Merry Christmas

Here's wishing you the merriest of Christmases! This is the nighttime scene in front of City Hall with a beautifully lit tree and a bonus full moon.

Crystal tree

Happy Christmas Eve! The Swarovski tree is the centerpiece of the Eaton Centre's holiday decorations. You don't want to know how much these decorations cost, a pretty penny, I can assure you! But they certainly look nice.

Holiday treats

I recently volunteered to bake and decorate cookies for a fundraiser for a school for handicapped children. It was quite fun, although I mainly stuck to the baking part. I don't think my hand is steady enough for the decorating. The treats looked tasty, but since they were for charity I didn't taste!

Tis the season

Unfortunately I didn't have time to see The Nutcracker this year, hopefully next year! I'm off today for some holiday fun in the sun. I won't be back until after the new year, but I'm putting up as many automatic posts as I can. Hope you'll enjoy!

Touch of blue

If you remember a few weeks ago, I went to the taping of the Steven and Chris Show. The show is broadcast by the Canadian Broadcast Centre which has its own fancy building right downtown. It's quite impressive, I especially like this big skylight which is beautiful on a sunny blue sky day like this one! 

Happy Friday everyone! If you like skies, take a look at Skywatch.

Belly up

The new Loblaws downtown has so many cool features, including a full-service sushi bar. The chefs prepare the seafood delights right in front of your eyes (and perhaps a couple of others watching through the window). You can either eat your delicacies here at the bar or take them with you to enjoy later. I may have to come back and give this place a taste test.

Time to discover!

I like the way some of the street signs have an extra added slogan. I think Discovery District is a nice name. Let's get to the discovering! 

To see more signs, click on over to Signs, Signs.

Try one!

The produce display at the new Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws was fantastic. There was so much variety and it was all so beautifully organized. The people working there were also really friendly.  This man assured me the apples were all crisp and fresh. What a tempting display!

If you love red like I do, check out Ruby Tuesday.

Hommage

I've shown you a bit of the recently refurbished Maple Leaf Gardens already, but this display is one of the highlights. An artist has taken the old stadium seats, painted them blue and arranged them in the form of a maple leaf to honor the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL team that used to play here. I think it's quite original and a good way to re-use some of the material that was inside the old stadium.

Don't worry, Toronto hasn't lost its beloved Leafs. The Leafs and the Raptors both play in the Air Canada Centre - a newer and larger capacity stadium which was built for them in the early 2000s. It's right next to Union Station which also makes it a more convenient destination for those using public transport.

Decked out

The Hudson Bay Company (also known locally as The Bay) has its downtown windows decorated for the season. 

I love all the different vignettes. These two are the ones that came out the best. Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Domed in

Some of the subway entrances here in Toronto have domes over them. They make nice photographic opportunities and more importantly, help keep the cold winds out in the winter!

If you'd like to see more monochrome, check out the Weekend in Black and White.

Sky over golf

It's the last look at Tyandaga, the golf course where neighbors apparently have been flashed! I just love the golden light washing over everything. 

Happy Friday! If you like skies, check out Skywatch.

Checking out

Here's another look at the new Loblaw's supermarket downtown. I wonder if they will always have every checkout line open here. From experience, I can tell you their other stores are not so well-staffed. But at least they're keeping up for now!

Party time!

A new Loblaws supermarket recently opened in downtown Toronto. Normally a grocery store opening wouldn't garner much news coverage but this one is special. It's located inside the Maple Leaf Gardens building, the former home of Toronto's hockey team, the Maple Leafs. 

I toured the building last Thursday. It was pretty crowded and there were people taking pictures all over the place. I'll show you some of the highlights over the next few weeks. Enjoy!

Display

Something about this window display caught my eye, I think it was the red bicycle. I found this shop on Queen Street. 

If you'd like to see more red, head over to Ruby Tuesday!  And don't miss more shots from my recent trip to Berlin on my Travel Blog.

On the ice

The skating season has officially begun! Ice rinks around the city opened up this weekend. I'm going to have to buy a pair of skates and get out there. Skating is one of the few winter activities that I actually enjoy.

Perfect landscape

 

I hope you're not tiring of golf course shots. This lovely landscape comes to you from Indian Wells, a gem of a course tucked into the Niagara Escarpment. This shot was from early October when the leaves were just starting to turn. I was looking through my archives and felt it a shame not to show this shot. I think it's near perfect! 

Hope you are having a perfect weekend as well. Don't forget to stop by my travel blog for a look at Berlin.

Reflecting

A group of golfers reflecting on their next shot. This one comes to you from Tyandaga. It's a municipal golf course owned and operated by the city of Burlington. It's also apparently the site of plenty of public peeing. 

To see more reflections, visit Weekend Reflections.

On set

Yesterday a friend of mine and I went to a taping of a Canadian talk show Steven and Chris. It was really fun, although my hands got a little sore from all the clapping. Our episode is set to air next Thursday (Dec 7th), I've already got my TiFaux set up to record!

December theme day: Action

Here's some TTC action for you! The train was just arriving at Saint George station and I was lucky to catch it at the right moment to create some action blur. Generally speaking, I like the subway here. It could just use a little expansion. Two lines just doesn't seem like enough for a city with more than five million people.

If you'd like to see more action shots from around the world, click here. And I've got some action in the Tiergarten Park from Berlin for you on my travel blog.