Toronto Swings

With one swinging cousin

Many years ago when I lived in Toronto, Canada, I thought it was the most boring city in the world with terrible weather to boot.

Well, I am here to tell you that whereas the weather has not improved, that city now swings.

And the other

That is a new discovery of mine, for while I have visited my former country of residence many times since leaving for good, I have never really gotten to know the city itself too much.

This time I visited to attend a small family reunion and two of my swinging cousins, went out of their way to ensure that I would never use the word boring in reference to their city ever again and I enjoyed every minute, taking in the transition.

View of downtown Toronto from Lake Ontario

To begin with, while my information is that the development of the now trendy harbor front on the shores of the huge Lake Ontario, began from the 70's, it wasn't until the 90's that it really came into its own. Today, attractive street cars transport numerous visitors to that zone to take in the restaurants, bars, scenery and the wide variety of free weekend concerts.

I attended one exceptionally entertaining event put on during African week. This was a performance by Gambian entertainer Sona Jobarteh.

 While there was no doubt about her exceptional talent as she led the band through a melange of pulsating traditional African music, this performance spurred me to go on online to learn more about her.

According to her webpage, she ; "is the first female Kora virtuoso to come from a prestigious west African Griot family. (traveling musicians) Breaking away from tradition, she is a modern-day pioneer in an ancient, male-dominated hereditary tradition that has been exclusively handed down from father to son for the past seven centuries."

Traditional costumed Greek performers at Danforth

(A kora is a Mandinka harp built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. The skin is supported by two handles that run under it. It supports a notched double free-standing bridge. It doesn't fit into any one category of musical instruments, but rather several, and must be classified as a "double-bridge-harp-lute". The strings run in two divided ranks, making it a double harp.)

Her performance was absolutely mind-boggling and while we did enjoy other music sessions on the Harbour, hers just had to get special mention.

Another swinging setting was at Taste of Danforth which is in its 25th year and dubbed "Danforth Strong."

 This is because this year was extra-special, as it marked the determination of Canadians to take back the streets of Danforth after two people were killed and 13 others were injured after a crazed man with a handgun opened fire on a bustling avenue in  July.

To support the taking back of the streets, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the area on the opening night, Friday 10th August, even mingling with the crowd and taking photos with random people. 

We were actually there and although we stopped briefly to listen to the speakers, did not recognize him as we were too far away.

While there too, I saw a long line of people waiting patiently to enter a theater and discovered that they were waiting to get in to see the performance of one of my favorite artists, Toots of Toots and the Maytals fame. What was especially heartening was not only the crowd he was drawing but also the fact that he had recovered sufficiently to put on a performance. For some years ago, maybe 5 years, he had been attacked and injured during a performance in the USA by a drunk fan. I saw him some months later at the my dentists and to my horror, he revealed then that his doctors were not sure he would ever be able to perform again.

I was therefore enthralled that he had and was still drawing mammoth crowds.

Danforth is famous for its street entertainment and Greek food and they did not disappoint, so we even went back on following Sunday to taste even more of Danforth before heading north to the scenic, peaceful Wilcock Lake in Richmond Hill with its creative metal sculptures, to hang out with my young relatives.

Scenic, peaceful Lake Wilcox

Yup, the overall weather in Toronto may not have improved, however happily, during the week I was there, it was great summer weather, and now I am here to say, Toronto now swings.