Three months

It's been three months now since we got off the plane in Canada. We've been in this condo for the majority of that time. I think that now barring getting jobs sorted (and I'm working on that one) we're pretty much settled in over here. I'm finding that not having a car isn't something to be missed, though it could be handy for trip to Ikea.

The temperature has changed a little as well. When we landed we were getting days of 32 degrees pretty much constantly, and we were still getting such temperatures second week of October. The last few days however have changed all that.

We had our first real snowfall of the season in Toronto on Tuesday night, and it continued through Wednesday morning. I know in the UK you've been having some snow as well, but it's fun to have our first snowfall. Temperatures were at -6 to -8 during the day on Thursday, but button up properly and it's fine (though I now have a stupid hat.) Despite the temperatures being below zero outside we still haven't turned the heating system on. I guess we're getting enough heat from the units surrounding us to not need it. In fact we've still got the windows open.

Around our building is a little chaotic at the moment, the Canadian Football Grey Cup is being held at the Rogers Centre. The street running past the complex has been closed to traffic for the last few days and there are open air concerts, stalls, events and games set up all over the place. News vans, reporters, caterers, advertisers and anyone else who stands to make some money from the event. The place is full of people from Winnipeg and Saskatchewan wandering around in their shorts and T-shirts complaining that Torontonians are weather wusses and that where they're from these temperatures are just balmy spring days. In fact some have been bemoaning the fact that the Rogers Centre has a roof to keep the weather out, back home their teams play in the ice and snow.

Still we managed to avoid that on Saturday night while the final game was on by going to the Roy Thompson concert hall for a Japanese drumming concert that was very good.

Toronto by Night

Last night was a lovely clear night so I went out for a short walk round the corner, with my camera. The CN Tower was being very odd, I've never seen it like it before. It was lighting up multi-coloured, not just solid blocks but different areas in different colours. Sometimes it was pulsing up and down in a variety of colours, sometimes it was illuminated in red and white, or other specific patterns of colour. On Remembrance Sunday it was illuminated solely in red, which was nice.


They take Remembrance Day quite seriously over here, possibly even more so than in London. On the Friday the banks and government offices were closed half day, and closed all day on Monday. It gets considerable TV coverage and there was a flypast by the Canadian Air Force.

My walk also took me slight further towards the financial centre, and I had to get a night shot of the buildings there. So I did. The city looks even better at night that during the day I think, and I like it (well some of it) during the day. Like everywhere it has its dodgier areas, such as Church and Jarvis after dark.

Random images

Just some seemingly random photos today. First a few more of the complex we live in. It's part of a complex of four towers that share a common sports facility that includes a swimming pool, gym, bowling alleys, small cinema, steam room, spa and a few other bits and pieces. All included in our rent of course.

Also a night time shot from the balcony. This one if you click on it is full size, that way you can see what people are doing in the condo tower opposite us.

Someone asked what the view through the glass floor in the CN Tower is like. Personally I don't like it much, but for those with a better head for heights here it is.


And also finishing up with a photo of a portion of the islands from the CN Tower and a shot take from the eastern edge of downtown that shows the Flat Iron building on the edge of the financial district.

Obligatory big pointy thing thread

No postings from Toronto would be complete without the obligatory big pointy thing mention. The CN Tower. Less than five minutes walk to the east, just round the other side of the Rogers Centre (SkyDome to some of you) we have the former world's largest freestanding structure (darn you Dubai). Still it's relatively impressive, as is the view from the top.

You can see a fair bit from the top, including the United States if you really want to. All the city is there before you and you realise it's actually relatively green, though it may not seem it when you're wandering through the downtown core. From the top you can see the green areas start not far from the main financial core. There is a fair amount of green downtown with large parks and the like anyway, and a big campaign to make more out of parking lots and such, but some just want to build more towers instead.



Anyway our place is in a complex called CityPlace as shown below. We're the tallish building in the bottom left corner (not the brown one, the one a bit further over on the right of the expressway). The section we are in is now complete, but the complex is part of a larger development that extends to the west side of Spadina Avenue (note, north is to the right of the image, south to the lake), the road running under the expressway and over the railway tracks at the bottom. There are a few more towers to go up there, plus a school and a relatively large park. Interestingly if you click on the image you can see it's actually high enough up in the CN Tower that you can see the curve of the earth in the distance.


For those interested in history you can see some low buildings sandwiched between the railway tracks and the expressway surrounded by green and a low wall. That is a recreation of Fort York, the original of which was burnt to the ground by the United States in the war of 1812 and marks the furthest north they got. Other sights include the harbour airport on the island in the south, and Exhibition Place along the coast with the dome.

Condo

So we have our own place in Toronto now. Well when I say own place, we're renting, but we are the sole occupants. Nice as it was for Boris and Luidmila to put us up for a couple of weeks it's always good to have your own space. Anyway as some know it's on the 19th floor of a new development beside the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome) just outside the downtown core. It's a nice 2 bedroom/2 bathroom place with a den (study). Here is the floorplan and a shot of the main living area taken from the kitchen area (click for a larger view).

The unit looks out over the Gardiner Expressway that runs through the downtown area, but it's really quite interesting. The condo comes with all amenities; air conditioning, built in washer/dryer, 24 hour security downstairs, a wired network throughout the unit, super high speed internet access (100mbps up, 5mbps down and no download limits).

We get a half decent view with the lake outside the window. Just sitting on the sofa you can see out over the lake (and see the Niagara region on a clear day), and it's easy to sit and watch the light aircraft and commuter flights on the island airport. You go onto the balcony and see the ships sail by on the lake, which is only about 3 minutes walk away.

So we're pretty much settled into it. We have all the mod cons now; TV, bed, desk, bookshelves, things to sit on that aren't borrowed patio chairs and the like. It's taken time, as it does when you start from scratch. Plenty of times when cooking we've realised we don't have something simple such as salt, flour, saucepans and such and had to go and buy some. But we're getting there.

First posting

Hello all, just checking how this thing works. I wanted to post photos on the web of where we are living and provide a way of letting people know what we're up to. I've decided I'm too lazy to set up my own site for it so why not use a facility other's have set up for free? So I'll be putting a few pictures and bits and pieces up soon as soon as I decided what to write and what to do. So here we are, in Canada.