harbourfront

So...I went down to Toronto's Harbourfront this afternoon to catch me some downtown action. It was not good: no parking whatsoever, unless you're willing to shell out $20, leave your keys with a car jockey (me no likey) and walk 1.5 - 2km to your destination. You can take public transit, of course...well, the streetcars were too packed to even contemplate. Between the stink and the coughing passengers - I don't think so. OK, so I parked at Bathurst and King and walked about 2km; no big deal, it was a pleasant afternoon. Once I got to where the action was, I knew I could only take a minute or two: the crowds were just too thick. Claustrophobia hit me and I had to snake my way out to the slightly less crowded sidewalks...missed all of the Ashkenaz festival. I'll fess up: I'm not all that interested. I don't want to belong to a club that would have me for a member...this one would have me, for sure. I'm ethnically Jewish but don't feel any need to mingle with my coreligionists or take in Yiddishkeit (Jewish culture)

So I turned around and walked back to my car. Jets screamed overhead (air show) and infants screamed all around me. Cars honked impatiently and sardine can streetcars passed me by. On my right, as I walked back west, there was the god-awful ugly, unwieldy mishmash of waterfront condos, plus the Rogers Center and the CN Tower - not a pretty picture in the least. The contrast between the calm, serene lake with the green island and the manicured lawns around the sidewalks and the cold, anxious looking concrete jungle couldn't be more jarring. It's too bad Toronto couldn't get its shit together and look a bit more like Chicago.

I was glad to get into my car and motor on home to the outer suburbs. Leafy streets and silence. Oh yeah, baby. And then the wife and I went for a nice sushi dinner to cap off the sunny early fall day