Toronto - It's a City

A couple weekends ago I took a quick weekend getaway trip to Toronto, Canada. Some of my friends really loved it and it was an easy flight from DC (less than two hours) so seemed like a good place for a weekend escape. And it was – perfectly decent. I enjoyed myself well enough and there is nothing particular negative about Toronto. But it was also just – a city.

The Generic 
Toronto has a generic-ness to it that comes from a lot of major cities in the US and Canada. Which isn't bad per se. Major cities all have a couple cool museums/sites and at least a small craft brewery scene. Most have good vegetarian food somewhere. The question isn't "is there anything to do here?" There is something cool to do everywhere - including the suburb I grew up in. I firmly believe that. The question is "what makes it important to go to here, specifically, instead of somewhere else?” and for Toronto, honestly, not much. Ironically, if I wasn't such a wuss about cold, I could fully see living there. It gave solid “livable city” vibes.  

The Really Good
Food
Toronto has a particularly good food scene, and there are some genuinely excellent restaurants. My favorite place that I ate at was Sunny’s Chinese, which not only had great regional Chinese dishes (I didn’t recognize a lot of them) but many of the dishes could be made vegetarian and for almost everything you could order a ½ portion, allowing you to try more things. If you do nothing else in Toronto, eat here. That said, everywhere I ate was good. And there was a decent diversity of food options as well, which I appreciated.

Lemon Souffle Pancakes

The Enjoyable

The Royal Ontario Museum
This was the main museum that I went to and if you are in Toronto, it’s worth checking out. I spent a couple hours in the First Nations Hall. The exhibit was set up in consultation with members of several different Nations, which I appreciated. There were several different sections, some organized by theme and others organized by expeditions by British or Canadian diplomats/soldiers/anthropologists. There was also an exhibit on the War of 1812 and the Nations’ warriors involvement in that, which I found particularly interesting as an American who learns a very different version of that war. There were other galleries as well, focused on other parts of the world – Classical world, a huge section on Chinese history and porcelain etc. Again, great museum if you are in town.

Ripley’s Aquarium
I enjoy aquariums and Toronto’s aquarium is very cool. The best part is when you get on this slow-moving walkway that moves through a tunnel underneath the tank area. You are not only at the level of the fish, but they are on both sides and can swim above you. Seeing a shark swim above your head is very cool. It’s not super large but it was a fun was to spend an hour and change.

Conclusion
Writing this whole piece I keep saying “this is worth doing if you happen to be in Toronto” which basically sums up my attitude. I personally wouldn’t visit Toronto again, but I don’t regret going. And if you happen to be there for some reason or another, there is some cool stuff to see and good food to be eaten.