Toronto / Conneticut

Archi Rag

hi, i booked my flights today to go see my aunty in Toronto, i am also going to conneticut and was wondering if there were any particular sites people would reccomend, i did the CN tower/Niagra last time i went but would appreciate any advise

sorgesu

Toronto: When you went to Niagara did you go to Niagara-On-The-Lake? Perfectly charming turn of the century town that hosts the George Bernard Shaw Festival each year. You could take in a Shaw Play at one of the Theatres, or a play from the same period by another author. Then you could have lunch or dinner at one of the amazing restaurants on the main thoroughfare. Take a look at Fort George that is just outside of town. But best of all, this is wine country. Go to a wine cellar, maybe one that specializes in Ontario Ice Wine.

Within Toronto, you might consider going to Pioneer village. A preserved village of homes and farms and shops from Pioneer days that give you an idea of how people lived in those days. Plan for a day.

The Science Centre? Amazing structure and incredible displays. Huge. Leave time to see an Imax film. The Imax films there tend to be very science oriented so if you want to save the experinence for a real film, you can go to one of the few Imax theatres we have. I think at the moment they are playing Harry Potter at the Colossus.

Condider going to the "Beaches" area. Very cool area for strolling, eating shopping. Also go to the "Danforth" area. All Greek foods etc.
Just for fun you might want to take in Kensington Market Kensington Market is an open air market that has been "run" by successive waves of immigrants and has changed its character accordingly. In the mid 18 hundreds it was Jewish Russian Immigrants, then the mix was Italian and Portuguese as well. Later there large pockets from Jamaica, China. It is now a melange and it is nestled in amongst China Town.

If you are into amusement parks, there is Canada's Wonderland and if you are here before Labour Day, there is the Annual CNE ( Canadian National Exhibition which grew out of an agricultural fair ages ago) It is very historic with an amazing band shell and great exhibit halls as well as the regular cheezy amusement fair.

Gotta see the new ROM: Royal Ontario Museum. They have added on to the very old structure with the crystal cube structure.

There is more of course, so if you run out of things to do, just let me know and I'll give you some more. How about a baseball game at the SkyDome?

Krisidious

Boston is very close... the Wharf or water front docks there and the American History Buildings is a must see.... and the horrible streets and insane one way all the way to no where roads...

lewiswadsworth

Connecticut? I suppose you could go to New Haven and see how they are re-habbing my personal Piranesian hell-hole, the Paul Rudolph-designed Arts & Architecture Building at Yale. See it now before the students torch it again, as they did in 1969. (Yes, most of the time I do wish I'd gone somewhere else for my M.Arch.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Art_&_Architecture_Building

The Louis Kahn museums, practically across the street from the A&A, are worth a bit more consideration.

On a lighter note, why don't you see if you can get a tour of Philip Johnson's estate in New Canaan, Conn.? It's run by our National Trust: http://www.philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/

Be sure to call ahead and make reservations and whatnot.

Besides the Glass House, there's quite a lot of other interesting trinket-like architecture dotting Phil's old place.

If you decide to run up to Boston (about two hours by car, three or so by train), drop me a PM.

tomsdesk

AG, the atmosphere alone of the Yale campus was a pleasant surprise to me (my first Ivy League), though probably old hat to someone schooling in England. If you plan to drive up the coast and Guilford is in the way, my buddy there might have time to show you some of the houses he's been doing on the water (might even show you the island house I was involved in when I worked out there. Let me know, Tom.

John Sayers

I nearly came to Toronto a couple of weeks ago. I'm working on a project there and was going to fly in then head across to Boston where I have another project.

I've spent hours flying around the area with Google earth

sorgesu

You would have coffee with me if you came here, wouldn't you John? Maybe even dinner?

John Sayers

sure would Susan - my shout

sorgesu

John, my city, my treat.

Archi Rag

wow, i didnt expect so many reponses so quickly!

thankyou all for your comments ill make sure i get the most out of it.... one thing that i didnt really realise when i booked the flight
im going on 09:11 and its 250 for a week
if i go the day after its 360 for a week
is this really because of what happened in 04 or just coincidence?