Downtown Holiday Walk

[rusty_armour]

On Friday, I met my dad and brother downtown so that we could take in some of the holiday sights. After having a very nice lunch at Harvey’s, we went out in search of some holiday cheer (e.g. cool Christmasy type stuff).

We started off at the Eaton Centre. I had actually been there the week before (where a friend took some photos), so I only snapped a couple of pics:




Sadly, I really didn’t do the Eaton Centre tree justice.
The lights are much brighter and prettier in person.




This is how the Christmas tree should look, even with me in the shot. *g*




My brother standing under a lighted archway outside the Eaton Centre


The three of us next headed for the Hudson’s Bay holiday windows. I wish my pictures were better. Again, they don’t do justice to the window displays, which all had moving parts. My brother was smart enough to shoot videos of all of the displays, and I think that was much more effective. Anywaaaaay, here are my pictures, such as they are:






















My brother hogging the spotlight again. *g*


After seeing the holiday window displays, we walked to Nathan Phillips Square to check out the Holiday Fair. My dad wasn’t sure how many booths might be open before 4:00 pm, but we decided to go since we were already practically there. I’d say it was worth the visit:






















While I didn’t get any pictures of my dad (who’s more camera shy than I am), I can
offer some commentary. He thought that this was the worst steam locomotive he’d
ever seen. He said there was no way it could ever run. Then he insisted that I look
inside. After glancing at the firebox, I had to admit that he had a point.




It was probably my own fault for taking a picture of him, but Santa started waving at
me in a way that I found rather creepy. My dad said, “He’s waving at you. I think he wants
you to go over.” I flatly refused, saying that Santa seemed kind of pervy. I’m sure that
was an unfair assessment and just some latent fear of Santa bubbling to the surface.




B beside the conjoined Christmas trees. Okay, we’re not actually sure if
these trees are conjoined or if they were just packed in really tightly together.
I’m choosing to believe that they’re conjoined because logic is really overrated.




Nathan Phillips Square skating rink with Old City Hall in the background




Toronto sign – holiday edition!


We hadn’t planned to visit the Commerce Court plaza, but my dad caught sight of the elephant as we passed and seemed transfixed by it. I suggested that we take a closer look. I had seen Tembo, Mother of Elephants twice before, so I knew about the sculpture. What took me by surprise were the beautiful silver trees. I stupidly didn’t take a picture of the elephant sculpture because I thought I had a photo of it already, but I totally went to town with the silver trees. I’ll be merciful and just share two of my pictures:








Our final destination was the Royal York. My dad had heard that there was a giant gingerbread house inside of the hotel, so we had to go there:







The gingerbread house




See? It really is made of gingerbread.

Comments

[scfrankles]

I loved looking through your pictures - Toronto seems like such a great place ^___^

Particularly taken with the holiday windows, the silver trees, and the giant gingerbread house. And your father's complaints about the steam locomotive made me laugh ^___^ I'm ashamed to say your encounter with the pervy Santa made me laugh rather too ^_____^

[rusty_armour]

I loved looking through your pictures - Toronto seems like such a great place ^___^

Thank you very much for checking out my pictures, scfrankles! :-D Apologies for that one ginormous photo. I've fixed the problem now. It looked fine in the preview screen, so I didn't realize that the formatting had gone wonky when I saved it. Anywaaaaaaaay, I'm glad you enjoyed my pictures, despite that. I'm obviously biased, but I think Toronto is a great place. It certainly has a lot to see and do. :-)

Particularly taken with the holiday windows, the silver trees, and the giant gingerbread house.

They were all pretty impressive, weren't they? So much work must have gone into all of these things, especially the holiday windows and gingerbread house.

And your father's complaints about the steam locomotive made me laugh ^___^

It's so typical of him. I remember watching The Poseidon Adventure with him one afternoon. Instead of focusing on the people who were desperately trying to claw their way up the Christmas tree, my dad was pointing out that the ship had the wrong kind of rivets. *g*

I'm ashamed to say your encounter with the pervy Santa made me laugh rather too ^_____^

No worries. I think we all found the situation funny. I know my dad laughed when I said that Santa seemed kind of pervy. I'm sure the poor man is in no way a pervert and I really shouldn't have been creeped out at all. *g*

[crimsoncorundum]

Great pics. :) I’d been looking forward to seeing something like this, but since we don’t live near Göteborg/Gothenburg anymore, there won’t be anything like it for me this year. I love the Christmas decorations in Toronto. :)

[rusty_armour]

Thank you very much, crimsoncorundum! I'm glad you like the pics and the Christmas decorations in Toronto! :-D

I'm sorry you won't be able to see the Christmas decorations/displays of Göteborg/Gothenburg. Maybe you could start a new tradition.

[smallhobbit]

Great pictures! Toronto looks like a wonderful place to visit.

Tell your dad that it's a special train which takes the elves home after their Christmas stint - it's disguised so no-one steals it before they're ready to leave ;) And I completely understand his pov re the rivets in your reply to scfrankles .

[rusty_armour]

Great pictures! Toronto looks like a wonderful place to visit.

Thank you very much, smallhobbit! I'm glad you like the pictures! :-D It's hard for me not to be biased, but I think Toronto is a great place to visit. There's certainly a lot of to see and do in the city. There always seems to be some event taking place, even in the winter. I've had friends visit the city, and they seemed to enjoy their time here.

Tell your dad that it's a special train which takes the elves home after their Christmas stint - it's disguised so no-one steals it before they're ready to leave ;)

Well, it's certainly worth a try. *g* We were able to get him into Doctor Who, so he'd probably understand the concept of vehicles that aren't what they seem.

And I completely understand his pov re the rivets in your reply to scfrankles.

LOL! I guess I can't really blame him for being focused on details. I know I've found myself being taken out of a story because a costume doesn't seem right, etc. I'm just not mechanical enough to know which rivets should have been used on the Poseidon. *g*