# 38 YORKVILLE
Mingle with ladies who lunch, shop in exclusive boutiques and take in some history in the city’s chicest neighborhood.
DATE: Friday, July 9, 2010.
TIME: 4:25pm - 7:09pm
After a crazy hot heat wave, it’s nice that the weather is much more comfortable for our walk. Today we’re exploring Yorkville, choosing this walk more out of convenience than anything. Despite going to school at UofT, living and shopping around here (I should clarify – shopping on Bloor and SOUTH of bloor) I’m not as familiar with the area covered on the walk as you’d expect. So I’m interested to see what sites the cards have picked for us to visit. If I were to think of notable places in Yorkville to visit, it would include a) Cumberland Theater b) the Toronto Reference Library (though that might just be out of the borders) c) our crepe place and d) some of the pretty houses in the neighborhood.
"Mingle with ladies who lunch, shop…"… i do neither of these activities when I’m in Yorkville! Like Mon, I’m usually in Yorkville to check out a movie @ the Cumberland… besides that I’m hardly in the area. In my university days, I used to get off at Bay station to then go to the Chapters before music class. I remember once when leaving that Chapters, I bumped into Jimmy Fallon. I think he was shooting that film with Queen Latifah.. I can’t remember the name. But yeah, my eyes widened in seeing him and that when he saw me, he quickly looked away… I wasn’t gonna get all fan crazy over him. He just surprised me. Anyhow, I have some fond memories in that Chapters… too bad it’s now a Winners (although… we did get those tickets to the Bata shoe museum from there). But I digress… on we go.
Hair is already a bit frizzy with the humidity and about to get worse!
I don’t remember how much product I put in my hair that day, but it probably wasn’t enough to keep the frizz down.
Even before we get to the first venue, I stumbled on the sidewalk – resulting from the combination of the uneven sidewalk and my own questionable ability to walk- which caused my sandal to strap to break. Thus making the walk a bit slow.
Really?! That was there? I thought that was later on the walk!
Hmmm… I think it was here…?
#1. Yorkville Park
A "conceptual" park. The card orders us to look for the 13 Canadian "landscapes" arranged on the footprint of historical Victorian row houses."
Conceptual is right! We had a hard time distinguishing what each landscape was and just didn’t bother. We were also quite confused because some "landscapes" looked an awful lot like another. But after reaching the other side of the park, we come across with a plaque with a labeled diagram to help us out.
The aforementioned plaque.
Notice something? Another mistake of the cards! The card says there are 13 landscapes, but the plaque clearly indicates there is only 12.
Tsk, Tsk… but are you really surprised at this point?! I wonder if we made cards with a list of walks, how many mistakes we’d have. Mon, you’re editor!
I. Pine Grove
II. Prairie Wildflower Gardens
Oops! My extra long shirt is already coming untucked.
Alma on a rock on the edge of the Prairie Wildflower Garden. At the time, we weren’t sure if these rocks were a landscape on their own…
III. Birch Grove
I didn’t know these were birch trees. I thought birch trees have that distinctive white bark…
hmm….
hmm….
IV. Fragrant Herb Rock Garden
Fragrant? Alma! We didn’t smell them! Think we have to go back? : )
Is this really a Canadian landscape???
No idea! We do have to go back and take a whiff. They should have these things labelled… I’m thinking that everyone is guilty of passing these gems… it’s kinda sad, isn’t it? man…no appreciation…
V. Crabapple orchard
We used to have crabapple tree on the otherside of our backyard fence – in the Humber. Well, it’s still there – just the tree is dead. Hasn’t produced leaves or crabapples in years. Our lawn would be littered with them so can’t say I miss it much. Kind of annoying though cause the dead tree is just there. I keep saying we need to contact the city and have it removed….
It looks like you’re doing a little dance! That sandal doesn’t look broken, mon!
VI. Festival Walk
Huh? What? What is the world is this?
Smiling and nodding… it’s festive? and people can walk through it… oh… i’m thinking that whomever the artist is really tried to "extend" these canadian landscapes to make it much more "grander" than it is…
VII. Ontario Marsh
I don’t remember an Ontario Marsh being lined with such pretty lanterns… but I can tell you how it holds some relentlessly aggressive mosquitoes! I have the bitten feet to prove.
VIII. Aider Grove
Didn’t know an Aider tree before… Interesting… I think we need an Audobon for trees!
At the time I thought this was another landscape. But according to the plaque its not. Just a divide or another feature in between 2 landscapes. But come on! This makes more sense as a landscape then the Festival Walk. This is Canada! Don’t we have the most freshwater in the world. This could be representative of Niagara Falls or something!
So true… and this wouldn’t be pushing the idea…
Mon… what would you name this landscape?
In Montana on Logan’s Pass… they had a "waterfall" named "Weeping Wall"… so pretty.
Mon… what would you name this landscape?
In Montana on Logan’s Pass… they had a "waterfall" named "Weeping Wall"… so pretty.
IX. The Canadian Shield Clearing
I made Alma climb this as the card mentioned we should scale the Canadian Shield. I thought that my excuse was the broken sandal, but maybe it was just sandals in general. Maybe Alma’s right: maybe my sandal wasn’t broken yet? Horrible short term memory…..
This is me reading that plaque trying to figure it all out….
good luck with that mon… I gave up a long time ago….
X. Herbareous Border Garden
XI. Heritage Walk/ Old York Lane
Oh look, now my shirt is almost completely untucked – except at the one side. Thanks for telling me ALMA! You are so on my list…. (shaking a fist at you)
I had no idea! Is that why you’re making that face? it was a bit humid that day.. so you probably needed to be aired out a bit.
XII. Amelanchier Grove
#2. Muti (88 Cumberland St.)
"Where you’ll find ornate hand-painted Italian ceramics"
Unfortunately we cannot confirm this as #88 Cumberland St. does not exist! At first we thought it was just a mistake of the map on the card because logically #88 should be east of Belair. So we tried to find it when we in that area later in the walk, but no #88! Bizarro. The only logical explanation is that there is a fidelius charm on the business which is why we can’t find it. Oh those rich wizards!
But then in Monica fashion, I decided to google it. In my search and via google maps, I found a street view pic of the business:
So confused. Not sure how old the pic is. I can’t see the Yorkville Park but the map shows Muti as being west of Belair. Those are some tricky wizards! How did we not find this????
Answer: This is not the work of wizards or our own stupidity. It’s the cards!!!! A major mistake of the cards. The address isn’t 88 Cumberland Street but #88 YORKVILLE AVE!!!!! D’oh!!!!
Yeah, that’s a bit frustrating… and a first for the wrong street name! That’s it… my expectations have been lowered… if the cards take us to a destination, I’m impressed.
BUT! I must say… without such an incident… Monica wouldn’t have a Harry Potter reference to make. true?!
BUT! I must say… without such an incident… Monica wouldn’t have a Harry Potter reference to make. true?!
#3. Jeannie Lottie (106 Cumberland St.)
"known for its playful handbags and accessories"
We’ll have to somehow trust the cards on this one… too intimidated to go in…
There’s another bronze sculptor of this guy in the adjacent gallery, which reminds Mon of the bronze sculptor during our Mount Pleasant walk… Too much glare off the glass to capture.
Old York Lane is a pretty stoned walkway that inbetween Cumberland and Yorkville. Lots of boutiques that are definately out of our price range and roof top patios.
Just look at the sign! That’s class….
Ladies that lunch and shop! The cards are right!
Walk up Hazleton Avenue to explore Toronto’s standout art galleries such as…..
We actually visited the Loch gallery on Hazleton Avenue a couple years back for Sara’s group show opening… remember that?! i remember Mon showing off her impressive girl guides patch collection, stef and mon making me do the same face as Sara’s painting of me, looking for lemonade and… that’s all!
Hmm… I seem to remember Alma having an interesting "meeting" before we met up that aforementioned day…. hmmm….
#4. Heffel Fine Art (13 Hazelton Ave.)
For big name Canadian artists.
We’re fine standing outside of this…
….for native arts
… and this
#6 Mira Goddard (22 Hazelton Ave.)
…for international and Canadian works
Yet another picture of Monica with cattle. Deja vu India. Deja vu Texas. FYI, this bull was anatomically correct.
The card orders us to turn onto Scollard St. and scour the boutiques and galleries, and then return to Hazelton to continue the walk.
#7. Heliconian Club (35 Hazelton Ave.)
"Carpenter Gothic"…."Notable for its intricate wood design and rose window, the building houses a women’s arts initiative.
Didn’t your sandal mishap happen here on Webster Ave?! I really don’t recall it happening early on. I must’ve been dehydrated…
Maybe it did happen here. In my memory it happened early on cause I remember spending a lot of time walking awkwardly. But then again, we did do stuff afterward including walking around after dinner.
Mon remarks how quiet Webster Ave is upon stepping here, where you can clearly hear the ambient noise.
#8 Hazelton Lanes (87 Avenue Rd)
An uber-upscale mall where shops and services range from day spas and a Rolls-Royce dealership to the chic home decor mecca Teatro Verde.
Hmmm…. well we didn’t look out for Teatro Verde when we did the walk so I decided to look it up. It has a fancy site. And expensive stuff indeed. There are these "Lost Fish Note Cards" – basically just blank cards, a set of 10 costs $144!
Wowzers! And I thought I was inflating those prices in my head…
We make it to Hazelton Lanes… This is where you can usually purchase Hot Docs tickets for its festival. A couple of years ago I bought tickets for Planet Bboy that was being held at Bloor Cinema. So glad that I went… quite the event!
Yum! We definitely deserved these cooled drinks… although it seemed like our sparklers was something that was unheard of to those Whole Foods baristas….
#9. Lettieri (94 Cumberland)
"a stylish espresso bar frequented by visiting movie stars.
Lettieri is the last official stop on the walk. However the card does tell us to checkout the last few boutiques. Everything is pretty much closed except this one place – don’t remember the name. Had some nice clothes. We played the pricing game and then I convinced Alma to try on some cute clearance items. But the store announced it was closing before she got a chance to.
It was Anthropologie… I’ve only seen stuff online and well… yeah, it’s pricey. Mon’s really good at the pricing game. No prices ending with 9s (or 8s?!) in this store! It would’ve been fun to try on those sale items.. those plaid shorts were awesome!
- a 2.5 snails out of 5 – snails because that’s how slow we were walking – long week and broken sandal! Not sure if this is too harsh… was annoyed about the Muti misprint and the walk just seemed a little too out of our league. The idea about the landscapes is cool, and its a nice area but could have been better described, laid out and executed.Alma rating: ? ? … 2 question marks out of 5. I think you’re being too nice, Mon about this walk. Maybe it’s a bit out of our league, but besides the landscapes at the beginning and the pretty houses, this walk was lacking. I do think that the Cumberland should be included… there are not too many places where you can see indie flicks these days.
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