Enjoying the last colours at the Guild Inn Park and Garden

Once in a while we hear about the Guild Inn Park & Garden in the media when the City of Toronto hires yet another consultant to write a "Request for Proposal" for a restaurant and hotel at the inn.

Don't hold your breath. But until then, we still visit the Guild Inn. I went back to see it last fall and it truly offers a lovely stroll. To get there, take Kingston Road eastbound, turn right on Guildwood Parkway then park (for free) into the estate.

Once you've admire the collection of sculptures and pieces of facade spread around the gardens, make sure you reach the edge of the park, facing the lake. Then, follow the trail going west (to your right) for a last peek at fall colours and a view of the lake. 

 

Back to the parking lot, we chose to follow a little trail into the woods, which led us down to the lake shore.

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Moments an author lives for!

A friend of mine snatched this photo of two girlfriends (he did not know) at a café in Kensington Market... with my guide Toronto Urban Strolls. 

The two new Toronto Urban Strolls 1 & 2 are now at Indigo and other major bookstores and are sold online at Amazon and Indigo.

Free excerpt
I originally posted this photo last fall with the title "Follow the guide at Kensington Market". As of June 2, 2013, so many people had clicked on this post that I understood it had mislead people into thinking I was guiding them through Kensington.

So I've decided to post a blog with a free excerpt of Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends 1: KENSINGTON Truly Eclectic Stroll.

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Getting some fresh air by the waterfront in Etobicoke

I'm currently doing research for my next guide (Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends, Part 2) and took advantage of Saturday's bright and sunny day (at last!).

This stroll, covering Colonel Smith Park and Rotary Park, will include a visit to the japanese bakery Tatsu's Bread (across from the park, on Lake Shore Boulevard), where you can usually hear Humber College students from the Music Department perform jazz!

As you can see in the last photo, my husband was really "helping" with the research...

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Bowmanville Zoo: A great fall outing!

I badly needed to update my photos of Bowmanville Zoo so last weekend, I decided to do something very daring... I took three teens to the small zoo, with a friend of mine. (Actually, it wasn't that daring. One of them had expressed the desire to visit a zoo to take animal shots.)

It is worth describing Bowmanville Zoo at this time of the year since it will be open daily throughout September and on weekends until Thanksgiving Weekend (including Thanksgiving Monday).

Perfect stroll in the fall
We all loved it! After an incredibly hot summer, the cooler sun of September was more than welcome and the animals were quite lively.

The site is filled with mature trees so it is always nice to stroll around this zoo. (We saw many three-generation families enjoying the premises.) They provide shadow in the summer and the colours are gorgeous in the fall.

What makes it even better is the catwalk Bowmanville Zoo has added over a little forest near the Animatheatre. It is an upraised boardwalk allowing us to look at two wolves and one lion down below (not in the same pen). Weather allowing, after the shows in the Amphitheatre, people can tour the enclosed pens under the catwalk in a bus dressed up as a vintage trolley while a zoo keeper interacts with the animals.

Something fishy!
September is the perfect time to watch salmon swim up the river in the north side of the zoo. We could see (and hear) them from the catwalk. They're quite big and strong!

Close-up opportunities
One of the reasons it is a great place for young photographers is that we can buy $2 bags of biscuits to feed the animals. They look yummy, in their greasy brown paper bags. (Watch out for your little ones, they probably will be tempted to eat some!)

As soon as the animals see people approaching the fences, they greedily run towards the visitors. (Even at the end of the season, they still haven't tired of the treats.) All the animals seemed healthy and fit so I'm assuming the biscuits sort of "go through" (if you know what I mean).

The parrots located near the entrance are very colourful and fun to watch. Since they can't fly, there was no need to put them in a cage, which makes them more interesting to photograph.

Animals, activities and extras
The zoo hosts around 300 animals including: elephant, lions, tapir, all kinds of horned animals, emus, camels, parrots and monkeys.

Activities offered daily during the summer, are still on on the weekends during the fall, such as the shows in the Animatheatre (look for the show schedule at the entrance). They last longer in the summer but we could still enjoy a half-hour performance involving a lemur, a miniature horse and a humongous Asian elephant.

There's a carrousel and two other little kiddie rides in the Funland by the entrance (staff members operate them one at a time). In the summer, kids can enjoy a large splash pad conveniently equipped with a line of benches for the parents and enjoy more animal encounters.

All these activities are included with the admission. You can pay $6 extra for a ride on the elephant or on a camel near the camel enclosure.

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IMPORTANT TIPS:
• Their end-of-the-season admission fees don't show on their website. It is now $17/adults and $12/children (tax included).
• Go to their website to print a coupon for a free kid admission with a paying adult.
• There's a Wimpy's Diner less than one km west of Bowmanville Zoo at 219 King Street East in Bowmanville.
• To get to the zoo, take exit 432 off Hwy 401to Liberty Street, then turn right on King East. The zoo will be on your left.

I spy a pirate...

It will seem weird that I mention Jilly's strip club (at the corner of Broadview and Queen East) in this blog but bear with me. 

If you look up past the tasteless photos at street level, you'll see some of the nicest and funniest architectural details adorning any building in Toronto.

I spy a pirate, an elephant, a boar...

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Tell-all sign

These are the feet of...

... a summer camper!

When my friend's son took off his shoes to hop on the paddle boat (which we had rented at Chinguacousy Park last weekend), it was quite a sight! I realized that these were the feet of a camper. With a kind of tan we did not see often at the cottage of my childhood where most kids spent the day barefoot.

Chinguacousy Park: Family outing for weekends of September 8 and 15

This week, I went to check out what millions of dollars injected into a municipal park can do. Turns out... a lot!!! Weather permitting, it will be open until mid-September.

Chinguacousy Park in Brampton used to have a little water section with a fee. It now offers a grandiose top of the line splash pad and it's free. Check out the photos. The whole park has changed A LOT!

We also did a paddle boat ride (approx. $5 for two-seater fro 30 minutes, plenty of time to enjoy the two ponds). And one of us (not me!) brought a skateboard to try the new skate park, another fab addition to this great park, also free. You can also see some animals and take a $3 ride on a small motorized train.

To get there, from Hwy 401, take Hwy 410 north, exit at Queen Street East in Brampton and turn left at Bramalea Road.