Toronto and Beyond: Gardens

When I was in Toronto in July, Jarka, knowing that I love gardens and am studying Horticulture, managed to take me to a different garden just about every day. One day, we went to two different gardens.

Given the warm summer weather, this was a perfect activity for us.

In Toronto we visited the Toronto Botanical Garden and Edwards Gardens and the Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Edwards Gardens is a public park that is owned by the City of Toronto. It is open to the public and there is no charge for admission. The Botanical Garden shares the same area with an emphasis on gardening education and information. I'm not sure where one ends and the other begins, but, with its location right in Toronto, it was a perfect place for us to spend an hour or so. We enjoyed the themed gardens and took a walk through the park area.






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Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a true cemetery in the heart of Toronto, but it is also a beautiful park, with trees, gardens, wildlife, and art, where people walk, jog, and ride their bikes.



Jarka and I had lunch with her friend Marie, whose condo overlooks the cemetery.



Looking down from her balcony, I was reminded of being in New York City, looking down on Central Park. Mount Pleasant is one of Canada's most historic cemeteries, dating back to 1876. It is the final resting place of many prominent Canadians.

After a delicious lunch of Chicken Paprikash and much more (Marie is an excellent cook),




we took a walk in the cemetery.





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The Royal Botanical Gardens are about an hour and a half drive from Toronto in Burlington, Ontario. We spent a full day here, with Jarka's friend, Viena, and we didn't fully explore/visit all of the gardens.







But, what a beautiful place. At times I felt I had moved inside a Horticulture text book, but a text book with smell and touch. The main gardens are laid out by subject. And, the subject range from Culinary Herbs, to Monocots, to Mallow, to Cancer Curing plants. The gardens are extensive and beautiful. There are benches and resting places throughout. We brought a picnic lunch, as did many other visitors and we ate it on a bench in one of the gardens.

I have a "thing" for Hollyhocks. They don't seem to grow much in Northern California but they are flowers that I remember from the yard in the apartment house in Boston where I grew up. This year, I'm growing Hollyhocks from seed and right now my plants have about two leaves. I probably will not get flowers this year, but will hope they make it through the winter and start afresh early next Spring.

The Mallow section of the Royal Botanical Gardens had many large Hollyhock gardens and I was delighted with them.




Later in the afternoon we stopped for tea and scones at the Garden's Tea House.




There are lakes and wooded areas and even a lovely spot where a formal wedding was taking place. The Royal Botanical Gardens are special and worth the journey from Toronto, for those who enjoy gardens.

Visiting Toronto

I've been in Toronto for the past week, visiting with my friend Jarka and doing a lot of sightseeing.

Jarka is the perfect host, assuring that my every waking moment was filled with activities.

On our first full day together we went downtown on the subway, starting our day at the Eaton Centre, an extensive shopping galleria.

On one side of the Eaton Centre is a flock of suspended sculptures of Canadian Geese.

Our walking tour continued to the Old City Hall.

And on to the plaza in front of the new City Hall where a noontime free concert was going on. Tasty Thursdays attract even more people to the Plaza for lunch from of the many food stands that are here during the summer at lunchtime on Thursdays selling a wide variety of dishes, all priced at no more than $7 per serving. Most of the foods were Ethnic, providing a wonderful opportunity to try new and different cuisines.

Walking around Toronto, I was amazed at the number of different languages I heard spoken. Even in Jarka's neighborhood, on a warm evening, it seemed that the conversations in every neighbor's back yards was a different language. Toronto may be even more of a melting pot than San Francisco.

For our Tasty Thursdays lunch, we both chose Malaysian food, a Chicken Mertha Bak for Jarka and a Vegetable Mertha Bak for me.

We know nothing about Malaysian dishes but were intrigued by these prepared-to-order stuffed crepe-like creations. We were pleased with our tasty selections.

We enjoyed our al fresco lunch while listening to the music of the day's featured group, The Abrams Brothers.

Our next destination was Yorkville, a part of Toronto that I particularly remembered enjoying from my last visit 7 years ago. Yorkvillle has lots of unique restaurants and shops.

Throughout my visit it was very hot, with daytime temperatures well into the 80s and, by the end of my stay, over 100 degrees. I was walking in sandals that, because of the heat, were starting to blister my bare feet.

Once in Yorkville, I made an emergency stop at the Lululemon shop to purchase pair of socks which I put on immediately in the store. Not exactly a fashion statement, but my feet appreciated the socks.

To further cool off,we stopped for drinks on the patio of a place called Hemingway's

Our final stop of the day was the Bata Shoe Museum. On Thursdays, after 5 pm there is free admission..a donation suggested. Jarka is Czech and told me that Mr. Bata was also Czech. The Bata Shoe Company was founded in 1894 by Tomas Bata Her father worked for Mr. Bata as a "Bata Man." The company is said to have been very paternalistic to its employees and the communities where its factories were located. The Canadian connection dates back to 1939 when the founder's son, Thomas J. Bata moved to Canada, in anticipation of World War II to establish the Bata Shoe Company of Canada.

We enjoyed several hours, viewing exhibits of shoes through the ages. My favorite gallery was the one dedicated to the Roaring Twenties.

For all my shoe-loving friends, I'm including this photo of a Louis Vuitton shoe trunk which ladies of the era took along when they traveled, assuring that they had the appropriate shoe for every occasion.

My next few posts will be about other outings in and around Toronto.