This weekend Toronto held a Ukrainian festival in Bloor West Village. There was to be a parade Saturday at 11am. I used to goto these events every weekend in Korea so was feeling left out from my regular weekend dose of festivals. I also wanted to try out my new camera before my big Scandinavia trip next week.There was rain, I didn't know of the parade would go ahead or if I should just stay at home but I ended up going. At one end was a mock 'maidan' display wit...

This weekend was the annual Caribana Parade. I've never gone to it before due to traffic problems, road closures, and being out of the way on Lakeshore Ave.However, this year my condo building is right at the foot of the parade on Lakeshore Ave so I planned on checking it out.I arrived late afternoon as I was trying to buy a new camera. Pics are from my old camera as the new one was still in the box.The parade moves very slowly and lasts over several hours. After...

This weekend another Toronto festival was taking place in Little Italy along College St. The Taste of Little Italy was meant to be a celebration of Italian culture but lacked any cohesive theme and seemed to be a mish mash free for all.College St was closed from Bathurst to Ossington and streetcars rerouted. This made for a wide avenue for pedestrians and stalls.There were many fairground stalls and different food vendors. There was no overall Italian feel except...

This weekend there was an outdoor car show on Bloor St between Avenue Rd and Bay St. The Toronto Auto Show is normally downtown at the convention centre so this was an alternative free outdoor one.I biked down to take a look. There was a red carpet running down the centre of the street with the cars parked at diagonal angles on either side of the street. It was very crowded walking down the middle especially with my bike.It was nice to see a variety of cars, rang...

Every year two of Toronto's main highways are shut down for an annual charity bike ride for the Heart and Stroke foundation. As my old condo on Bathurst was right near the start line at the CNE ground I had participated annually while I lived there.The route starts at the CNE grounds downtown from where you can cycle along the Gardiner/DVP to Bloor St and back down for a 25km run. The 50km run continues up to York Mills and the DVP. While the 75km run loops back ...