This is the exterior of the Royal Ontario Museum, known locally as the ROM. Located at Bloor and Avenue Road in a 1914 heritage building and it successive expansions, it is Canada’s largest museum. The most recent expansion designed by architect Daniel Libeskind is evident on the right in this picture, known as the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.
With its extensive collection of dinosaurs, cultural artifacts, natural history displays, and the friendly and knowledgeable volunteers, it’s probably one of the best places in the city to explore on a rainy afternoon – especially if you have kids in tow.
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I was playing with the camera while traveling down the freeway this afternoon (as a passenger, not the driver) when we passed this sign coming back into the city. While the population of Toronto and the surrounding area is over 5.5 million – known as the Greater Toronto Area, or GTA – it’s interesting to note the population of Toronto proper is roughly half of that. No wonder the prominant urban/suburban split in most local political issues.
The little image just before the city name is a representation of CIty Hall, an official Toronto icons. If you’re wondering why a city this size doesn’t have a slightly more impressive “Welcome To Toronto” sign, I have now answer for you 
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It was pouring rain in the city today, but it made for a great effect on these flowers. It’s nice to have all the colours of summer out around town these days.
A while back, when I posted a picture from the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Museum subway stop, someone posted a comment asking what the trains looked like. This snapshot is a little blurry – I was trying to find a moment between when the platform was full of people, but before the cars began to move again. I actually think the effect, though unintended, works well in the shot.
This picture was taken quite a while ago, and I’ve never really been sure whether or not I liked it. It was sort of an experiement to see how my camera handled low light conditions. Over time, however, I have come to appreciate the image. I think it’s grown on me over time. It’s sort of a study of blue, more than anything else. And for anyone who’s wondering, the photo was taken at Jane and Annette Streets on the west side of the city.
This sculpture, Megaptera (great wings) by George Schmerholz is another one of the many interesting pieces of art that are scattered around the downtown financial district. According to the attached plaque, it was dedicated on May 18th, 1993. Unfortunately many of these public works of art are easily overlooked given the scale of the buildings and other spaces of the area.
This square near King and University appears to be a relatively popular place for a coffee break or lunch with the office workers from the surrounding towers. A touch of rural Ontario right in the middle of the city, as the grassy area is home to a number of cow statues lounging in the shade.
I know I’ve shown a fair amount of chruches recently, but this is another interesting building located in a Toronto neighbourhood called the Annex. The 1889 building is home to two separate congregations as well as the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra & Chamber Choir.
In 2006 the profile of the Bata Shoe Museum was raised when a pair of slippers worth about 160,000 was stolen from one of the exhibits. Happily, the jewel coated footwear was returned a short while later – the joke around town was that they were the wrong size for the thief. The museum has over 10,000 pairs of shoes going back 4,500 years.
This tree grows alongside a bright red brick wall, not far from City Hall, just off Bay Street. I actually took, this photo a while ago, before the leaves of the adjoining trees had come out. I think it makes for an interesting colour contrast in the picture.
