[LINK] "36 Hours in Toronto"

[rfmcdonald]

Last August, I blogged about a travelogue that Margaret Atwood wrote about Toronto in The New York Times in 2002. Now, Denny Lee has a travelogue of his own up at that same newspaper.

AS one of the planet’s most diverse cities, Toronto is oddly clean and orderly. Sidewalks are spotless, trolleys run like clockwork, and the locals are polite almost to a fault. That’s not to say that Torontonians are dull. Far from it. With a population that is now half foreign-born — fueled by growing numbers of East Indians, Chinese and Sri Lankans — the lakeside city offers a kaleidoscope of world cultures. Sing karaoke in a Vietnamese bar, sip espresso in Little Italy and catch a new Bollywood release, all in one night. The art and design scenes are thriving, too, and not just on the bedazzled red carpets of the Toronto International Film Festival, held every September. Industrial zones have been reborn into gallery districts, and dark alleys now lead to designer studios, giving Canada’s financial capital an almost disheveled mien.

His list of the top 10 things to do in Toronto, spread out over 36 hours, is worth reading, not only for travellers but for Torontonians: it's always interesting to see how others see our city.