Toronto, Ontario – Random images along THE PATH
Toronto City Hall
Visiting Toronto in the winter months can be a bit of a hit & miss affair. Some days the weather will be great and other days it will be just miserable. During our visit to Toronto during the Boxing Week period (December 2011), we had a bit of rain, a bit of snow, a bit of cold and a bit of sunshine all in the same day. Toronto’s underground PATH and their excellent subway system allowed us to get from out hotel (Sheraton Centre Toronto) to anywhere that we wanted to go without getting our car out of its parking spot. This blog contains a few random images of the view from our hotel, views along THE PATH, views in a subway station and views at the Eaton Center.
Looking out our hotel windows offered a different view each day as sometimes the sky was blue and other times we couldn’t see the sky at all. To get to the PATH from our hotel room at the Sheraton Centre Toronto was rather easy. From the main lobby, we just took the escalator down one floor and followed the signs and we were on our way over to the Eaton Center, so named because the anchor store was once the venerable T. Eaton Company flagship retail outlet.
THE PATH provides a well marked route beneath most of the retail outlets and office towers of downtown Toronto. On this particular day, our destination was the Eaton Center, which now has The Bay as an anchor store at one end and Sears as the anchor store at the other end. There are many smaller retailers and food outlets located along THE PATH. There are plenty of signs but if you are having trouble finding the signs, you can also stop and have your eyes checked along the way 🙂 .
In Canada, Boxing Day is the first retail shopping day after Christmas and is a day when stores are crowded with shoppers looking for great post-Christmas sale items such as half-price wrapping paper or that special sweater that they had hoped Santa might bring. Retailers have now extended that ‘sale’ period through the entire week and Boxing Week is now a great time for those shopping for bargains but shopping activity is a lot more subdued than on Boxing Day. The portion of the PATH that passed through the Bay was lined with plenty of boxed chocolates and tins of shortbread at appealing prices but I managed to resist the temptation.
The Eaton Center itself is a very large enclosed space and is a mecca for shoppers and tourists alike.
At this time of the year, the pedestrian areas are well decorated and a large Christmas tree nicely decorated with balls and bows occupies a central spot. For those who might get hungry from all of the shopping and walking, there is plenty of choice in the new Eatery area.
For those who get tired of shopping and want to head over to other Toronto locations such as the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), the PATH is connected to Toronto’s subway system at a number of stations. Toronto’s subway system is generally well maintained and safe and provides a good alternative to driving.
For those who would prefer to be outside, even if the weather isn’t the greatest, the skating rink located at Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto City Hall is just the place to go to finish off a day of wandering along the PATH.
For more PATH facts, visit the City of Toronto website here.
