Tips and stories from our travel adventures.
(New posts about once a month)
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Thursday, 15 December 2016
Nyctophilia
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 1 Dennis Ave
Date: Feb 2016
Website: cgdy.com
Nyctophilia means love of the night or love of darkness. Nyctophilia is also the name of an art installation in Toronto. The project consists of a cluster of about 30 street lights that can glow different colours. It is located at the corner of Dennis Avenue & Weston Road.
The light is generated by LED lights which gives it a softer glow. Otherwise this would be the brightest street corner in the entire city. When we visited, the lights reminded us of Christmas lights and some snow even started to fall. If you find yourself in this area one night be sure to drive by and see the light. Remember, it is not some sort of hydro company screw up, it's art.
Map of Our World
Nyctophilia
Post # 150
Saturday, 10 December 2016
Chihuly
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 100 Queens Park
Date: Nov 2016
Website: www.chihuly.com
We attended a Friday Night Live event at the Royal Ontario Museum. This is where the museum stays open late and there are drinks and food and DJs while you browse the exhibits. We were lucky enough that a special exhibit called Chihuly was running when we visited.
The exhibit is named after Dale Chihuly who is known for his colourful glass creations.
The first two works created by Chihuly and his team featured boats. The first was full of giant coloured marbles and the second contained what looked like blue and purple flowers.
The next huge display was like a jungle of swirling and twisted glass.
Another piece seemed very familiar. It consisted of glass in the shape of flowers sitting on top of a clear glass ceiling.
The reason the colourful flowers seemed so familiar is that they reminded us of the Bellagio hotel lobby in Las Vegas (pictured above). The ceiling there is covered with a work of art called "Fiori di Como". It was created by none other than Dale Chihuly.
Chihuly was thrown through the windshield of a car in a 1976 accident which left him injured and blind in one eye. Since then he has relied on his team to help create these beautiful glass works of art. We paused to think that the very thing Chihuly loved to create with was what took away his vision and caused him harm.
There were many coloured bowls and pieces created to look like icicles or giant spikes.
Some neon blue tubes looked like sparks of light.
We made our way through a walkway covered by giant curved flowers in fall colours of yellow and orange.
The last part of the exhibit showed aboriginal art and blankets. We enjoyed the displays and marvelled at how Chihuly and his team had managed to coax glass into all manner of colours and shapes. The Chihuly event runs at the Royal Ontario Museum until January 8, 2017.
This location is near Museum subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.
Map of Our World
Royal Ontario Museum
Post # 149
Monday, 5 December 2016
Bathurst Station Honest Ed's Tribute
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 819 Bathurst Street
Date: Nov 2016
Website: www.ttc.ca
The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) has redesigned Bathurst Station in honour of its neighbour Honest Ed's. The famous store is closing its doors at the end of 2016 and just north of the Bathurst and Bloor Street East intersection is the nearest subway. As a tribute, all of the signage has been redone with the help of Honest Ed's sign makers.
When we arrived at the station to make one last visit to Honest Ed's we were pleased to see all of the signs. They all appear to be hand painted just like the pricing signs inside the store.
There was even a tribute to the vault that was known as Ed's office door.
The windows at street level are all painted with the kind of humourous slogan you would find inside Honest Ed's but with a twist. They all relate to the TTC. Below are some clever examples which usually incorporate subway station names.
There is talk of this becoming a permanent change and we hope that it does.
Down on the Eastbound platform we spotted a row of Honest Ed's trivia. A lot of these little bits of trivia helped us write our previous post. These included such things as Toronto Mayor Nathan Phillips blowing the power when he attempted to light up the Honest Ed's sign. It also mentioned 20,000 people coming to see Mr.T at the height of his A-Team, Rocky fame. If Mr.T was to come to Honest Ed's for the store closing we are sure they could get 5 times the amount of people to show up. It's all due to the nostalgia factor. That is why once Honest Ed's closes its doors we hope that this TTC tribute remains as a reminder of the way things were.
This location is near Bathurst subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.
Map of Our World
Bathurst Station
Post # 148
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