TORONTO - AUGUST 1983

CANADA'S LARGEST CITY


"ASAS DO ATLÂNTICO CLUB - In the late fifties, early sixties, on Sundays, when I used to hear football (soccer) games broadcast live on Portuguese national radio, I remember that the list of radio stations broadcasting simultaneously included Clube Asas do Atlântico in Toronto, Canada. So, when we got to Toronto, we unpacked at the Hotel, and headed to Alberta Avenue, where a large Portuguese community used to live. The neighbourhood was then changing to a kind of Chinatown; however some Portuguese spots could still be seen there, including the Portuguese Book Store and the Radio. At the bookstore, by 7 p.m., we bought the same day edition of «A Bola», the most sold Portuguese sports paper, and saw the flag of F.C.Porto that would become European Champion in 1987 and would win the Champions League, with José Mourinho (Chelsea F.C.) as coach, in 2004. Then, we found a restaurant named «Leão d'Ouro» (Golden Lion), as the Lisbon downtown restaurant, and had Codfish for dinner. Well, this was the only Portuguese interlude of a month vacation, so I think the «saudade» (nostalgia) is forgivable...




"TORONTO CITY HALL, designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell and opened in 1965, is one of the most distinctive buildings of the city, and was the starting point of our next morning tour of Toronto. In front of the main structure we can find Nathan Phillips Square, a public space containing the fountain seen in the pictures. The square is surrounded by an elevated walkway that connected to the City Hall"



"THE OLD CITY HALL was built in 1899, as the third Toronto city hall. After the opening of Toronto's current City Hall, the Old was threatened with demolition during the planning of the Eaton Centre Shopping Mall, but «Friends of Old City Hall» convinced the city to preserve the building. The Clock Tower is a distinctive landmark of the city"



"TORONTO DOWNTOWN - At the distance, we can see the Canada Life Building, built in 1931. It is located in the heart of downtown Toronto, and it's known locally as the «weather building», as it looks to Torontonians as a giant neon thermometer"


"The five-storey ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE BUILDING, located in the heart of downtown at Queen's Park, was completed in Romanesque style in 1893, and is a popular tourist attraction"


"CASA LOMA, a castle in downtown Toronto was the home of Sir Henry Pellatt, a Canadian financier, industrialist and military"




"EATON CENTRE - The largest shopping mall in Toronto, and one of the first that we visited, was an astonishing experience. No wonder; the Eaton Centre is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Toronto, as millions of tourists enter this shopping centre every year"


"ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM - Not as impressive as the New York Museum of Natural History, the ROM is Canada's largest museum of world cultures and natural history"



"YORKVILLE - The Village of Yorkville was founded in 1830 by Joseph Bloor, and began as a residential suburb with Victorian-style homes, quiet streets, and beautiful gardens. In the 1960s, Yorkville became Toronto's bohemian cultural centre, and was also known as the Canadian capital of the hippie movement"




"VIEWS FROM THE CN TOWER RESTAURANT - The tower is 533 meters high and solved the communication problems in Toronto. Its 360 Restaurant rotates once every 72 minutes allowing you a complete and unobstructed view of the city below"


"INSIDE THE TOWER"



"CN TOWER - Views on departure from Toronto"