Selling Toronto

From: bethexton <bethexton_at_...>
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 17:40:27 -0000

> Yes! :-)
> I've been visiting Toronto for the past two years (hrm, wonder why)
> and I can vouch that it's an awesome place to visit, convention or
no.
> One of the big selling points for Gloranthacon is that Jeff's been
> able to swing great hotel rates for a 4 star hotel right in the
center
> of Downtown. So it's a great opportunity to see things from a good
> location without paying through the nose!
>
> And since I'm not quite as knowledgeable about Glorantha as I am
about
> traveling, I'll be setting up a variety of activities
>
> Toronto is a "world city" with lots of cultural offerings,
excellent
> public transit, and far less crime than most cities its size.

Sounds awesome, Mel!

For those not convinced yet, let me chime in. Things to do and see in Toronto are numerous. Speaking from a touristing perspective, a few are:

-The "ROM" (royal ontario museum) is a more traditional, big, musuem, with all the usual suspects (I haven't been there since I was quite young, so I mostly remember dinosaurs and mummies, but I'm sure there is plenty more).

-The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has a decent collection. If you like art, it is worth a visit, however it doesn't have the blockbuster collection of old masters that is apt to pull in themore casual tourists.

-The CN Tower is a needle like structure right in the middle of downtown which I think still qualifies as the tallest free-standing structure in the world (whatever that exactly means). Whatever, it sure is tall, and you can ride up to almost the top to gaze out at the world from an Orlanth eye view.

-The 'PATH': Downtown Toronto is laced with underground malls, most of which connect to other underground malls, with the net result that you can stroll for miles without ever caring about what the weather is like. I don't know if the hotel the Con is in connects directly to the PAST or not, but if it doesn't it can't be all that far away (and surely not more than a short streat car ride) If you are too tired to retrace your footsteps you can jump on the subway. You can even buy maps of it all. People who are used to Toronto hardly even notice this anymore, but it can be pretty neat.

-Food: Toronto claims to be the "largest x city outside of X" for a number of X = country, x = nationals of that country (i.e "The largest portugese city outside of Portugal"). In other words it has huge ethnic populations, all of whom seem to run restaurants. You really can taste the world in Toronto, even more so than in most large cities. (Canada is one of if not the most immigrant dense countries in the world, and Toronto receives the lions share of new immigrants).

-Shopping: It is a big city, of course there is a lot of shopping. It doesn't have the flashy high end boutiques of more famous shopping destinations, however the exchange rate means that americans will probably find it around 1/3 cheaper than at home, and brits will find it almost half the cost of home (I kid you not, my very well-heeled sister in law, who now lives near London, does intense shopping when back in Toronto, because of the incredible price difference. Even many products made in Britain are substantially cheaper in Canada, such as Doc Martins). As Mel already mentioned, it also has the "worlds biggest book store" (a great source for things out of print, by the way), and a cluster of huge music stores.

Of course, those of you reading this list won't have much time to check all of that out, you'll be too busy having a blast at the Con :) Most of you won't know this, but in a very brief time Jeff Kyer became one of the most succesful and well regarded tournament organizers for the Legends of the Five Rings CCG. I'm confident GlorathaCon will be just as big a hit.

--Bryan
PS. No, I don't live in Toronto, but I do think it is a nice place to visit.

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