SWMBO and me are going to spend our summer vacation in the Toronto area.
What's a 'must see' beside the regular CN tower-Niagara falls-Ontario place-tourist stuff?
Can anybody recommend a restaurant and/or a club (preferably the techno, house or electro flavor) in Toronto?
Are there fellow empeggers living nearby?
Any info would be highly appreciated.

Peter

The biggest attraction would be the one and only Mark Lord. He can usually be found wandering in the wilderness with a GPS in his hand.

I though Mark was from Ottawa?

If you make it as far south as Windsor, I can show you a good time here, and SE_Sport_Driver is right across the river too

Actually, I think you're correct. I think I was recalling some posts in the past where he was talking about visiting toronto. I recall one in particular with some cool graffiti art.

I used to live there, but sadly, I can't remember it well enough to be able to recommend much of anything.

Two things I've been having a hankering for though:

New York Subway -- it's a tiny hole-in-the-wall place on the north side of Queen Street and Portland (just east of Bathurst). It has a yellow sign, and is a few doors down from a photo lab (which I also recommend).

A decent gyros from the Danforth. I can't remember the name of the place I used to frequent, and Google maps doesn't have the satellite images for me to look at. It's off of Danforth, between Broadview, and Pape. It's another hole in the wall joint, of course. I recall that there was a low circular fountain in the square outside the shop.

Depending on when you're travelling, there's a festival on the Danforth that has some killer Greek food. There's also the Pride Parade at the end of this month, I think, that's a hoot to watch.

I don't really have any clubs to recommend. The one I went to most often (which isn't saying much) is a basement dive. Naturally, I don't remember the name of it (Area 51, I think), but if you tell the cabbie to take you to "For Your Eyes Only", he'll get you there. It's a few doors west of the strip club. There's also System Soundbar, as well, which was really good, but had a bit of a steep cover, IMHO.

After dancing, you can head up to Chinatown on Spadina -- there are a *ton* of Chinese restaurants that are open late-night. Otherwise, there's always a hotdog cart, which can be a bit hit-or-miss in terms of cleanliness.

For other stuff to do, check out eye weekly -- it's a freebie newspaper filled with stuff to do. That'll have a good list of clubs, as well.

I'd recommend staying west of Sherbourne, or east of Broadview at night, unless you're into scoping out the seedier side of life.

If you're staying local to downtown Toronto, then the easiest way to get around is by streetcar/subway.

Hope that helps.

I don't live in Toronto, but I do visit there regularly (SWMBO's family lives there). It's about a 4 hour drive for us from Ottawa.

When will you be there? Our National Holiday is "Canada Day", celebrated each July-01, and there will be special stuff happening around then.

Similarly, "Yonge St." is *the* centre of Toronto, and gets closed down for a street-fest around July 8-10 this year -- google for "Celebrate Toronto Street Festival".

The best reliable Sushi in town is "Sushi-Time", at their original restaurant on Queen St. West, one block east of Spadina. While there, visit Active Surplus (upstairs next door), for weird and wonderful stuff. I suppose "Miss Behaviour" (further West on Queen St.) also falls into the "weird and wonderful" "cat"agory.

The grafitti I photographed is one alley south of Queen in the same general area, beginning at Spadina St. and continuing West.

Mountain Equipment Coop has a largish shop nearby, if you are interested in quality outdoorsy clothing or equipment at cheap prices.

Other "musts": take the passenger ferry (any one or two of the three) out to the Toronto Islands for a picnic day. Or just dine at the nice bistro out there, hang loose at the au natural beach, and play frisbee golf -- all on the islands. Hunt down the geocaches out there while you're at it, but look out for the fire ants at the easternmost cache.

Are you into mountain sports -- climbing, hiking, whatever? No mountains near Toronto, but the Niagra Escarpment is a longish cliff band that has much more to it than just the famous waterfalls. And I can often be found at Bon Echo provincial park (2/3 of the way from Toronto to Ottawa) on warm weekends and/or by arrangement if you have use of a car for a couple of days.

A drive around Amish country near Elora is well worthwhile, with dinner in Elora itself. About 90 minutes or less from Toronto.

There is also Stratford Ontario, with its own Avon river and Shakespearean playhouse -- well known with lots of good live stage stuff most nights through the summer. Reservations required.

Geeky computer stores are mostly all on College St, beginning at Spadina, and continuing West for a couple of blocks.

The whole Toronto harbourfront scene is looking rather good these days, so spend a day or three just walking around there (down next to Lake Ontario).

Cheers

Thanks for your input guys.
I'll check it out...

Mark, are you going to be in Amersfoort this year?

Peter

Thats cool. Are you in Canada now?

When will you be there? Want to meet up at all for some local exploration?

Cheers

I've just now PM'd you with my mobile number, for Saturday.

Cheers