When you visit any city, there are sights that ‘they’ want you to see. These are the sights that represent that city. These are the sights that make that city famous (not infamous). I’ve learned when visiting pretty much anywhere that if they want you to look at a specific feature, you should always look the other way. There just might be something better to see in the opposite direction.
Toronto is no exception. They want you to see the CN Tower. They want you to be awed by the CN Tower. They want you to empty your wallet at the CN Tower. However, the city is beautiful and becoming more and more of an architectural wonder. See that CN Tower but then take some time to look around.
In the image below, you can see the covered, raised walkway that runs from Union Station to near the base of the CN Tower. Along the way, it connects hotels, businesses and the convention centre. At the end, it pretty much runs into Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada with the CN Tower and Rogers Centre just a stone’s throw away.
I was most recently in the city with my three year old as my wife and the newborn spent the afternoon at a baby show at the convention centre. My three year old could care less about the buildings and attractions. He only cares about the trains.
We found this great spot right where the walkway ends at the back of the aquarium. The view of the tracks going into Union Station was unobstructed by fences and railings because of the incline. It was simply a great spot to watch trains. It was also a great spot to feel the excitement of a traveller seeing the CN Tower for the first time.
The skyline of downtown Toronto has gotten so crowded that if you’re in the thick of it, you can’t see much past the wall of steel and glass in front of you. It was really something to see and hear over and over the reaction of people coming out of the walkway doors, looking up and seeing the former tallest free-standing structure towering above.
It made me long to be travelling to some new place around the world and having that same feeling of discovering something for the first time.
The funny thing was that after they’d taken the tower in, taken many pictures and selfies, many would look over and see me and my kid looking in the other direction. Many would rush over with cameras cocked, only to disappointed at the view of the train station.
We then travelled a little north to Nathan Phillips Square and Toronto’s city hall. Leftover from this summer’s Pan-Am Games is a set of giant letters spelling TORONTO at the side of the reflecting pond/skating rink.
Tourists crowded those cheesy giant letters for photo upon photo upon photo. An eyesore to the people who live in the city, these temporary letters that won’t go away have become quite an attraction.
The thing is, there’s an upper walkway that takes you above the hydro wires, people and landscaping. There are much better views of the City Hall building from this point and you can even walk right up to the entrance. There was hardly a soul taking advantage of this photographic edge.
And, while looking at the giant letters and the flashy ‘new’ city hall building, you needed to look the other way to see some of the city’s most classic and beautiful architecture.
The old city hall of Toronto is an incredibly beautiful building. Yet, there were few cameras pointed in its direction.
Why do I look the other way? It sort of stems back to a 2002 visit to New York City. I was on the scenic boat tour around the island of Manhattan with my oldest nephew. We were up the Harlem River when the guide took our attention away from the island and toward the east. What he was describing was at best mildly interesting.
The thing was, I turned to look at Manhattan and there was a sight that we weren’t supposed to see. All along the shore, beneath a narrow boardwalk, was a city of homeless people. The city didn’t want their tourists seeing this less colourful feature and they did all they could to distract your attention until the boat has passed.
Downtown Toronto, Ontario Driving Tour
We took this video a few years after the photos in the above article. This is an extensive driving tour of the downtown area of Toronto. If you like what you see, please give it a ‘Thumb’s Up’ in YouTube. If you love what you see, please consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel.
