Toronto II, or Canada V

I’m happy to report that in the roughly 17 years since I was last in Toronto, the city hasn’t gone missing. I flew there on Tuesday last week and returned on Thursday. Someone more familiar with the city probably would be able to compare the differences between then and now in detail, because there must be some.

Not me. Large downtown with a variety of interesting buildings? Check. Busy streets? Still busy. A multiethnic population, including an extensive Chinatown that reminds me of Hong Kong? Got it.

I was a guest of the province of Ontario – thanks, Ontario! – on a “green technology” press tour. But actually it could have been the “really cool industrial sites, past and present” press tour, because among other things we saw an abandoned brick works, a fully redeveloped Victorian distillery, a plant that recycles solvents, a spanking-new green-tech water treatment plant, and some of the upper levels of a geothermal well field east of Toronto proper, among other places.

Those aren’t ordinary sorts of tourist destinations, except for the redeveloped distillery, since it’s mostly retail now. Looking for real off-the-beaten-path places? Nothing like standing among a forest of enormous color-coded water pipes or taking in the sight of hundreds of industrial-solvent waste barrels to satisfy that urge.

I did have a little time to myself, and managed to take a walkabout through non-industrial parts of Toronto, visiting West Queen Street and re-visiting Chinatown. A fine meal was had in the Portuguese part of town, and I was able to sit for a few quiet moments in an old Anglican church and examine its nearby labyrinth. And of course I ate some doughnuts at Tim Horton’s. But I didn’t have nearly enough time in the city, just like 17 years ago. With any luck, I'll make it back before 2025.