(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

It’s been 30 years since I lived in Toronto, so it is not surprising that much has changed. My old neighbourhood (Avenue Road, near Dupont Street) has become far more expensive and “intensified”, but those changes had been creeping north from Yorkville for many years.

I was more surprised by the extent of the redevelopment of the waterfront area. When I lived in Toronto, the lands south of Union Station did not really attract much attention (or many people). Now, however, it seems like entirely new neighbourhoods have sprung up and there is a sense of community that I never noticed before. I wouldn’t normally stay in that area but, thanks to an online deal, my hotel was cheaper than even the traditional “budget” hotels near the train station. And it had a meal credit tossed in as well.

Maybe it was the bright sunshine, but everything seemed to be shiny and new. i doubt that many of the skyscrapers shown in the “cover photo” at the top of this post existed in the early 1990s. With so many people enjoying the weather and being on the waterfront, the energy I found on Kensington Market (see my previous post here) was also apparent in what used to be a nondescript part of the city. And on the first weekend of March, to boot!

All of this made me decide to take advantage of some accumulated loyalty program points and make plans for another big city getaway. Having had a proper glimpse of downtown Toronto for the first time in a couple of years, it was time to visit Montreal!

We went to Montreal at the end of April (8 weeks after Toronto, but just before this post was published – it’s complicated). I’ll have a full report soon!