September 29-20, 2018
One of the things I like to do as we travel is visit LDS Temples. Currently there are 168 around the world, with 24 under construction and 39 announced that haven't begun construction yet. That is a lot of temples, and I'm not likely to see them all, but it is fun to see one when I can.
The Toronto Ontario Temple was completed and dedicated in 1990.
Like every LDS Temple I have ever visited, the grounds are exquisite.
After stopping by the temple after our trip to the Bruce Peninsula, we headed back into the heart of Toronto, the capital city of Ontario. With a population of almost 3 million people, it is the largest city in Canada and the 4th largest in North America (behind Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles).
I was intrigued by that Space Needle-ish looking structure. It turns out it is the 1,813-foot-tall CN Tower, used for communications and observation. Completed in 1976, it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world until 2007, when it was surpassed by a tower in Dubai.
These two residential Parade Towers, 44 and 39 stories tall and built in 2012 and 2013, also caught my eye. The sky bridge connects them at the 28th floor.
Check out this tangle of streetcar cables. We had a rental car so we never took public transport, but apparently Toronto has the third busiest light-rail system in North America. According to Wikipedia, in 2019 over 165 million rides were taken on the Toronto streetcar system.
We had some time to kill before we had to be at the airport, so we headed for Kensington Market, a multicultural neighborhood that was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2006. Most of the main streets were pedestrian-only, so we found a parking garage and set out of foot. This is the view from the parking garage, so you can see that the neighborhood is not too far from the business district.
It didn't take long to figure out that this is the party neighborhood of Toronto.
We had just enough time to eat brunch before heading to the airport. We checked out quite a few places before we finally settled on PowWow Café, which promised to feed us indigenous food.
Spidey's web looks a lot like the cable for the streetcars in the earlier photo.
We noticed quite a few convincing rave reviews from magazines and newspapers displayed near the entrance.
The open kitchen was fun, and the hand-written menu looked wonderful. Egg Frittata topped with roasted squash, parsnips, and beet-y goat cheese? Apple pumpkin seek pancakes? Fried duck eggs with black beans, corn bread, and duck leg stew? Yeah, we are eating here.
I had the poached eggs on frybread topped with a smoked salmon, potatoes, corn, and dill. It was marvelous. I'd go back to Toronto just to eat here again.
Au revoir, Toronto! Tu es belle!
Do you recognize the chef on the right? Same guy as in the final news clipping above.
Our meal was a GREAT ending to a very quick, very fun trip. It's amazing what we can squeeze into 2 1/2 days!
The Kensington Market was the best market we've ever visited. I loved the vibe, the music, the food stations, the restaurants, and Pow Wow was delicious. Toronto certainly is worth more time than what we gave it.
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me how urban Toronto is and yet the rest of the state of Ontario is very rural.
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