A summer in Toronto
Often it takes time to adjust to a new city. The environment, weather, people, streets and buildings just have that feeling of being out of place, often more than us. It’s as if it’s their fault for us not being able to fit in rather than ourselves. Well, for me this summer, Toronto gave me totally the opposite vibe.

The big city that it is, the so called The 6ix holds proud the unofficial record for being the most well known city in Canada, home to around 5.5 million people in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). I got to experience it in the summer, and everyone told me that I could have not chosen a better time to do so. To be honest it wasn’t really by choice. I simply applied for my first co-op of my school career and the only offer I got was in Toronto. Nonetheless, I was more than happy to having landed in the city at such a perfect time.
Living at the corner of Spadina and College, I was pretty central to all of the main areas that the city had to offer. If I can give a crucial advice right off the bat, please buy a bike if you’re planning on coming to Drake’s city in the summer. It is absolutely the best purchase that you can possibly get, and you will see why very shortly. So as the avid biker that I am, I of course made sure to bring my bike with me to the new town. First thing I did after I settled in my rather small, but cozy, student apartment, was some healthy exploring of my neighboring areas. Learning the most important street names of downtown is a must to be able to communicate effectivevly with other friends, collegues or peers that you might find yourself talking to. Starting East to West here are the main roads you should know: Parliament, Sherbourne, Jarvis, Church, Yonge, Bay, University, Spadina, Bathurst, Ossington, Dufferin, Landsdowne and Roncesvalle (which at the height of College turns into Dundas West). Now going North to South you gotta remember: Dupont, Bloor, College, Dundas, Queen, Richmond (one way West), Adelaide (one way East), King (best street in Toronto in my opinion, we can argue in the comments), Wellington, Front, Lakeshore and Queens Qway (apparently pronounced Queens Key). Arguably, these are all the main streets you need to know about downtown to not look like you don’t know where the heck you are.

So now that you know all the roads, you will be able to get a much better understanding of the context of the places and attractions I will list. As the first week of orientation went by I realized I couldn’t but keep track of all the awesome places I kept seeing popping up on my Facebook’s news feed by Blog.to. I decided to create a shared Google Keep note with one of the friends that I was in Toronto with so that we could remember which food truck to eat at on what weekend or which park had the free Indian Food at 12pm (yes, everything is about food in Toronto). Not everything is about food, but a big chunk of the summer events and adventures revolved around it.
Once set up with the bike and the list, the next thing I had to do was add them up. So the equation goes like Bike + List = Fun. This is a pretty simple equation that I believe almost everyone can understand, except of course, if you don’t have a bike. If you don’t have a bike then you’re not doing it right. Get a bike.

As I will post the list of items that I experienced this summer at the bottom of this article I won’t delve too much into each specific one, explaining with great detail why I chose it, when I went to it and what my kind of experience was. To cut it short, if it’s on the list, it means that it was great. A few honorable mentions although have to go to the fantastic parks and recreational areas that the city has to offer. High Park, Don River Valley Park Tommy Thompson Park, The Island(s) and Trinity Bellwoods Park all gave me a place to relax when I was tired, think when I felt overwhelmed, take pictures when I wanted to take pictures and eat when I was hungry (I was ALWAYS hungry). If I could do a shoutout like in rap songs to these parks I would, but I don’t think they could reward me more than what they have already done.

What I want to talk more about is the greater picture of the summer (say it in French) experience. For me Toronto was really the best city I’ve visited in Canada, and I’ve been all over Canada: I’ve seen Halifax, Fredericton, St John’s, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary… I’m trying to keep it short. The point is that I have never lived in such a city that was constantly alive. Vibrant with people, awake at night as it was in the day, full of colorful events and tasty restaurants, buildings that make you want to live there, views that leave your mouth open and make you realize you have to close it afterwards. A city that truly never sleeps and neither lets you sleep.
Walking down the sidewalks of the main roads I would see people of all ethnicities, each one carrying their own story and life with them, step by step, blink after blink. I once saw a woman wearing bright pink high heels, matching her hair colour, with a blue crop top and high waist jeans, walking up Spadina on a rainy evening and thinking “damn girl, you are really doing you”. And it was moments like that one, that made me truly appreciate the diversity that the city had to offer. The multiculturalism and the acceptance towards everyone that Toronto encapsulates within its spoken boundaries are truly a rare kind of thing. A feeling that you get just by being in the city and breathing its air, a feeling of awe and astonishment, because you realize how there is not ONE person that is the same as anyone else. And I find that amazing.
I’m not trying to go all cheesy now and go down the path of saying that yes, everyone is “special” and no one will ever by the same as you… I am more rather trying to convey the feeling of appreciation that I felt for being myself and being unique in the way that I am. That there is nothing wrong with little flaws, because no one is perfect, and that making mistakes and losing time (I still have to get better at becoming patient) are part of life. It certainly takes time to take in and understand, but once you do see it this way, and it will be most certainly a different realization for everyone, it will have a tremendous impact on the way that you live your everyday life. That’s what I think this summer in Toronto gave to me. A new perspective on life, lots of new ideas and thoughts, leg muscles from biking pretty much evevrywhere but also a possible few extra pounds (or not, I haven’t weighed myself yet). Cheers! Hope you enjoy the list of top spots to go visit.
List of things to do in Toronto: here.
