July 14-16 Toronto, ON

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Traveling will destroy the person you used to be to help create whomever you were meant to become.” —Kiana Azizian

We spent two wonderful nights at the Marriott in downtown Toronto. It was great to have such a wonderful room to come back to each evening after walking all over town exploring the unique neighborhoods. We walked over twelve miles on Saturday. Friday afternoon we explored Chinatown and the Kensington Market neighborhoods. Kensington Market is Toronto's most vibrant and diverse neighborhood located in the heart of town. It's full of eclectic shops and cafes. The neighborhood has always been home to immigrants...the nationalities have changed over the past century, making it one of Toronto's most multicultural neighborhoods. 

Toronto's Chinatown

 Kensington Market Neighborhood

Murals are painted on a lot of the buildings in Kensington, Chinatown and Baldwin Street. 

Yonge-Dundas Square is one of the most vibrant and bustling districts in Toronto, which is famous for its abundant shopping, dining and entertainment. It looked like Toronto's version of Time Square.

Saturday morning we went to the St. Lawrence Market, it's a public market that's been located on Front Street in Toronto since 1803. Today there are 120 vendors selling almost anything you can think of...seafood, all types of meats, vegetables, fruits, honey, maple syrup and fresh baked breads, just to name a few, plus stalls offering wonderful ready to eat items. The market was named the world's best food market by National Geographic in April 2012.  

One of the most popular stalls is the Carousel Bakery, frequented by locals and tourists for their "world-famous" peameal bacon sandwich, also known as Toronto's signature dish. Peameal bacon is a boneless cured pork loin rolled in cornmeal. The cornmeal helps seal in the moisture and imparts a salty crunch to the bacon when deep-fried. Peameal bacon was developed by William Davies and first sold at his stall in the St. Lawrence Market in the 1850s. We tried one at the Carousel Bakery and it was amazing.

More market offerings

Our next stop on Saturday was the Distillery. Toronto's Distillery District was once the world's largest distillery, now it's a dramatic fusion of old and new. An inspired blend of Victorian Industrial architecture and stunning 21st century design and creativity. The result is an internationally acclaimed village of one-of-a-kind stores, shops, galleries, studios, restaurants, cafes, theaters and more.  

From the Distillery District we walked along the water to the Harbourfront Center. An area filled with boats, parks and a large array of activities...art festivals, India Festival and the Honda Indy car race, just to name a few.

CN Tower was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and the world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of Burj Khalifa and Canton Tower in 2010. It is now the third tallest tower in the world and remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. We thought some of having lunch in the restaurant on top, but just didn't have time...maybe next time we're in Toronto.

Habourfront Toronto

One of the sand beaches along the Harbourfront, where an art show was going on...lots of food trucks and vendors.

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit was taking place in Nathan Phillips Square, right across the street from our hotel. The building in the background is the new City Hall

More art venders in Nathan Phillips Square...looking towards the old City Hall

A few of the restaurants we tried while we were in Toronto...Pai, Queen and Beaver and the Bodega Restaurant.

Click on the map to enlarge it or zoom in to see where we visited this weekend.