By sheer, random luck, our choice of hotel in Toronto — the largest Courtyard By Marriott in the world — lies not only in the center of downtown, but also smack in the middle of Toronto’s gayest community. Rainbow flags fly from a number of nearby stores and shops. The city street signs are adorned with rainbow borders. Street scenes for Showtime’s Queer as Folk are filmed just two or three blocks from our hotel.
We spend the day with Chris and Tony, who make excellent and enthusiastic tour guides. We start with breakfast at the Coach House, where I’m exposed, for the first time, to pea bacon: ham-like slabs of bacon with a crunchy, corn-meal crust. (“Like little meat cookies,” I say, prompting Chris to grin.)
Despite the chilly temperatures, we bundle up and make our way down slushy sidewalks to several local bookstores and shops along Yonge Street. At one point, we stop in a leather boutique, where we’re greeted by the friendliest, most convivial Lady in Leather I’ve ever met. “Oh, yeah,” she says. “We get lots of folks from the states. We do all kinds of custom leather work. Bustiers. Halters. Slavewear. You need to come in October. We do a really freaky show then, eh?”
Further down the street, we become acquainted with Toronto’s panhandlers, who, compared to the quiet, depressed individuals we see on streets in New York and Atlanta, are practically street performers. “Hey, gorgeous!” one shouts. Another does an entire routine on beer, the fact that he doesn’t drink it, and the fact that, if we can afford it, we ought to be able to toss him a Loonie (one-dollar coin) or a Toonie (a two-dollar coin).
Other snapshots:
– A bizarre conversation with a cab driver who, in an accent neither Jamaican nor Irish, lectured us on race relations. “See, you hate me,” he says. “You really hate me. And that’s fine. I know how things turn out. People like me, we just like to live our lives. We’re like honeybees … we can build all the things you wasps can, but we prefer to concentrate on making the honey. So eventually, as jobs and food become more scarce, you’ll do away with people like me.”
He pauses to dodge a driver who almost slams into the passenger side of the taxi. “Most black people, you know, are not intelligent. That is, they are intellegent, but not the way you white people are. It’s a different intelligence. I am focused on joy, and you are focused on priorities. I see the delight in life, while you see only the obligations. That is how we differ … and that is why you hate us.”
– Dazzling sights from the Observation Pod at the top of the CN Tower (the world’s tallest freestanding tower.
– A great accidental lunch at Thai Chilli … not the American chain, but a unique little Thai restaurant offering hot soup, noodles, crisp rolls, and a monstrous plate of pad thai. Prompted by a brisk snow shower, we stuck our heads in more to escape the weather than anything else … and had a wonderful meal.
– A stroll through Eaton Centre. Imagine a mall. Now stack another mall on top. Now stack two more on top of that. In fact … stack several. Now, smack a towering atrium in the center, enclose it with glass, and hang lifelife geese from the ceiling, and you’ve got the Eaton Centre.
We enjoy the sights here, then take the skywalk to a NorthBay store, where Chris introduces me to Two Bite Brownies. (I haven’t had one yet, but hear they’re incredible … updates later.) Later, he buys us Toblerone Shortbread cookies: Toblerone chocolate smothered in layers of crisp, sweet, flaky dough. Yum!
– Visits to the best metaphysical shops in the city, where gracious owners repeatedly express interest in my book (it’s not available yet, up here) and invite me back for signings. I pick up several books and decks along the way.
There’s more … but I’m bushed! Needless to say: another great day in Toronto.
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