Riverdale

Dateline: Saturday, August 25, 2012.

Today was a particularly interesting Heritage Toronto Walk through the neighbourhood of Riverdale. I was not aware that there once was a railway station on DeGrassi Street, near Queen Street East. 
The Riverdale Railway Station was built in 1896, as part of the Grand Trunk Railway Line between Toronto and Montreal. 

In those days, the train tracks were level with the roadways throughout thecity, and there were so many accidents that the "Viaduct Project" was established to increase the grade of the tracks and build an underpass for Queen Street.
As a result of this project, the station was moved further up Degrassi (north) in 1927.

Here, in this picture, you can see that the station is lower than the train tracks, and a ramp has been built ot accommodate travelers.

With the decline in passenger use (folks were now using Union Station), the little station was closed in 1932, and eventually demolished in 1974.

The post that you see here, in Bruce Mackey Park  is situated at the end of the fence line that marked the station's entrance. These two items are all that's left of the Riverdale Railway Station. The north end of the park ends at Dundas Street East, where you will see another under pass for the tracks. This one dips because this section of Dundas was non-existent at the time when the tracks were being laid. 

The original street that extended from Broadview, was named South Street, and ended at the tracks. You can still see and walk on the original sidewalk, if you climb a small set of stairs. The walking tour crossed Dundas (at the lights) and went down Tiverton Avenue.
As we walked along this street, our walk leader, Gerald Whyte told us that numbers 15, 17, 19, and 21 Tiverton were actually built by non other than E.J. Lennox.

Here, I have taken a picture of number 17 - 19 Tiverton Avenue.

We continued walking along this street until we reached First Avenue. Here we could see some fine examples of Second Empire homes.

We continued along First Avenue until we came to St Mathew's Church at #135. Here we were treated to an unveiling of two plaques by the Toronto Heritage. One was dedicated to the Riverdale Railway Station, while the other was commemorating the Riverdale Heritage Conservation District.

This picture shows the plaques, a Scotia Bank representative, Councillor Paula Fletcher, Gerald Whyte and a board member from Toronto Heritage.

It should be noted here that the Riverdale Heritage Conservation District was established, primarily to protect some 224 properties  in Riverdale; and Councillor Fletcher was instrumental in the establishment of this important heritage conservation project.

The B&W photos are courtesy Toronto Archives, and the rest are my own. 

Chitwan Nepal

Dateline December 4 and 10, 2011:

I am currently staying at the Chitwan Rest House in Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal, and will be here tonight and tomorrow; then on to Lumbini.

Went on a ride down the Ripti River in a Tharu dugout canoe, where we saw lots of birds and crocodiles. 

Then we went for a stroll through the jungle, where we saw spotted deer, sloth bear markings, and tiger pug marks. There was also a "runaway elephant" that was browsing with the local tamed ones.

It was great fun to watch the elephants bathing in the river, and later I went for an elephant ride in the Community Forest buffer zone.

I saw a one horned rhino and many deer....both spotted and Sambhar.

Two days later whilst on our way to Lumbini, our bus ran into a roadblock of some political persuasion. Apparently, it's quite common, and all traffic came to a standstill.
We were stuck for seven hours, but many of the locals seemed to disappear, after awhile. So here we were, a small group of five white people, waiting out the blockade..not knowing when it would end. SIGH!

Around 5 pm the blockaders decided to give it a rest for the night, and were letting vehicles through. We all rushed to get on various modes of transportation...whatever could be commandeered. As a result there was a huge traffic jam over the bridge, and we arrived in Bairawa around eleven that night. It was much to late to travel any further, so our little group sought out a hotel for the night.

The next morning, a Taiwanese woman and I left the hotel together and got hoodwinked into taking a cycle rickshaw the remaining 22 km to Lumbini.
We actually saw some buses along the way, but were told that they were not running due to the blockade. Our rickshaw driver (with the betel-stained teeth) was certainly out to make some money....but I think he earned it!

My new Taiwanese friend Liu Chiu Chaun and I ended up staying at the Korean Monastery for two days. It was quite a deal, even though the accommodations were dorms. 

We took a tour of some historical Buddhist ruins, and cycled around the Peace and Monastic zones. We also did some walking and visited the Buddha's birthplace in the Maha Devi Temple.

Pokhara Nepal

December 1 Entry:

Currently staying at the Garden Yiga Chozin Centre in Pokhara, Nepal.

 

This is a Tibetan Meditation and Retreat Centre, where I will be staying for a short while; since it feels like a good time to chill.

The town of Pokhara is nestled beside a lake with fabulous sunset views.

Pictured here is the Phewa Lake with the Annapurna Range in the distance.

Earlier, while in Nagarkot, I took a short hike up to a viewing point to see the Langtang Range.

As I continued walking through terraced mustard fields, I came upon a local tea shop, where a young man was noodling on his guitar. He let me play a couple of tunes! What a treat!

I also met a group of Theravadan Buddhists from Thailand, who were here to witness the ordination of 1,000 Nepalese in Lumbini (the birthplace of Buddha).

In Kathmandu, I saw the Boudhanath Stupa and the Wayambhu Stupa.
These are both World Heritage sites. The Buddhism here seems to be a very happy  blend of Tibetan, with Hindu, local godess worship, and even some remnants of animistic religions. Fascinating!

This is a picture of the Main Stupa in Bodh Gaya.

Kathmandu

Late November and Early December Entry:

Oh my goodness all of Delhi and the Sikhs are out in full force today in Old Delhi, where I am staying overnight before heading to Kathmandu.
They are celebrating the birth of six of their gods, consecutively.

There were several hours of recorded chanting right outside my hotel window, followed by huge parades, plus loads of free food being given out. I'm stuffed!
There were displays of juggling, sword play, stick fights and other macho displays, that continued on until dawn.
 
 And the mess in the streets! But already they have started to clean up. Thank goodness, because it is downright hazardous walking down the street.
I've had to dodge vats of tea, rice and other stuff being dumped out onto the street. The dogs will feast tonight, as well!

On to Kathmandu - the roof of the world. 

What an incredible flight into Kathmandu, with marvelous views of the Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas. 

 

Currently, I am staying at Hotel Kathmandu Terrace. The sun seems much brighter here, and the pollution does not seem as bad (depending on which street you are traveling). Compared to Delhi, this is heavenly!

I hope to do some hiking and visit Chitwan Forest before heading to Lumbini, as well as sight-seeing around this city. 

I did go for a walk this evening, and there seemed to be at least two temples or shrines on every corner. There were marching bands, portable shrines, and dancers all flooding the streets. I'm told that all religions are celebrating the birth of at least one god...but did not understand which one.

I had a dream last night that I was at some kind of music festival and going to play and sing with some friends.

North Toronto CPR Station

On the agenda today is the North Toronto CPR Station, aka the Summerhill L.C.B.O.

There were only three tours today, and I arrived just before noon to find a crowd gathering near the tipping fountain at the south entrance.
There is only one photo of the station's interior at the City of Toronto Archives.
This black and white photo print was taken around 1915-16.

If you compare it to the picture taken below, you will see where the ticket windows are still in evidence along the west wall of the liquor store.

Behind this wall is the "testing kitchen", where we were treated to some free wine samples. The drawers used by the ticket sellers are still intact, and can be seen here:

Our tour guide was the manager of the store; and he explained some of the history behind the railroad station and a story about the ghost that appears in the basement.
This is one of the benches that was preserved form the station when it was being renovated.

Directly east of this bench is the "table wine" section of the store. Here was the Men's and Women's Waiting Room/Lavatory. Behind a locked door the manager showed us an original spittoon that was part of the men's room.

This is the largest L.CB.O. store in Canada, and has managed to keep a lot of the history of the old train station intact; including a conductor's uniform.