In honour of the most recent b5media Travel & Culture Theme Day Post, I’ve decided to do a quick run through of the alphabet with a Toronto flair added onto things. 

This post is a continuation of T is for Toronto, the post I wrote for that particular theme day post.

A is for the Argonauts, Toronto’s Canadian Football League Franchise.

B is for the Blue Jays, Toronto’s Major League Baseball Franchise.

C is for the Canadian National Exhibition, which makes its home within the City of Toronto.

D is for the Don River, one of the many beautiful pieces of flowing water in the city.

E is for the Entertainment District, which counts among its numbers some of the hottest bars and nightclubs on the continent.

F is for Family Vacations, which are very easy to create in Toronto, a city of excellent family venues.

G is for overall guest accommodations that are available all over the place and at price ranges that give tourists a lot of choice.

H is for High Park, one of the most beautiful natural locations within the city.  It happens to also play host to one of the most celebrated Shakespeare festivals in the country every single year.

I is for India Town, where you can get authentic Indian food, drink, clothing and other items as well.

J is for jamming, which various local and international artists do in Toronto at dozens of different musical venues.

K is for Kensington Market, a fantastic place where you can get almost anything you want below its normal retail price.

L is for Lover’s Lane, a walking pathway that covers a good amount of distance across the city.

M is for the Maple Leafs, Toronto’s National Hockey League franchise.

N is for North York, one of the suburbs of Toronto.

O is for outstanding food that is both affordable and authentic.

P is for Parties, which happen all over Toronto every single day.  Many of them are located in the Entertainment District and are great once you get a chance to experience them.

Q is for Queen Street, a place where many of the most happening places in the city are located.  Whether you`re into eating, partying or just simply people watching, you can definitely find what you`re looking for on Queen Street.

R is for the Raptors, Toronto’s National Basketball Association franchise.

S is for the Subway, your ticket to making your way around the entire city at a price that is more than reasonable.

T is for Toronto, the city that is the focus of this blog.

U is for underground.  There are many underground walkways in downtown Toronto that you can use to access different places, allowing you to get around to where you want to go even if the weather sucks.  It’s also for Union Station, one of the most historic sites in the whole city.

V is for Victoria Day, a holiday well-celebrated in the city.

W is for weather that can be cold during the winter, warm during the summer and quite temperate in both the spring and the fall.

X is for Xavier and the rest of the X-Men, whose novels, books and movies you can easily obtain from any of the nerd stores in downtown Toronto.

Y is for Yorkdale, one of the bigger shopping malls in the city.

Z is for the Zoo and all of the wonderful things that you can see when you go there.

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

One of the great things about Toronto is that it has a large number of neighbourhood pubs.  These pubs allow you to kick back, relax and have a good time.  Not a good time like a tourist, but a good time like a resident of the city, because the people in these pubs are often friendly enough that you’d fit right in within minutes of sitting down at the bar.

One example of such a pub is the Scotland Yard Pub.  This pub is located in the heart of the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood and has been around for over twenty-five years.  According to their marketing staff, the pub offers “a comfortable and casual place for our guests to come, relax and enjoy themselves.” All indications are that the pub does an excellent job of delivering on this promise.

General Information

The Scotland Yard Pub is located on 56 The Esplanade in the old heart of downtown Toronto.  It is open every day of the week from 11:30 AM to 2:00 AM, so you can stay there until last call if you want.  It is accessible to people with disabilities and is therefore one of the better pubs to go to for large groups.

The dress code for the pub is casual (i.e. there is no specific dress code) and there is also patio that you can sit on when the weather is warmer as will be the case for the next few months.

Scotland Yard Menu

British pub fare is the general idea of what is offered at Scotland Yard and for the most part they stick to what would be expected of that theme.

Their appetizers consist of Nachos, Veggies n’ Dip, Calamari, Shrimp and Chicken Wings.  Prices for these appetizers range from $9 to $22 depending on the size of the appetizers and the options that you choose for it.

If you’re more of a salad person, then Scotland Yard has your choice of Greek Salad, Caesar Salad or Spring Mix Salad, all of which are either $8 or $9.  If you’re looking to make your salad into more of a complete meal, then you can add chicken breast for an extra $6 or salmon for an extra $7.

Sandwiches are available from Scotland Yard as well.  They offer Beef, Turkey, Pork and Chicken sandwiches, with prices ranging from $11 to $15 depending on the order and the options that you get with it.

Scotland Yard also has various other entrees and pub fare selections that you can make on their menu, including various meals of the day that are different each time you visit the pub.  Many of their items are also available as group platters, allowing you to order enough for a large group of people.  A menu this diverse is one of the big reasons for the general popularity the pub enjoys.

A full selection of food served can be found in the Scotland Yard Menu.

Scotland Yard Events

No pub in Toronto would be complete without a series of events to go along with the great food and good times.  Scotland Yard is no different and while many of their events can be found on the Scotland Yard Calendar of Events, here are some of the regularly occurring events that you can expect to see.

Brown Bottle Mondays: All beer that is served in brown bottles is just $3 a bottle.

Wet Wednesdays: Pints of selected beers are just $5, continuing the great deals that you can get when you visit Scotland Yard on Monday.

Thirsty Thursdays: A weekly celebration at Scotland Yard where Martinis are $5 and for three hours each Thursday, oysters are served for just $0.99 per oyster.

Wii Love Sundays: Also a weekly event where a Nintendo Wii is set up on one of the big screens, allowing you to take a free shot at playing bowling, tennis, golf or baseball on the big screen.

Scotland Yard Contact Information

Phone: 647-724-3446

E-Mail: info@scotlandyard.ca

Photo Credit: Flickr

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

T is for The Toronto Traveler, the blog that I’ve been writing for since late last year.  I’ve had my ups and downs during that time, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope to go on enjoying it for some time.

T is for Toronto, the largest city in Canada.  It’s been my home for the last two decades of my life and I think it’s one of the most welcoming cities around for tourists to visit.  There are many excellent tourist attractions here that I’ve already talked about and many more that I’ll be writing about in the coming days, weeks and months.

T is for tourism, one of Toronto’s largest industries.  Tourism to such “T” places as Thomson Park, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Toronto Zoo and Toronto Island and the Thousand Islands.

In a city like Toronto, finding things to talk about concerning the letter T is not that difficult.  I’m sure you can think of others if you give it some thought.  Feel free to post whatever else you come up with in the comments and we can continue our discussion about it .  Then, on May 29th when the Travel & Culture theme day post goes live, take a look around the other posts in the channel and post your thoughts on them as well.

As the title implies, this post has been brought to you by the letter T.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

One of the big beefs that people tend to have with traveling in and around Toronto is the gas prices that can be found in the city.  While Toronto is lucky in the sense that our gas prices are lower than in most other areas (and definitely lower than the national average), gas prices are still going up at a very predictable rate. 

While this is definitely true over the long run, over the short run there are definitely differences within the city in the prices that can be found.  The Toronto Gas Prices website aims to exploit these differences by assisting people in finding the cheapest gas prices in the city at a current time. 

Their stated goal is to force gas stations to charge the cheapest price universally through stimulating market competition and there are many people in Toronto that have saved hundreds of dollars over the course of the last few months strictly by using Toronto Gas Prices to buy gas from the cheapest source in their area.

Site Features

There are many features offered by Toronto Gas Prices to help you find the best tank of gas possible for your specific needs.  You can take a look at both the cheapest gas stations in the city as well as the most expensive so that even if you need to buy gas without using the website at some point, you can get a general idea of the current range of gas prices.  In addition to that, you can see both lists for regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel products.

The database that powers the website is maintained entirely by volunteers, showing the dedication that people in the city have for ensuring that people get access to the lowest gas prices possible.  There is even a form in the top left corner of the website for people to fill out if they would like to report a price.  Both good and bad prices can be reported through the use of this simple form, as the website is looking to get as complete a picture of possible of gas prices in Toronto.

The database is also fully searchable, allowing you to find low prices at a particular gas station of your choice or within geographical locations outside the city of Toronto.  The main aspects of the database appear to be within the city however, so the most reliable information you get from this website will likely be information you get about the City of Toronto.

There are other features available (such as record-keeping) that residents of the city that will be purchasing gas long term can get some use out of, although visitors to the city probably won’t purchase enough gas for them to be useful.  Still, take a look over the entire Toronto Gas Prices website and you might be surprised at what else you can find.

Photo Credit: Screen capture of the Toronto Gas Prices website

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Poorly pixelated pictures aside, if you are someone that loves to laugh, then ROFL 2007 is absolutely the event for you.  There are a number of different performances that are going to go on that will make you laugh completely.  There are different performances from different actors and comedians, including a tale about a man’s attempts to find a date around the city.  It is a great way to just unwind from the stress of the holiday season and with a price starting at just $20, it is reasonably affordable as well.

What: ROFL 2007

Where: 16 Ryerson Avenue

When: Starting at 7:30 PM, doors open earlier

For more information about this event, shoot a phone call out to 416-504-7529

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

The CN Tower, quite lamentably, is no longer the tallest freestanding structure in the world.  That honour now rests with a building still under construction within the United Arab Emirates.  The CN Tower had a fantastic run with that honour however, since it held the record for over 30 years.  Considering that this was created in the 70s, when technology was nowhere near what it is now, the CN Tower remains one of the most fantastic engineering and architectural feats of the human race.

Well, that might be me talking through my blue coloured sunglasses, who knows!  But what is not up to question is the fact that the CN Tower still remains the top tourism destination for people traveling to Toronto and arguably the top destination for people traveling to Canada as a whole.  It is still a big symbol of Canada and it is still a place that has a lot of great amenities.  There is actually a glass floor installed within the CN Tower that allows you to stand on it and stare directly down towards the Earth’s surface; I stood up there once and the feeling was quite a heady one to be sure.

In addition to that, the CN Tower gives you a fantastic and unparalleled view of the city and it also happens to have a number of fun games and activities that can keep children occupied if they happen to learn about a fear of heights through looking at the horizon or standing on the glass floor.  The CN Tower has the two things you need for a big tourist attraction; it has name power recognizability and it also has a lot of things for people to do.  It’s not a mistake that the CN Tower is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world and if you visit Toronto, it should definitely be on your list of places to visit.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler