Ontario - Lake Simcoe & Toronto

[scifan57]

ROM - Royal Ontario Museum

The Royal Ontario Museum is the most popular attraction in Toronto and is a multifaceted presentation with diverse collections of world culture and natural history, as is evident from the quotes below. We spent just three hours in the afternoon and were selective in our viewing - reminds me of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which I've visited numerous times - on my last visit there, I concentrated on the furniture rooms and the musical instruments. The ROM is a MUST visit that deserves frequent visits, which I would certainly do if closer to me.

Pics below are all from the web and obviously limited and selective - might need a hundred or more to really show the magnitude of this museum's numerous collections. Dave




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I last visited the ROM in 2003, shortly after the new additions were first opened. The first time I visited was in 1996 and you still entered through the original entrance. A minor inconvenience with the new entrance is that the museum subway stop is right in front of the old entrance, meaning you have to walk around the end of the building to get to the new entrance.

 

[giradman]

If you ever visit Ottawa, I recommend the Byward Market. It's within walking distance of Parliament hill.

We've been to Ottawa and stayed at the Chateau Laurier hotel - great location and just across the street from the ByWard Market - we probably were there several times knowing us - Dave

OOPS - misspelled the hotel name on the pic, i.e. Laurier!
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[giradman]

I last visited the ROM in 2003, shortly after the new additions were first opened. The first time I visited was in 1996 and you still entered through the original entrance. A minor inconvenience with the new entrance is that the museum subway stop is right in front of the old entrance, meaning you have to walk around the end of the building to get to the new entrance.

Not sure which year we made our first visit to the ROM - but for those who may be going, a pic of the subway stop relative to the museum's entrance. Also, the 'redone' Museum subway station is neat! Dave
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[giradman]

FOOD - FOOD - FOOD - Barely Touched the Surface -

First, there is a LOT more that we could have done in the Toronto area and environs, e.g. an all-day wine tour back to the Niagara area, a guided tour of the Toronto neighborhoods, and visits to other city attractions (museums, Casa Loma, and more!). Second, in our limited time, we did not have the opportunity to explore the multi-ethnic restaurant offerings in Toronto, which would take weeks if not months!

SO, what did we eat in those 7 days? I've already mentioned our experience in Lake Simcoe, i.e. on the American plan at the Briars resort - the food was excellent but certainly not 'ethnic'. In Toronto, we had lunch at our hotel restaurant named Bosk, also dinner one night and in the lounge our last night - the food was outstanding and we shared 3 dozen oysters in those meals (from PEI - Prince Edward Island, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts).

Another night, we walked to John & Sons Restaurant and shared another dozen oysters (PEI types and Kumamotos from the West Coast, a favorite of ours) and then three different and delicious appetizers. Another evening, we again walked a few blocks to the Volos Greek restaurant - I had the Mediterranean whole bass - the Greek wines were excellent.

Finally, one of Susan's favorite lunches was Dim Sum in Chinatown (near the AGO) - the last images below show about a half of the various dishes we tried (ladies pushing carts around for those who had had this experience) - my favorite was the shumai - however, Susan cannot resist eating steamed chicken feet (I let her have the entire bowl - not in my gestalt). We had another lunch near the St. Lawrence Market - just a 'hole in the wall' near eastern restaurant w/ some wonderful lamb & chicken pitas that we shared - wonderfully flavored w/ spices and herbs.

BOY - we would have to live in Toronto for 3-4 months to really explore this food scene - sad! Dave
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