Friday, June 26, 2009

Walkabout Toronto

I lived so close to Toronto for so long.... And I never fully appreciated it for what it was. It's an incredible city with a ton of culture, fashion, and life to it.



Today, walking around downtown with a few of my American friends... I felt like a tour guide. A really enthusiastic tour guide. Apparently, I'm quite proud of my country.... Well, this city anyway.

I showed them city hall, being sure to mention the marriage proposals that happened there, as well as the scene from Resident Evil that was filmed there....






And I also showed them the beautiful parliament buildings downtown that house the provincial government of Ontario. There is some incredibly beautiful architecture here in downtown Toronto.









I took them through the eaton's center, and introduced them to Toronto's downtown mall. Tyler, one of our buddies out with us, had never been to Canada before, so he was stunned by the sight of Canadian money. He called it monopoly money.












We stopped by steves music, where I used to shop for guitars and such....



Of course I visited the PRS area. Some sweet guitars in the shop now! I don't think they had quite that many PRSes when I lived here. Good job steve!

It feels great to be back in Canada. It's mixture of "returning home" and "visiting somewhere new" for me. Obviously I grew up here, so there's an attachment there, but I've been gone for long enough that I find myself feeling a little foreign when i return.

I'm also pretty settled in Nashville... Married with a house and a dog... So it has become pretty natural to feel like that is home.

All in all, I'm loving visiting Canada.... But it's becoming more evident as time goes on.... This is no longer home for me.... Mixed feelings about that? Yes. Regrets? Absolutely not. Excited and hopeful about the future? Inexpressibly so.

Jonathan

-- Post From My iPhone

8 comments:

beffy :) said...

Well written, even if it was a small blog entry. It kind of makes me want to go to Canada!

christena said...

i was in Toronto just last week, and it's a great city! i only stayed for a day, so i didn't see a lot of the city, but everything i saw was beautiful! i am definately gonna go back someday and see more of Toronto

graciegirl said...

my friend juss left for a 2 week vacation of sorts in Canada. ah i wish i could join her this year.......

great blog :)

kaitlyn said...

I've never been further east than the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border, but I have tons of friends going to school near Toronto. It seems like such a cool city despite my hockey prejudices being a Calgarian and all

Anonymous said...

Check out DC Talk's "You Consume Me" video. You might recognize the locale too.

Todd

graciegirl said...

my friend juss left for Canada by-the-way and i told her to try an Iced-Capp from Tim Horton's and she said:
exact words!:
Iced Capp = HEAVEN!!!!!

juss wanted to tell you that :)

Anonymous said...

Haha...though I have been in the area..of Toronto, oakville, and now barrie for like 12 years...why is it that I never knew the music store in toronto carried PRSes?? I guess where I am now, the music stores kinda suck...canadian brands ONLY is what they carry!

Where is the one in Toronto located? I want to go! Ive also heard, that a store in toronto carries McPhersons :)

Ida Lou said...

nice Jon. i like that pic of the birds and all those guitars too..