Toronto Christmas Lights 2011 – Little Italy and elsewhere

One of the valets told me the Caledonia display was fabulous and a must see so, since it was now past midnight, and traffic would be minimal, off I went back to Caledonia. Unfortunately, by the time that I got there, the owner had turned off the lights. At that time of the morning, I didn’t think that a knock on their door with a request to turn the lights back on would be taken too kindly, so I turned my attention to photographing a few more homes on the street.

By now, it was definitely late, so time for me to head for the next spot. First, I had to stop and speak to a few of Toronto’s finest who were out late with a R.I.D.E. program blockade on Roger’s Road. Spoke to them once on my way to picking up a piece of pizza and then again on the return route. The car behind me changed directions as soon as its driver saw the blockade so that made for a bit of excitement. Not sure what the outcome was but I expect that that driver didn’t change directions merely because he had forgotten to get milk at the convenience store. Once the police officers were convinced that I was out photographing rather than out drinking I headed off to Christie Pit Park to photograph the “Cavalcade Tiger”. (location)

The Cavalcade Tiger was erected and maintained by the Korean business community. The tiger is a symbolic guardian of the well-being and prosperity of the community. According to the sign erected there, it represents Jujak, Hyumoo,Chungryong and Baeklo – four legendary beasts who are guarding the four corners for the earth. Jujak guards the south, Hyumoo guards the north, Chungryong guards the east and Baeklo guards the west.

Knowing that the four corners of the world were well protected despite the economic turmoil in the EU, I once again headed back to my hotel room in the Westin Harbour Castle where a comfortable bed and this scene awaited me out my 33rd floor window but not before I passed through my third R.I.D.E. blockade in the same night!

It had been a long day but a fun day. Time for lights out.

Hope these few posts of Toronto’s lights inspire you to get out at night to see the lights. Comments welcomed.

My four blog entries of my Toronto visit with about 80 images are now completed.
My first blog entry for this Toronto trip is here: Travel to Toronto, Dec. 2011
My second blog entry for this Toronto trip is here: Lowe’s Toronto Christmas Market
The DeSario home is here: DeSario home
My midnight activities are here :-): Late night

About Ron

Ron has long had an interest in photography and traveling and, in recent years, has had more time to devote to both activities. Long a Pentax user, Ron switched to Nikon gear when he went digital. The advent of the digital SLR camera, and the ease of the internet blogging process, has provided a venue for sharing his photography and travel experience at the local, national and international level. More about Ron
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