In which Toronto is annoying

[mindstalk]

I figured I would explore PATH today (Toronto's underground city network.) I did my research about entrances, went to Union Station, found the entrance... and a sign saying that due to covid, it's open only 8-6 WEEKDAYS.

Today is not a weekday.

The physical concourse was open, but (almost) all the shops were closed. Escalators locked too.

I left and tried exploring downtown a bit, but it looked like a standard NorAm downtown, high rises and few shops, and those largely closed due to weekend. So I headed to Chinatown for Plan B, dumplings at Juicy Dumpling.

The subway worked fine. But the streetcars failed me this time. No 505 west in 20+ minutes, and then 4 or 5 at once. I didn't wait that long, I walked over, but got to see the streetcars go by as I ate. And on the walk I had to cross University, where the walk sign ran down to 0 before I could make it across. And I walk fast! It's a 4 lane road, not that wide, designed as a two-phase crossing! Jeez. Almost as bad as the 4.5 minute crossing in Brisbane.

The 'juicy' dumplings were pretty good. The chicken ones were decent, though I'd meant to order cumin chicken, something went wrong there. The siu mai was a soft paste inside, I'm not sure it was fully cooked.

Things picked up after that. I did get to verify that the 510 Spadina does run in its own ROW -- though it still bunched up! (At least just two trainsets rather than four.) Rode one south (slowly) to the end, walked along the lake, found a Little Norway park with a bit of history. 509 back to Union, and Yonge line to Dundas. My company has a couple of new Canadian clients, and I was told to go eat at them on company expense.

Eaton Center had multiple below-ground levels that actually were open, restaurants and all. It was intimidatingly crowded, even. I emerged, found the restaurant, explored. Dundas and Eaton is BRIGHT, like Times Square -- largely the H&M store, with a bright wall. Plaza with multiple digital signs begging people to get vaccinated so shopping can go back to normal. Yonge north of there had neat stuff: Jollibee, H-Mart, a strip club with funny pandemic slogans[1], a corner of food stalls, other interesting stuff.

Client's food turned out to be good, though pricier than I would opt for on my own. Take-out; eating in would have been a 75 minute wait even if I'd wanted to.

[1] "No pass, no ass" "Vaxxed and waxed"

Comments

[mtbc]

That is disappointing indeed. I had hopes for your time in Toronto, it left me with good impressions on brief visits years ago, when it was a good option when I had to go outside the US to renew a visa at a US consulate. (Could have been a good excuse to visit the Bahamas too!) Not being eager about the PNW, I've since kept Toronto in the back of my mind as a place to flee in later years if the US continues to decline, given that real estate in the UK is so expensive and Brexit somewhat closed the rest of Western Europe off to me.

[mindstalk]

You seem to have taken away more negativity than I intended; I was largely griping about a bad day of annoyances. Not Toronto's fault there's a pandemic. The subway has been good (for what it covers) and my neighborhood is pretty walkable, even if I gripe about being embedded in residences. Streetcar bunching is bad but little different from bus bunching, which you see in US bus systems. Last night's food was a fancy place, but I've had amazingly cheap and good falafel wraps (the most recent one was US $4.35! and not tiny.)

OTOH given what I think are your tastes, the buildings where I am might be too compact and dense (mostly two story houses, but like 6 meters wide with narrow walkways between them and small yards), plus probably expensive these days, and I dunno what it's like further out.

[mtbc]

Thank you. (-: Yeah, it's plausible I'd be curious about what I could get at the other end of some transit link, so that the heart of the city at least remained accessible.