Food, cigarettes and thousands of shoes — a tour of the Toronto …
Torontonians, please stifle your laughter when you read the following confession:
The stink of the subway fascinates me.
I’m talking about that stale whoosh of air that heralds the arrival of a train. It swoops in from the kind of shadowy tunnel that would make Lex Luthor homesick. It’s industrial. It’s decrepit. And to a small-town girl like me, it screams out one, glorious thing: BIG CITY.
If you didn’t grow up with a subway, an underground or a “tube,” one of the most thrilling aspects of visiting a metropolis that is thus endowed is navigating the transport system. The frantic paces, the dour faces and the prerecorded, disinterested voice that announces the next station - it’s all so very exotic.
And it’s easy. Compared to deciphering a streetcar or bus system, riding the subway is a cakewalk.
Having recently moved to Toronto, I vowed to ride the two staple TTC subway lines in their entirety. From Kipling to Kennedy and from Downsview to Finch - I sat amongst the black-clad commuters, avoiding eye contact as per the unspoken code.
But that’s not all.
I got out at every single stop, determined to prove that a) the subway is the best way to get to know the city in a hurry; and b) a point of interest is never more than a short walk from a TTC station.
All Aboard the Subway Safari …
It’s hard to avoid the creepy sensation that you’re approaching the ends of the earth as the train snakes past a colossal heap of dirt and debris, a metal scrapyard and a giant parking lot before depositing you near a colony of electrical towers. But hell hath sustenance, and it comes in the form of an old school diner that would have made Archie and the Riverdale gang feel right at home. Apache Burgers (a.k.a. the restaurant that political correctness forgot, 5236 Dundas St. W.) has been serving up (what else?) the Apache Burger since 1969.
Tags: bark, louis, park, st.
on 17 May 2008 at 11:59 pm # Rafe
Slept right through it
on 18 May 2008 at 12:49 am # Freeman
Your map said it was 21 miles SW of Vincennes, IN. I live 20 miles NE of Vincennes. Yah, we felt it this morning. It was nothing major, but it just lasted so long. At first, I thought it was just a blast at the coal mines– we have a lot those around here.I also felt the aftershock at 11:15 EDT this morning. They’re saying it was 4.5.
on 18 May 2008 at 1:40 am # Roseanne
Yeah, my folks felt it in middle TN…
on 18 May 2008 at 2:30 am # Peronel
It must be more scary for yous in california i was in a 7.x in 1971 but we expect them but it rock and rolled.
on 18 May 2008 at 3:21 am # Pancras
We just had another. Preliminary magnitude of 4.5 looks like it was centered just a little bit north of the first one.
on 18 May 2008 at 4:11 am # Briana
You guys make it like a 5.2 is a big deal.-SF Bay Area
on 18 May 2008 at 5:02 am # Suzy
hah, me too! My dad called this morning and asked if everything was ok at my house, and I was just like “what the fuck are you talking about? Of course everything is ok”. And then he told me there was an earthquake, and I had no idea. And then he said that my mom got scared, and wished that I lived with my aunt and uncle in belair.
on 18 May 2008 at 5:53 am # Thomasina
It’s the 125th street fault. There were 2(?) earthquakes in 2001. Just 1.5 magnitude.Either way it’s not anything to panic about. It’s not like the San Andreas fault which are two plates rubbing against each other. This is a crack that gets compressed when there are earthquakes on either side of the plate NYC is riding in the center of.
on 18 May 2008 at 6:43 am # Sybilla
You’re being wrong on the internet. Kindly please present your geology degree or TFSU.