Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons 

Even though The Toronto Traveler has only been around for about two and a half months or so, there are still highlights to talk about!  Here are some of the more memorable posts that have come up in the short time that The Toronto Traveler has been online:

- The Welcome Post, on October 19th

- A Great Picture of the CN Tower, on October 25th

- Staying Safe on Halloween, on October 30th

- A Plug for the Official City of Toronto Website, on November 18th

- Great Music at one of Toronto’s best Jazz Locales, on November 20th

- Toronto’s First Snowfall in 2007, on November 24th

- Me Moaning and Groaning About the Toronto Maple Leafs, on November 30th

- Toronto’s First Real Snowfall in 2007, on December 2nd

- Instructions in Speaking Torontonian, on December 10th

- Christmas Wishes from The Toronto Traveler, on December 25th

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If you are really into the New Years spirit and have kids, then one of the great ways for you to ring in the New Year would be at the Metro Toronto Zoo.  There’s going to be fun and fanfare in the guise of great music and entertainment as well as special visitors that will be doing animal acts to delight the kids.  There are very few things that they would find more delightful and at the end of it there will be a big celebration for the New Year, assuming your kids can stay awak of course!

The Metro Zoo is located at the eastern edge of the city and the best way to get there is to take the train to Kennedy Station and then from there take the 86 Scarborough bus that will take you directly from Kennedy Station to the Toronto Zoo.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Event: Toronto Zoo Family Countdown for the New Year

Location: Toronto Zoo

Date: December 31, 2007

Time: 6:00 PM

Cost: $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $6 for children

For More Info: 416-392-5929 or http://www.torontozoo.com

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Winter Fest this year is going to be very interesting, with the highlight performance being sung by Omarion.  This is a man that is absolutely multi-talented, with the ability to produce, act and sing.  He is a performing arts genius and he will be joined at the Winter Fest concert celebration by young and upcoming R&B artists Trey Songz and Mario.  The price for this concert is quite hefty, with tickets starting around $65.00, but at the same time if you are a big fan of this kind of music and want to get in on the Winter Fest fun, this might be the time for you to shell out those extra big bucks.  Either way, there’s going to be plenty to do and see in the next two to three weeks, so if you want to wait and spend that money instead on two or three different events, that is also a good idea.

Massey Hall is of course one of the best known venues within the city and because it is just a bit east of Nathan Phillips Square and the Toronto City Hall, a lot of people end up performing at that venue.  It is located on Shuter Street just east of Yonge Street and the closest TTC station to it is Dundas Station, allowing you to walk southwards for about five minutes or so before you reach Shuter.

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Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

By day, it is one of the more bustling shopping areas within the City of Toronto.  People go there in order to get great deals on a number of different things, while local residents and students from the nearby University of Toronto tend to go there during their off hours in order to shop from store to store.  It is one of the quintessential local shopping areas in Toronto and on the 21st of December, it is going to be home to an absolutely fascinating festival of lights.

December 21st is the winter solstice and also the shortest day of the year.  During this longest and darkest night of the Toronto year, a number of different presentations from the rooftops and storefronts of Kensington Market will light your way as you traverse the various areas of the market west of Spadina Avenue and south of College Street.  The exhibition will include the famed Samba Squad as well as a number of different characters in costumed garb in a carnival parade the likes of which you are very unlikely to see anywhere else during the coldest part of the year!

The map above shows the general location of Kensington Market, but if you want to get the main parts of the market then you are best sticking to the area that is immediately southwest of the Spadina and College intersection.  Staying in the rectangle defined by those two streets, Augusta Avenue on the west and Dundas Street on the south will ensure that you get to see a fair number of the festivities, although feel free to traverse all the way to Bathurst if you’re feeling particularly adventurous that day!  The closest subway station would be Queen’s Park Station over at University and College, which is about a five minute walk from Kensington Market.

What: Kensington Market’s Festival of Lights

Where: Kensington Market

When: December 21st, 2007, starting at 6 PM local time

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I tried it out in preview mode as Alex over at Sirened suggested and it seemed to work well enough, so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that this one gets posted.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Now that snowfall is occuring here in Toronto and the weather is getting reasonably cold (although we haven’t had snow fall since the first snowfall earlier last week), the famous ice rink in Nathan Phillips Square in front of city hall is open for business once again.  This is an ice rink that I remember going to and skating on year after year when I was a kid and on any given day you’ll see Torontonians having a great time with friends and family as they skate around the partially natural, partially man-made ice rink that covers the square during the winter months.

Weather permitting, the rink itself will usually stay open 12 hours a day from 10 in the morning to 10 at night, although with the milder weather we’ve been having so far this year those hours are probably not going to become regular until December comes and brings regular snowfall with it.  More information about what the operating hours are going to be can be found by calling ahead at 416-338-RINK and asking what the hours are that day before you suit up and prepare to head out with the family.

In addition to being a great place for people to go and skate during the winter, Nathan Phillips Square is filled with the history of not only the City of Toronto, but also of Toronto’s interactions with the rest of the world.  That, however, is a story for another time.

Photo Credit: City of Toronto

Map Credit: Google Maps

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While it wasn’t a very large amount (hence my substituting the picture above for an actual picture of the snowfall), snow did fall on thursday for the first time this year.

I was actually aware of a very minor amount of snowfall on wednesday when I was coming home from the university, but it wasn’t enough to actually make the ground look like any snow had fallen.  Thursday, on the other hand, was a completely different story!

Once we get the first truly impressive snowfall here for the year I’ll take a few pictures and post them for you to see, but for now I’ll leave you with this somewhat morbid statistic.  A doctor friend I was talking to the other day says that the day immediately after the first snowfall is the highest day for heart attacks in Toronto because of people shoveling their driveway for the first time.

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