Toronto- what to do?

matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
me, my girlfriend and two of her friends are going to toronto in the 3rd week of october for 5 days.

what would locals/those who have been recommend to do? what interesting things could i sneak in between the shopping trips i'll no doubt have to endure? ;)

any good (online) listings of stuff?


thanks in advance.
 
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stelfox

Beast of Burden
you're kidding matt, i'm going to be there too!!!

toronto is wicked. there's lots to do there.

also there are heaps of nice places to go and hang out, shop and what have you.

seriously, if you've never been before, do some of the touristy things, like a trip up the CN Tower. it's genuinely worth doing.

also a trip out to the islands is nice, especially that time of year, because it'll be fall, so quite pretty.

there's usually something on musically in the evenings, too.

you'll have a good time and if we are there at the same time i'll definitely hook up with you.

i'll get my buddy chris to take us reggae shopping in st clair if you want, and, if you're a carnivore, i insist on taking you to the senator for a burger one afternoon. they're pretty amazing.

mail me at davestelfox at yahoo dot co dot uk
 
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matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
shudder said:
just noticed this.... good concert guide at: http://www.zoilus.com/gig_guide.php

check eye magazine (local alt rag) for film/theatre and other music stuff: http://www.eye.net


what kinda stuff are you looking for?
Click to expand...

thanks for those.

in terms of what we're looking for- good tourist stuff, nice bars that play good music (NOT house etc. my girlfriend and her mates are essentially indie fans/ don't like music), places to sit and enjoy the world, good record shops etc.
 
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stelfox

Beast of Burden
actually they do pretty amazing veggie stuff, too.
but, yeah, that's a side issue.
drop me a mail and i'll give you my numbers etc.
as for other things to do, you shoulds deffo head down to kensington market - full of great thrift stores and cool fashiony things dead cheap , you also pass through china town to get there, so can get a really good, cheap lunch (t.dot chinatown has great food - it rivals san francisco for me),
the distillery area is pretty cool, too, couple of really fantastic restaurants there, the royal ontario museum isgreat, too, especially the inuit collection and there's always sport going on, too, so going to a hockey game or just getting a beer and watching one in a bar is a good thing to do.
if you're anything like me, though, you should probably just spend as much time as you can aimlessly wandering and discovering things. it's a really, really easy city to get around on foot an the transit system is a joy to use compared to london.
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
Just a few quick links...

For records and CDs:

Play De Record 357A Yonge St. The place to go in Toronto for new Jamaican 7"s, as well as hip hop, rnb, new and old jungle, etc. They also have a "vintage" shop at 367.

Kops Records is good for reggae/dub, rare groove, soul, jazz, and "classic" hip hop. A bit overpriced though.

Rotate This is the place for indie, punk, etc., but also various electronic things.

Also check Record Store Review listings for Toronto.

For indie events you might want to keep an eye on listing for The Horseshoe Tavern and El Mocambo

Along with the The Eye, I think Stillepost.ca is the place to look for Toronto event listings (especially indie/band stuff)

And if you're interested in veg food then you have to try Juice for Life. Famously good vegan stuff. Also, Fressen does some astonishingly good gourment vegan with organic wines and things.

There's also Toronto's China Town along Spadina from about Queen to College and also down Dundas W. Kensington market is west of Spadina , north of Queen. There's a Caribbean fish fry somewhere in there, along with organic coffee, odd shops, and a fresh food market. And, if you fancy Jamaican, try the The Real Jerk way the other direction on Queen E. Oh, and near there is the Danforth - basically Bloor St. but east of Yonge - it's a huge Greek area with la lot of restaurants.

... I guess that's more than a few ;) Have fun Matt and Stelfox. I'd like to hear what you did after you're back.
 
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matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
dissensus comes through!

thanks for all the info- plenty to do, as we're there 23-26th october only. i'll mail you nearer the date dave- thanks a lot for the offer!
 
S

stelfox

Beast of Burden
i'll be there one or two days that you're there matt. we should definitely go for a pint halfway round the world, i think!
 
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shudder

Well-known member
i definitely second basically everything said here... kensington is great to wander around about. in fact there's a new bar there, Ronnie's Local 069 that plays about 60% good music and has all kinds of delicious beer on tap. Also in kensington is the great Kensington Organic Ice Cream

Nor far from kensington is the hipster dive, Sneaky Dee's, on College, near other hipster dives, like Rancho Relaxo (not to be confused for the nearby El Rancho!)

A great bar to sit around and listen to good music is Cameron House, on Queen West. For a slightly younger crowd (19-25), check out the Green Room, off Bloor Street in the Annex (you have to walk behind a little alley to find it... just ask anyone on the street).

Another good record store (more on the rock/indie side of things) is Soundscapes.

If you want to do touristy stuff, the CN tower is good ONLY on a clear day, and a waste of time on a cloudy/rainy/smoggy one. The islands are fun, and you can rent bikes there...

(oh, if you're at all into opera, a new opera house was just built for the Canadian Opera Company, and it has awesome acoustics... they have $20 tickets for people under 30 http://coc.ca/tickets/newage.html)

ps: i'm listening to your blogariddims mix now, and I love how it just became all reggae!whee!! it's awesome.
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
right, just got back- feeling spaced due to jet-lag and red wine.
toronto is a fine, fine city- a bit like NY but walkable- didn't get ant public transport in our 4 days.

highlights- food, food, food- as a vegetarian, few cities have such a wide variety of of choice for non-meat eaters (although avoid vietnamese restaurants that have huge, tasty menus, but no option for the likes of me). fressen in particular deserves mighty props for adventuous but not too worthy dishes. although the discussion of diy genetalia photos drifting from the bar was a touch off-putting.
play-de-record was unbelievably unorganised. ragga-jungle seemed very popular.
fine record shop (fuck knows the name) on queen's st west , just east of soho- wicked roots 7" selection. found another nice record shop, truly stuck in the 70s in kensington- dust on the record racks etc- had admiral tibett and leroy gibons lps unseen in the uk. no staff to purchase from though!

lowlights-lots of homeless people sleeping on heating vents, seemingly given up (i read that homelessness has increased a lot in the past couple of years). overuse of the word 'awesome'

overall everyone was very friendly (apart from one dick who wanted a fight)- especially for an anti-social brit- very refreshing. the bars seemed to have an obsesion with a-ha and the 80s in general.

mr stelfox- shame we couldn't meet up, but hey.

maybe more when my head works. i will return
 
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