![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mojosmomI had such a lovely time in Toronto. What a beautiful city it is, and the Bookcrossers are beautiful, too! ;-))
After an uneventful flight, I arrived at the hotel around 2:00 on Thursday. Ri had given excellent directions for taking public transport from the airport to the hotel, and I decided to give it a try. Simple, fast and inexpensive. I was to discover that the Toronto public transport system generally is a gem. I hooked up with SerenityBlue and we went to the Bata Shoe Museum (one of the top attractions on my "to be visited" list) and then had tea and pastries at a nearby café. On returning to the hotel, I ran into GoryDetails and Ottawabill, so the three of us headed for dinner and conversation. Later we hooked up with Skyring, Sonora and Voyager, and a couple of other folks for drinks in the hotel bar.
The following day, some folks went to Bookcloseouts. I decided to avoid danger, and so SerenityBlue, Skyring and I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario. We arrived shortly after 10:00, only to discover it didn’t open until noon! So we had a cup of coffee (well, they did, I’d had too much tea at breakfast!) in the cafeteria at the Ontario College of Art & Design which is next door. Then we walked around Chinatown and ducked into an art supply store until the Gallery opened. Unfortunately, their permanent collection was not on display, so after a quick tour of what was there, we went back to the hotel.
That afternoon, I visited the Textile Museum and saw the most amazing exhibit! Bugs! Yes, indeed. Their main exhibit had to do with patterns in textiles, and the bug exhibit was an artist’s use of insects to create patterns similar to those in textiles. It sounds very odd, doesn’t it? But it was gorgeous. All those irridescent carapaces and translucent wings create real beauty. See some images here. Then to the Lillian Smith Library’s Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books to see an exhibit of movable books. (Bill was supposed to join me, but they got sucked in at Bookcloseouts!). Their collection is huge and the exhibit included quite a good variety, from old to contemporary, from pop-ups to tunnel books. And then to The Paper Place (this used to be The Japanese Paper Place, and it was under the auspices of its previous incarnation that I went to Japan).
Earlier, I had made arrangements to meet family for dinner. My cousin George’s first idea was that I should change my travel plans so that I could join them for their big Easter dinner on Sunday. Were it not for having to be at work on Monday and the fees airlines charge for changing tickets, I’d have been tempted. As it was, I skipped the BC Convention opening reception and met them (George & Sophie, their son John and his wife) for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel that is one of their favorite places. It was so very good to see them again (I hadn’t seen them since Cousin Bill’s funeral five years ago), so there was much catching up and family reminiscing along with very good food and drink.
And so to bed (and the hotel bed was very comfortable) . . .
After an uneventful flight, I arrived at the hotel around 2:00 on Thursday. Ri had given excellent directions for taking public transport from the airport to the hotel, and I decided to give it a try. Simple, fast and inexpensive. I was to discover that the Toronto public transport system generally is a gem. I hooked up with SerenityBlue and we went to the Bata Shoe Museum (one of the top attractions on my "to be visited" list) and then had tea and pastries at a nearby café. On returning to the hotel, I ran into GoryDetails and Ottawabill, so the three of us headed for dinner and conversation. Later we hooked up with Skyring, Sonora and Voyager, and a couple of other folks for drinks in the hotel bar.
The following day, some folks went to Bookcloseouts. I decided to avoid danger, and so SerenityBlue, Skyring and I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario. We arrived shortly after 10:00, only to discover it didn’t open until noon! So we had a cup of coffee (well, they did, I’d had too much tea at breakfast!) in the cafeteria at the Ontario College of Art & Design which is next door. Then we walked around Chinatown and ducked into an art supply store until the Gallery opened. Unfortunately, their permanent collection was not on display, so after a quick tour of what was there, we went back to the hotel.
That afternoon, I visited the Textile Museum and saw the most amazing exhibit! Bugs! Yes, indeed. Their main exhibit had to do with patterns in textiles, and the bug exhibit was an artist’s use of insects to create patterns similar to those in textiles. It sounds very odd, doesn’t it? But it was gorgeous. All those irridescent carapaces and translucent wings create real beauty. See some images here. Then to the Lillian Smith Library’s Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books to see an exhibit of movable books. (Bill was supposed to join me, but they got sucked in at Bookcloseouts!). Their collection is huge and the exhibit included quite a good variety, from old to contemporary, from pop-ups to tunnel books. And then to The Paper Place (this used to be The Japanese Paper Place, and it was under the auspices of its previous incarnation that I went to Japan).
Earlier, I had made arrangements to meet family for dinner. My cousin George’s first idea was that I should change my travel plans so that I could join them for their big Easter dinner on Sunday. Were it not for having to be at work on Monday and the fees airlines charge for changing tickets, I’d have been tempted. As it was, I skipped the BC Convention opening reception and met them (George & Sophie, their son John and his wife) for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel that is one of their favorite places. It was so very good to see them again (I hadn’t seen them since Cousin Bill’s funeral five years ago), so there was much catching up and family reminiscing along with very good food and drink.
And so to bed (and the hotel bed was very comfortable) . . .
