Toronto, like many of the other cities, is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of many different pools around the city.  Swimming is a great exercise to pursue if you are in the city not only because it is extremely fun for the whole family, but also because swimming is considered one of the best forms of exercise you can do; it works all of the muscles in your body.  This combination of fun and fitness makes it the perfect tourist activity and in Toronto during the summer there is no dearth of places for you to go if you’d like to swim.  The swimming areas in Toronto are divided into four distinct areas, each with its own set of rules and opportunities.

Some General Rules

Here are some general swimming rules to be followed when you are in one of the city pools:

- Those with serious medical conditions should consult a doctor before swimming and should also have someone with them that understands their condition; they should also notify the lifeguard before entering the pool

- Children seven years of age or older need to use the change room of their own gender, unless special arrangements are made with the pool staff beforehand

- No street shoes are allowed in the shower or in the deck areas and a pre-swim shower is recommended in order to keep the pool clean

- Using devices like cell phones is prohibited anywhere in the change room or washroom

- Children 5 years of age and under must have at least one adult supervising per two children; Children 6-9 years have that ratio at four to one unless they can pass the faculty’s swim test in which case they may swim alone.

Different Pools

There are dozens of different pools across the city (both indoor and outdoor) available to people that are interested in grabbing a swim.  The city catalogues their pools through the use of four different regions.  The links below will lead you to a listing of pools and special events being put on by each region during the upcoming summer months:

Etobicoke Region
East York Region
Scarborough Region
North York Region

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Monsoon is a Japanese restaurant located in Toronto.  However, their menu is a little bit different as it combines the great Oriental cuisine that we’ve all come to know and love with North American influences in order to create a final taste sensation that is wholly unique.

Location

Monsoon is located at 100 Simcoe Street, which places it very close to the intersection of Adelaide Street West and University Avenue (MAP).  It is also just southwest of the Osgoode Subway Station located on the University line at Queen Street West and University Avenue.  If you’re traveling there by subway, simply get off at Osgoode Station, walk west along Queen Street until you get to Simcoe and then walk south on Simcoe until you get to number 100.

Interior

The interior of Monsoon is one of the coolest experiences that you can get in the city.  The overall restaurant seats 150 people in a subterranean setting with a dark ambiance that is partly the effect of the lighting and partly the effect of the colours used in decoration.  If you want to get an up close and personal tour of the restaurant’s interior, simply visit Monsoon’s website and take a look through their gallery of pictures, conveniently presented to you in slide show format.

Food and Drink

The main reason to go to Monsoon is ultimately the quality of the food that they have.  They have menus for lunch, dinner, corporate events and weddings.  Their lunch menu features such excellent dishes as Asian Salmon Tartar and Indochine Spiced Sirloin Beef, while for dinner you can get entrees like Kobe Beef and Organic Vietnamese Pork Tenderloin.  The menu also has wonderful selections for the vegetarian-minded, with vegetarian dishes such as the Butternut Squash Gnocchi clearly marked on the menu.  Monsoon also offers a large assortment of wines for you to choose from, allowing you to get the perfect wine to go with your meal.

Other Useful Information

Reservations can be booked online through the Monsoon Restaurant Website, with reservations for normal parties and large groups required.  More information on Monsoon Restaurant can be discerned through a visit to their website or alternatively through phoning them at 416-979-7172. 

The Monsoon Restaurant, like the recently blogged about Mink Nightclub in Toronto, is one of Toronto’s happening hotspots.

Photo Credits: Flickr, Flickr

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

The Art Gallery of Ontario is one of the largest art galleries in the world and the current construction that is proceeding on the building will make it even bigger and better.  According to their website, when the construction is finished there will be over 110 galleries in the building.  While I’m not entirely sure how many were there before the construction started, I know from being there personally that it was nowhere near that amount.  The construction has been going on since October 7, 2007 and for the whole time that the construction has been proceeding, the gallery has been closed to visitors.  The latest update puts a rough date of opening in the fall of this year, but no firm date has been set.  For more information on this, check out the Art Gallery of Ontario Director’s Message.

Art Gallery of Ontario Location

The Art Gallery of Ontario is located at 317 Dundas Street West, which puts the gallery between University Avenue and Spadina Avenue on Dundas, right near Beverley Street and McCaul Street (MAP).  You can easily get to the Art Gallery of Ontario from Dundas Subway Station, which is located at the intersection of Dundas and University.  From that point it’s only about a three block walk west to get to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Art Gallery of Ontario Collection

One of the main reasons that the Art Gallery of Ontario is famous is the fact that it has one of the largest collections in the world.  Before the renovation started, there were roughly 70,000 pieces of art in the collection and they spanned the course of history from approximately the year 100 AD to the present moment in time.  In particular, the Art Gallery of Ontario has focused on promoting Canadian art to people both inside the country and those visiting.  This is why two out of every five pieces in the pre-renovation collection were from Canadian artists.  Canada has had many famous artistic talents such as the Group of Seven and Emily Carr.  There have also been rich artistic traditions amongst Inuit living in Canada and that tradition is displayed proudly within the walls of the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Transformation AGO

Transformation AGO was a project that was envisioned by a new board of directors at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  Their aim was to create a bigger and better version of the gallery that so many had come to love.  Indeed, looking at the construction over time shows that the physical building appears to be getting larger and that definitely bodes well for the insides which pre-renovation were stuffed full of artistic works.  The main goal of the transformation is to add new art, create new collections, add volume to the building and increase the overall exposure that artists can get through having exhibits at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  While construction has been long, it is also close to being over and the executives are promising that what you see when it re-opens will be more than worth the wait.

Photo Credits: Personal Collection

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

A well-placed ambulance means that text doesn’t even need to be added to this picture; you already know it’s Toronto from the markings on the back of the vehicle .  The picture is of course of The CN Tower, one of Toronto’s most popular tourist attractions.

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

One of the things I haven’t talked that much about on The Toronto Traveler is the outdoors in Toronto.  Most of the things I mention are either places you can visit or things you can do inside one of the many buildings located in the city, but I have yet to discuss something that you can do outside if you’re just looking for some time to kill or want to get some fresh air.  Well, there are many great places that you can walk in Toronto, but one that should definitely get first mention because of its close proximity to many of the main tourism areas in the city is Philosopher’s Walk.

Beautifully crafted thoroughfares like the one shown to the left are commomplace in Philosopher’s Walk, which is a walkway that starts on Bloor Street West between the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Royal Ontario Museum and continues southward to Hoskin Avenue.  The walk itself is only a few minutes long, but it gives you a chance to bask in a beautiful walkway and take the pulse of the city in a very real way.  It also gives you the chance to encounter a number of people.  University students, music performers, city residents that live nearby and tourists walk back and forth through Philosopher’s Walk all day and with the benches that are available for your use you can just sit there and watch them come and go.  It is a great place to reflect and a great place to relax.

One final point that is worth mentioning about Philosopher’s Walk is the fact that it allows you to branch off and visit many of the other nearby areas.  In addition to being able to visit the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Royal Ontario Museum, you can also go take a look at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Arena and field as well as tourisn some of the nearby campus buildings, most notably the very beautifully constructed Trinity College.

Philosopher’s Walk is also located walking distance from St. George, Bay and Museum Subway Stations; if you check out the subway line map and take a look at many of my past posts, you will notice that these three subway stations form part of the downtown core where most of the action takes place vis-a-vis tourist attractions in Toronto.  That is the main reason why Philosopher’s Walk is shorter than normal, but there are other places in Toronto where you can take a really long walk without stopping that I will talk about in later posts.

Photo Credits: Flickr, Flickr, Flickr

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Believe it or not, there actually is a World Cocktail Week! It’s celebrated by the Museum of American Cocktail in New Orleans and it will be celebrated from May 8th to 13th as the best mixologists around will create their best confections in New Orleans in order to dazzle and tickle the taste buds.  Thanks to my excellent associate over at The DC Traveler, b5media’s Travel & Culture Channel will be celebrating this event through a collective blogging effort of which this post is a part.

Toronto actually does have a real cocktail named after it, although apparently it happens to be more popular in the United States than in Toronto.  I only heard about it when doing the research for this post, but maybe some of you have come across it before.  Here’s what it takes to make a Toronto:

- 2 ounces of rye
- one quarter ounce of Fernet Branca
- one quarter ounce of simple syrup
- two dashes of Angostura bitters

Directions: Place all the materials together with ice, stirring together and then straining into the cocktail glass once stirring is complete before flaming a disc of orange zest into the cocktail, dropping it in afterwards.
Of course, people that know the city well might come up with a different recipe for the quintessential tongue-in-cheek Toronto cocktail and that might look something like this:

The Toronto Toddy

- 1/3 cup of imported tea
- 1/3 cup of bitter tasting beer, flavoured by a disappointed Leafs fan
- 1/3 cup of sweet-sounding promises from local politicians
- a dash of arrogance
- two parts multiculturalism
- two parts envy from the other Canadian cities (wink)

Mix together well, but don’t sweat it if there are still chunks floating around in it when you’re done.  There’s always the next one!
Whatever cocktail happens to be your preference, make sure you check out the other blogs in the channel to see what they come up with for World Cocktail Week.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Post from: The Toronto Traveler