Last night I had the unexpected chance to check out the University of Toronto’s two art galleries, which are open late on Wednesday evenings (and closed weekends). I’d never been to the University of Toronto Art Centre at University College, which opened in 1996 in, uh, University College on the downtown campus. The current exhibit …
Anyone entering Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, for the first or the hundredth time, who doesn’t say “wow” isn’t paying attention. Part of the University of Toronto, the library holds regular exhibitions in a gallery space on the main floor. The current exhibition, The Lumiere Press Archives: Photography and the Fine Press, showcases the work …
One of the best things about my 100 Museums Challenge project is finding places in my own city that I never knew existed. The Vault at One King West in Toronto is a terrific example. Now an event venue (“Perfect for pre-reception cocktails or small corporate parties”) under One King West Hotel & Residence, the …
Here are five things I learned during my afternoon at Casa Loma. 1. It is worth making your way to the third floor and climbing up the spiral stairs, if you are able, to the open-air Norman Tower, for the stunning views of Toronto. Casa Loma sits on top of the escarpment which is the …
Downtown Toronto’s indoor botanical garden, Allan Gardens (free! open every day!), is where you go when winter is too much. The main Palm House conservatory we see today (above) opened in 1910, replacing an 1879 pavilion destroyed by fire in 1902. There are five other greenhouses, including (with plants per the City of Toronto’s Allan …
Colborne Lodge is the fourth of the ten City of Toronto Museums I’ve visited this year (after Gibson House, Market Gallery, and Scarborough Museum). Last year a friend and I had the privilege of a private tour of the interior, due to our being the only walk-ins at the time on the freezingest Sunday in …
I’ve decided to make it a priority to visit the ten City of Toronto Museums as part of my 100 Museums Challenge this year, if at all possible. One that I’ve never been to, due to its being far out of my regular paths, is the Scarborough Museum. Kudos and warm thanks to the knowledgeable …
If you choose to go up the CN Tower on a Saturday evening on the Labour Day weekend, after a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre next door, you shouldn’t be surprised that the wait time will be given as 95 minutes (yikes). That’s okay. Time to observe the multi-national crowd of visitors was …
The showstoppers of my first ever visit to High Park Zoo were the handsome and shaggy West Highland Cattle. It was a very pleasant shock to see these gorgeous beasts that I’d fallen hard for in Scotland here in Toronto. This video from Friends of High Park Zoo gives a great overview of this popular …
Well, now. Here are five things I learned during a very enjoyable visit to Black Creek Pioneer Village (“Step into 1860s Ontario”) on a cool and sunny afternoon in late August. 1. BCPV has a nice little collection of fire insurance marks (there may be more than shown), which happily reminded me of ones I’d …
