Yesterday, JJ and I headed down to Harbourfront to check out a nautical/maritime festival. I have not actually been to Harbourfront Centre for some time, and was surprised to see these new motifs all over:
Kinda cute, eh?
I also made some new friends while down there:
The Nautical Festival in itself was a bit of a disappointment. There were some tall ships, both Canadian…
…and American…
… but we thought there would be more. Nonetheless, the scenery was quite beautiful for the most part, if rather stormy:
That photo was taken at 2:35 p.m. or so and I was freaked out by the pink sky.
It then started to rain but then the geese came back:
…so we knew it was safe to emerge again
One thing that bothers me about the Toronto waterfront, though, is that it has really been destroyed by development. For example, turning 90 degrees from the photo above, here is the view:
… and this is a photo I took of one of the ships above from (to me) the wrong angle:
But it’s still not impossible to see what things might have looked like in Toronto before the condomaniacs took over. JJ talked me into going on a wee boat tout, and I was happy for that – at first. Here are some of the views we saw of the Toronto Islands:
The water was very still… one day I will become a great photographer and get a true mirror shot in the water, but I was quite happy with this one…
… and here is one of the swans which inhabit some of the Islands:
But, eventually and inevitably, we had to get back to civilisation as we know it
Another thing that saddened me – the second half of the 45 minute boat tour was taken up with describing most of the corporate buildings which line the waterfront coming into Toronto. Anyone coming to Toronto as a visitor and taking such a tour should really, really know that we have far more to offer than the Bank of Montreal Tower, the Toronto-Dominion Bank towers, etc. etc.
(Having said that, I did get a giggle out of the admission by the tour guide that most of our postcard photos have been subject to airbrushing to get rid of three particularly ugly buildings right in front of the CN Tower. I would show you the true photo but I was laughing too much to take one, actually.)
Anyway, I’d like to leave you with this lovely photo of the Toronto waterfront… do come and visit, and ignore the whining above.
Happy Monday!
Kristina
Bespoke By Brouhaha 
Ah, the boats are pretty. Yep, I just pissed off a bunch of Navy seamen (I said seamen) by calling them pretty boats!
I didn’t know they airbrushed out ugly buildings!!! Oh, the humanity!
Looks like a lovely day out to me. I love the island — and I did one of those boat tours and they did indeed talk a lot about the tall buildings. They are buildings and they are tall. Other than that I don’t remember anything he told us.
The American tall ship seems like it’s falling over….*L* Looks like they haven’t used any of my tax dollars to fix it up.
At least in Chicago no one is allowed to build condos on the lakefront……there’s just park land up and down the shore. That helps somewhat.
I spend a lot of time thinking about what it must have looked like before civilization and all the cement. I have to look at a map because I can’t remember which lake Toronto occupies–or is it the St. Lawrence? That section of my brain seems to have gone up in a (tiny) puff of smoke. My town is on Lake Michigan about 80 miles north of Chicago. We have some crapped up parts of the lakefront, but not a lot. Most of it is parks which are not that natural, but there is a tall bluff full of trees before you get to the parks and beaches. I suppose that bluff is what saved the area from condoization.
I love the photos…I want to live someplace interesting!
I love the tall ships.
I agree that the condos ruin the shoreline, but I have to admit that there is a part of me that would love to have my morning coffee on one of those balconies overlooking the scene in your last picture.
Such wonderful photos, K! It makes me want to come a-visiting so much more!
I’m also jealously gritting my teeth because you’re so slim…
Everyone come to Toronto!!
Kathy: you’re quite lucky to still have your natural waterfront. Having said that, if memory serves, and as Sequana says, the Chicago waterfront is far better than that in Toronto on this score. Poor urban planning back in the 60s and 70s when they were building new highways, etc. Sigh.