Lego and Rare Books

You might wonder what those little plastic interconnecting blocks have to do with rare books. It all started with a nice sunny warm spring day here in Toronto and me not wanting to waste the good weather. I had found an interesting article about Easter Eggs on an Internet site about Toronto, and it mentioned that one of the “eggs” was a Lego Tower in the west end of downtown. Now it wasn’t a real “Easter” egg even though it was around the season, it was one of the easter eggs that are little hidden gems in something. Apparently designers and engineers like to hide little indications (easter eggs) that they designed something and as a challenge for people to find. Common in computer games and software, I recently read about them in cars and trucks. This list of Easter Eggs were of little interesting things to see in the city of Toronto and they are always a good excuse for an outing so we decided to set out on a walk to see if we could find this Lego Tower Easter Egg.

It was a bit of a walk, but the day was warm and sunny, and we set out down Church Street to Queen’s Square and on to Hobart St where the Lego Tower was supposed to be located. 

This tower of  Lego was apparently a project started by a local resident who decided to decorate one of the city’s lamp poles outside his house by building lego around it and as it grew it got slightly out off control until it became a “tower”; sounded interesting.

What is that odd tower?

Now when exploring Toronto, you always find unexpected interesting things, and on this walk we came upon the huge slightly ugly building housing the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Situated on a bend in the road, the building really sticks out as you walk down Hobart Street. It is a large concrete building with an imposing tall concrete tower that when you see it you can’t help wondering what it’s function is. We had seen this building from a distance on another walk and wondered what it was. The Internet tells me that it opened in 1972, and is built in the Brutalist architectural style giving it a rather industrial look. Walking by we discovered that it was a rare book library, and then rounding the corner, looking up at the tall concrete tower, we found a sign indicating that we had arrived during an open house. Two retired folk out for a walk, our time was flexible so we decided to stop in to see what it was all about. 

Come in and see!

Turned out to be a interesting stop. There was a room all set for the open house with a selection of the rare books housed here. The friendly helpful staff told us all about the services the library provides. It holds around 700,000 rare books that are accessible to the public. You can go in and search their catalogue and they will bring you any volume you wish to research. Some of the books on display were fascinating so I can only imagine some of the interesting information you could find if you wished. Oh, and that odd tower on the front of the building actually serves absolutely no useful purpose. It was intended to house a clock in the original design, but as it became a reality, everyone agreed that the clock in the tower looked silly, so it is now just an empty tower. 

And after our detour to explore the rare books we did find the other tower, the lego one and although like the unused clock tower it serves no useful purpose other than decorating one of Toronto’s light poles. Smaller than I expected it is basically one layer of Lego bricks in a square around the pole with windows, doors, stairs and lego people all the way up high enough that if you wished to add to it, you would need to bring a ladder. And not an actual egg in sight.

A pretty impressive collection

Just one of the rare books

The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Yup . . . a tower of lego

And it is a serious tower!

Riding the Subway

Since we do not have a car here in Toronto, we make use of the Toronto Transit system on a regular basis. We use the subway, the streetcars, the trains and the buses, but if it goes where you need to go, the trains; subway, GO Trains or the UP are the most efficient, as they are usually unaffected by the constant crazy Toronto traffic. 

Getting on at the Collage Station

One of my goals here in Toronto was to really explore the Subway system by exploiting TTC’s really nice two hour free transfer program. This means that you can transfer among any of the transit systems free for two hours. For example, if you are flying into Pearson Airport, you can take the UP train from the airport to UNION station downtown, take the Subway to the closest station and then a streetcar or bus to your final destination all for no additional fare so long as it is within the two hour limit. 

"Tap", your Presto card to use the system

We decided to get on the Subway at the stop closest to the condo, the College Station, and head north, stopping at every second station all the way to the end of the line at the Finch Station, which is over 13 km away. Once we reached the end of the line, we would then turn around and come back south stopping at the stations skipped on the trip north. I planned to take a picture of each station and then exit the station to snap another shot of the view outside the subway entrance. 

Waiting for the train

The stations are all different, different designs and layouts, different colours and different locations. Most are underground, but a few are on the surface. Some are stand-alone stations, where others are integrated into shopping centres or condo complexes. The only thing they all seem to have in common, is that they are all undergoing some kind of renovation or upgrading. We found exits closed, elevators not working and detours around construction to get into and out of the stations. 

The Subway to Finch Station

This 13 km trip would normally only have taken around 35 minutes, so the return would have normally been just over an hour, but stopping at every station, the total trip took us all afternoon, from 12:00 to 4:30, and surprisingly, it involved a lot of walking for a total of almost 7 km, including a lot of stairs up and down into the stations, so my new hip certainly made the experiment a lot easier. 

Riding the Subway

My original $2.25 “senior” fare lasted me all the way to the end of the line at the Finch Station and it was only on the way back down that I reached the two hour time limit and the usual “Free Transfer” that came up whenever I tapped my Presto card at the station entrances changed to the “$2.25 Fare” notification. 

Now we only did one section of the Toronto subway system; 13 km of the “V” shaped line 1 which is over 38 km long in total with 38 stops along the way and runs in a generally North/South direction. There are also two additional lines running East/West, but the additional lengths will have to wait for another time. 

Every stop is clearly marked

Outside the Subway Station

Some stations are pretty quiet

Everyone who lives near this stop must drive their car, but here comes our train!

The Davisville Station which we used a lot when Ryan lived near it.

Some stations are on the surface

Others are WAY down underground

Signs make it easy to plan your trip

Another station above ground

Last Stop, Wellesley station and a three block walk home.

Toronto Doors

I have posted before about my photos of doors. Originally I started noticing the beautiful old wooden doors in Ottawa, and that got me taking pictures of doors all over the world. I literally have hundreds of pictures of doors. I did however move from taking pictures of beautiful old doors, to noticing the interesting old doors that were more “interesting” than beautiful, and doors that are integrated into the street art that I have also been saving pictures of. 

Here are some of the more interesting doors I have photographed around Toronto in the last few months. 

Interesting colours and shadows

A lot going on here

Yes there is a door under there

A Calendar Door? 

More nice colours and shadows

Love the way it blends into the art

Yup, very "pink" door

Nice weathered wood

I do still record the nice old wooden doors

Elephant Hunting

I have been using a very helpful book called “111 Places You Must Not Miss In Toronto” by Anita Mai Genus, Clare Davenport & Elizabeth Lenell Davies to explore the city of Toronto. It has been very helpful and so far I have found 60 of the places mentioned in the book. Now I admit I have not actually visited every one; for example the Restaurant with $120 steaks was only found and walked by; the steak will have to wait, and the places unfound are mostly further outside the downtown core, but I am still working on seeing as many as I can.

In the summer, we took the Line 2 subway out to Christie Pitts to explore this park, but I should have checked the nice map at the back of the book a bit closer or I would have noticed that there was another suggested attraction we could have visited while out that way. 

Sally the Elephant, number 85 in the book,  lives a short distance north of Christie Pitts and we could have taken a short detour and crossed another “Place” off the list back when it was warm. So today, I decided to brave the cold and go back and hunt the elephant. Fortunately, a better exploration of the book showed another attraction not far away from Sally so I was able to make the outing a 2 for 1 trip. Then looking on Google maps for the best route,  Dupont Subway stop was suggested for the ideal start for our winter walk, and I discovered that this particular Subway station is one of the most attractive in the city, with some beautiful tile work and some unique architectural features, so my 2 for 1 became a 3 for 1. 

I can tell you that the Dupont Station really is worth a visit  even though it is not in the book, with lovely tilework incorporating some beautiful artwork, and open architecture and arched glass domes over the entrances. 

Dupont Subway Station

A short walk from the subway, we found the Tarragon Theatre which is housed in an old Cribbage factory. It was not open, but looks like it might have some interesting upcoming productions worth further investigation. 

Then a couple of blocks later, through some streets and laneways with some really interesting Street Art, we found Sally the Elephant standing proudly on the front lawn of a really ordinary house in a very ordinary neighbourhood. Sally, a full sized model of a female elephant,  was originally created by a student for a University courses, and went into storage for a while until a friend offered to display her on his front lawn where she has proudly lived ever since. She has been there for over two decades and has become a popular neighbourhood attraction, even making it into the 111 places book. 

Sally the Elephant

So . . . . Less than half of the 111 places still to visit.

And lots of Street Art.

Winter In Toronto

This is our second winter in Toronto, and it looks like we might actually get to enjoy a white Christmas. Last year it really did not snow at all. Any snow that came down melted the next day. The weather Network keeps threatening snow, but it rarely comes. I get “SPECIAL WEATHER ALERTS” warning residents to stay home due to VERY hazardous conditions, and nothing happens - no snow to speak of. But this year it snowed two days before Christmas and it might actually hang around long enough to make Christmas a nice festive white. So with both children here in Toronto with us, we decided to go out for a nice walking tour in the snow.

First stop was at Allan Gardens Conservatory for a photo opportunity with their Poinsettia Display. I have written previously about this really spectacular site which is just two blocks from the condo and it is especially nice at Christmas with their poinsettias looking so festive.

Allan Gardens 

Next stop was a coffee shop that Regis wanted to try from a little Toronto Coffee Shop passport book she got from a friend, but we discovered that this particular shop only had two inside seats so the coffee was taken to go and as we walked through the falling snow in downtown Toronto, the nice hot coffee kept everyone warm. As I stood outside the coffee shop waiting for everyone’s orders to be filled, I watched a woman in tan leather pants and tall stiletto shoes trying to navigate through the slushy, slippery sidewalks - she perhaps thought her pointy heels were going to provide a bit of winter traction? 

We stopped for the required photo with the Toronto sign behind the popular skating rink at Nathan Philips Square and then toured the Financial District, stopping into the various bank building to see the fancy Christmas decorations in the foyer of the buildings, each bank trying to outdo their rivals. 

Nathan Philips Square

By then, the snow had stopped and we decided to follow the underground network of the PATH through to the Eaton Centre and the giant animated Christmas Tree. Then out onto Dundas Square (I believe it has been renamed but everyone still knows it as “Dundas Square”) and onto a little bar behind Yonge St. for drinks and snacks. 

All in all, the gently falling snow and the pleasant temperatures provided a nice day to wander the winter wonderland of the big city. The falling snow actually hid the tallest of the city’s skyscrapers and seeing the totally unprepared pedestrians provided ongoing entertainment; they were either totally overdressed bundled in full length hooded puffy parkas or completely ignoring the snow,  dressed in shorts, high heels, blue suede shoes, fuzzy slippers, or other inappropriate attire. Welcome to winter in Toronto!

Eatons Centre Christmas Tree

Skating at Collage park

Yonge Street 

The Wizard in Toronto

Friends suggested we go to see a pantomime of “The Wizard of Oz” here in Toronto at the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre on Yonge St, just down from Dundas Square. It was a pleasant evening out for dinner and a play, we got to try a new pub and the play was very entertaining, a pantomime of “The wizard Of Oz”, where Dorothy was deposited in downtown Toronto from the farm in Guelph. I learned that rather than being a play where the characters express meaning through mime or gestures which is that a Pantomime was in ancient Roman theatres, the English reimagined it as a musical comedy with slapstick and topical jokes and based on fairy tales or nursery rhymes produced for families around Christmas time. This production of “The Wizard of Oz” certainly fit the English definition, with the setting in downtown Toronto , the Emerald Palace being the CN “power”, and Mayor Chou as the wizard. The music and singing were excellent, and the production was full of jokes and slapstick, but what was most interesting was the amazing theatre where it was presented. 

We have walked by the Elgin & Winter Garden theatre many times as we explored Toronto, and thought it was just one of the many old theatres around the city, but actually going into the building for a play showed just what an amazing place this was. Originally built in 1913, it is the last remaining example where two theatres were built in a stacked arrangement with one on top of the other.  Both theatres were originally intended for vaudeville productions. During this era many stars such as Joan Crawford & Clark Gable, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Sophie Tucker, Milton Berle, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy were featured there. 

The two theatres were vastly different, the Elgin was a traditional gold and marble decorated venue, but the Winter Garden upstairs was decorated to make you feel you were outside in a garden with the ceiling decorated with leaves and lit with lanterns and the columns fashioned to look like trees. This was the theatre we saw the Wizard of Oz in and it really does make you feel you are sitting under big trees in a garden. 

The Elgin theatre was converted to a movie theatre in 1928 and the Winter Garden theatre was closed and remained shuttered for 60 years. By the 70’s, the Elgin was mostly showing low budget B films or mild pornography, but the theatre was purchased by the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1981 and a full restoration was started in 1987. This involved using hundreds of pounds of raw bread dough to clean the long unused Winter Garden’s elaborate watercolour decorations. The theatres reopened in 1989 and are now one of the finest theatre venues in Canada. 

So, if you ever get a chance to see a play in this beautiful theatre complex you will be amazed at the beautiful venue.