our personal mission to eat every poutine in Canada to see which we think is the best, so I see us taking a few more trips back to Canada, especially Toronto, in the near future.
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