accidental tourist 1: doors open toronto
after about 4 hours of sleep time, i was up and warming up for my "tour". hehe. well, i'm always up for a new adventure, so with "me" as my tour guide, as in no map in hand, i walked my way through toronto.
the good thing was today was declared doors open toronto wherein volunteer citizens would give mini-tours to visitors in the historical places around toronto. they would be posted in several places around toronto, and visitors would go to the place and they'd give the lowdown on the history of the place - makes it a bit more overwhelming for curious george. i only stumbled into this fact when i went thru a gated building... well, because some people were going in as well. :P turns out this was part of the landmarks under the doors open program.
here's what i've seen so far...
the Osgoode Hall - Osgoode was the first Chief justice of the province. yep, you guessed it, this is a courthouse :D built in 1829 and one of the finest examples of Victorian Classical in Canada.
i'm in the middle of the hall here. usually, i'd associate a law court with a statue of a woman holding scales. i was a bit surprised to find a lady holding a babe here. btw, the ceiling was amazing. :D
this is me in courtroom 4. hm, i think this suits me. hehe, first phrase that came to mind: "i'll be the judge of that" (haha, migs, kahawa pagka-corny mo, mwehehe" :P
just outside the courthouse, a band was playing. lots of tourists came out so i got someone to take this picture for me. hehe. that's me by the war memorial.
oh! and i literally played paparazzi to this squirrel! amazing! i saw it crossed the street and i really ran for it! it's my first squirrel shot (and sighting) ever! :D
some more landmarks:
st. michael's cathedral - its cornerstone was laid in 1845 by Michael Power, the first Catholic bishop of Toronto. This is currently the principal church of Canada's largest English speaking Catholic archdiocese.
william mackenzie's home - i was walking along church street when i chanced upon the mackenzie home. he's the first mayor of toronto and also collaborated with the rebellion. i was trying to remember where i read or heard his name before.... until i got to the 2nd floor of his house. gawd. i remember now: it was in lifestyle channel's haunted houses presentation! so i immediately went down to join the other tourists. true enough, the guide was explaining just that. :P
club of letters and arts - that's actually the stage down there. i've a better picture but i put this one coz i liked the way the old lightings were put to place.... parang assasination waiting to happen. hahaha!
ahh, and the shooter is... :P
when i walked out of the club of arts and letters, i chanced upon this sign...
o diba? vanity prevails. :P
freedom arches - this was set up for those who fought for freedom - not just in canada but for all folks around the world. o diba? go global sila. asteeg!
and their version of jollijeep. :D
rogers center - you see the folks coming out? they just came from a blue jay's game, not a rock concert. :D sooper dami nila, as in. i went to the blue jays souvenir store and decided to leave after 10 mins because the line to the cashier was soooooo long. everybody wanted to bring home something.
roy thompson center and the tower - hehe, i keep forgetting the name of THAT tower pero that's very popular. well, if you know me well enough, you're probably thinking "why didn't you ask folks around?". honey, i did, the thing was, i couldn't make out the exact name due to the thick indian accent. tough luck.
so that's me with my world (or body clock) just turned upside down and getting aright again. hahaha! jet lag's getting to me now. will update some more in the next few days.
oh yea, btw, i'm here for work. really. :D
the good thing was today was declared doors open toronto wherein volunteer citizens would give mini-tours to visitors in the historical places around toronto. they would be posted in several places around toronto, and visitors would go to the place and they'd give the lowdown on the history of the place - makes it a bit more overwhelming for curious george. i only stumbled into this fact when i went thru a gated building... well, because some people were going in as well. :P turns out this was part of the landmarks under the doors open program.
here's what i've seen so far...
the Osgoode Hall - Osgoode was the first Chief justice of the province. yep, you guessed it, this is a courthouse :D built in 1829 and one of the finest examples of Victorian Classical in Canada.
i'm in the middle of the hall here. usually, i'd associate a law court with a statue of a woman holding scales. i was a bit surprised to find a lady holding a babe here. btw, the ceiling was amazing. :D
this is me in courtroom 4. hm, i think this suits me. hehe, first phrase that came to mind: "i'll be the judge of that" (haha, migs, kahawa pagka-corny mo, mwehehe" :P
just outside the courthouse, a band was playing. lots of tourists came out so i got someone to take this picture for me. hehe. that's me by the war memorial.
oh! and i literally played paparazzi to this squirrel! amazing! i saw it crossed the street and i really ran for it! it's my first squirrel shot (and sighting) ever! :D
some more landmarks:
st. michael's cathedral - its cornerstone was laid in 1845 by Michael Power, the first Catholic bishop of Toronto. This is currently the principal church of Canada's largest English speaking Catholic archdiocese.
william mackenzie's home - i was walking along church street when i chanced upon the mackenzie home. he's the first mayor of toronto and also collaborated with the rebellion. i was trying to remember where i read or heard his name before.... until i got to the 2nd floor of his house. gawd. i remember now: it was in lifestyle channel's haunted houses presentation! so i immediately went down to join the other tourists. true enough, the guide was explaining just that. :P
club of letters and arts - that's actually the stage down there. i've a better picture but i put this one coz i liked the way the old lightings were put to place.... parang assasination waiting to happen. hahaha!
ahh, and the shooter is... :P
when i walked out of the club of arts and letters, i chanced upon this sign...
o diba? vanity prevails. :P
freedom arches - this was set up for those who fought for freedom - not just in canada but for all folks around the world. o diba? go global sila. asteeg!
and their version of jollijeep. :D
rogers center - you see the folks coming out? they just came from a blue jay's game, not a rock concert. :D sooper dami nila, as in. i went to the blue jays souvenir store and decided to leave after 10 mins because the line to the cashier was soooooo long. everybody wanted to bring home something.
roy thompson center and the tower - hehe, i keep forgetting the name of THAT tower pero that's very popular. well, if you know me well enough, you're probably thinking "why didn't you ask folks around?". honey, i did, the thing was, i couldn't make out the exact name due to the thick indian accent. tough luck.
so that's me with my world (or body clock) just turned upside down and getting aright again. hahaha! jet lag's getting to me now. will update some more in the next few days.
oh yea, btw, i'm here for work. really. :D