Tourism : In The News

At Fox News, University of Toronto physicists have drawn notice for speculating that our solar system once had an extra planet, a gaseous body that - it seems - was ejected from our solar system by either Jupiter or Saturn. A planetary ejection occurs when a planet, or other body, accelerates so fast, it breaks free of the gravitational pull of the star that it’s orbiting - typically, after having a close encounter with another large body. The U of T teams arrived at their conclusions by studying the orbits of nearby planets and their moons; in this case, the evidence points towards Jupiter as the prime suspect. The results were published in The Astrophysics Journal.

Read more here. 

Toronto's ongoing waterfront revitalization has caught the attention of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, pointing out that Pittsburgh has made similar strides in highlighting its own waterfront. The key difference, as one might imagine, is in the Toronto development's massive $1.5 billion scale.


As writer Christine H. O'Toole puts it:
 
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Source: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Is Canada the true threat facing America in the 21st century? That's what The Guardian's Sportsblog argues, with its tongue at least partway into its cheek.

The blog takes note of two Toronto products that are menacing their southern counterparts: The resurgent Toronto Blue Jays, who have found themselves on a roll. Then there's the recent dual of diss tracks between Toronto hometown hero Drake and Philadelphia's Meek Mill, which by popular consensus Drake roundly won.

"If Donald Trump truly wants to “Make America Great Again,” he must turn his squinty gaze to the north, to Canada, to America’s true threat," writes the Guardian.


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Source: The Guardian

Toronto has a fever, and the cure might be...hosting the 2024 Olympic games? While that remains a matter of local debate, outsiders are beginning to speculate as to what that would mean for the rest of North America.

The Associated Press reports: "North America has not hosted a summer games since 1996 in Atlanta, and from an American perspective, it would still feel like “home country games” with the Canadian government picking up the bills."

Toronto lost to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, and to Atlanta for 1996. Canada spent $2.5 billion CAN organizing the Pan Am Games.


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Source: Washington Post

 

This year, the Toronto International Film Festival will be combatting diminishing crowds with a "Primetime" section that will premiere up to six television programs, to coincide with fall network television premieres. The Los Angeles Times reports: 
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Source: Los Angeles Times

As good-news stories go, this one’s hard to beat: The Economist’s Intelligence Unit ranked Toronto as the world’s overall best place to live.

The British newspaper’s analysis came to the conclusion by combining analyses from several different metrics - none of which, incidentally, Toronto was on top of. “Often choice will be based on a mixture of reasons: an entrepreneur looking for the best city to start a business may also intend to start a family.” Taken together, the Economist found that Toronto offered the world’s best balance. 


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Source: The Economist

Multicultural Toronto has been lauded as a top travel destination whose “rich blend of immigrant neighbourhoods and authentic ethnic restaurants” makes it “a great town for dining and exploring on foot.”

The Seattle Times writes:
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Source: Seattle Times

Chefs de Mission from 27 National Paralympic Committees were in Toronto last week for a final meeting in anticipation of August's Parapan Am Games. As the event's Chief Executive Officer of TO2015, Saäd Rafi, told the German-based International Paralympic Committee, the games are poised to "leave a legacy in the Americas." 

The Toronto-hosted Games are set to be history-making, thanks to a few key additions. Among these: a National Paralympic Committee support grant developed to help cover travel costs to and from the Games, and a Parapan American Development Programme to build capacity in sport management, coaching, and developing the capacity of physically and visually impaired  athletes. 

“We continue to be impressed by the preparations for the TORONTO 2015 Parapan Am Games and the efforts by Canada to create a real legacy from these Games that benefits the entire region of the Americas,” said American Paralympic Committee President Jose Luis Campo.

Among the 15 sports included in the Games will be archery, judo, powerlifiting, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and sitting volleyball.


Source: International Paralympic Committee

Travel guide gurus Lonely Planet have anointed Toronto among the world's Top 10 Cities to visit in 2015.

"Two North American metropolises on the well-beaten path bracket Lonely Planet's Top 10 Cities list for 2015, one of an annual variety of best-of and trend-spotting rankings announced this week by the travel publisher, which also compiled them into the Best in 2015 book and travel planner," reports the San Francisco Gate.
 

Kensington Market is a unique neighbourhood in Toronto revered by locals and tourists alike. Known for its garden car, graffiti and murals, the unique shops, and the hippy vibe, these eccentricities continue to inspire people around the world to tell its story.

"At its peak, the area was home to 60,000 Jews, worshipping in 60 synagogues. But when they moved on - only two synagogues remain - their place was taken in turn by Italians, Portuguese-speaking exiles from the Azores, West Indians, Koreans, Vietnamese and Latin Americans," wrote the Sydney Morning Herald.
 
"As each nationality became more affluent and moved on, they left behind a layer in the rich patina that coats Kensington Market."
 
In its profile on the neighbourhood, the Sydney Morning Herald points out that the market is only a short walk from downtown's staple, the CN Tower.
 
"Locals know it as the place to head to for superb produce, a tasty, inexpensive meal, or just somewhere to hang out and people-watch on a sunny Sunday afternoon," the article continues.
 
Toronto's street art has been getting a lot of attention lately. It was part of the reason West Queen West was recently named the second hippest neighbourhood in the world by Vogue, and now its cited as one of Kensington Market's must sees. 
 
"Yet although Kensington Market was the first Toronto neighbourhood to be declared one of Canada's national historic sites in 2006, it is constantly changing. These days, one of the market's drawcards is that it has some of the best street art in the city, with mural-sized work by recognised graffiti artists."
 
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Original Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Little India is changing, and the New York Times has noticed.

"Sari shops and curry emporiums still dot Gerrard Street, the main artery in Toronto’s Little India. But over the last decade, much of the city’s South Asian population has decamped for suburbs like Brampton and Rexdale," the publication writes.

"Now, as artists and young families move into the neighborhood’s neat single-family homes, Gerrard Street’s affordable storefronts are attracting creative entrepreneurs priced out of trendier districts. The fresh crop of businesses is giving this east-end enclave a vibe that’s both edgy and homey. And with a wave of Irish immigrants settling nearby side streets, a distinctive lilt can now be heard on the strip."

Coffee house and gallery Flying Pony gets top nods for its "bold works by emerging Canadian artists like Gilles Arsenault and David Irvine," while The Swag Sisters, a "tiny toy shop where Legos share shelves with duct-tape wallets from MarinaRocksToronto – a.k.a. the 15-year-old Toronto designer Marina Wilson," receives additional praise. 

Eateries Tea n Bannock and Lazy Daisy's Café are applauded for traditional cuisine and local-faire, respectably. 

And lastly, Gerrard Art Space gets a write up for its "multimedia exhibits, Sunday afternoon concerts, ukulele classes and children’s art workshops."

Read the full story here. 
Original Source: The New York Times

The Aga Khan Museum is set to open to the public this Thursday and already international press is taking note. 

"Almost 20 years in the making, the Toronto site is the work of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture which, like a mini Unesco, runs an impressive programme of historic conservation of Islamic architecture around the world and a respected triennial architecture award. The 10,000-square-metre building is the new home for the Aga Khan’s spectacular hoard of Islamic art, more than 1,000 artefacts spanning three continents over 10 centuries, and is the first museum in North America dedicated to the subject," writes the Guardian. 

The Guardian offers a review and history of the Aga Khan Museum and the neighbouring Ismaili Centre. Both were unveiled last week. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and 77-year-old spiritual leader Aga Khan attended.

The account is quite descriptive.

"The museum is a monolithic shed, its canted walls giving it the look of a gigantic packing box that has been flipped open, with sharply chiselled skylights sliced into its crisp limestone skin. Across a vast pond-studded courtyard, the Ismaili Centre is a cluster of low-slung sandstone buildings, from which emerges a translucent pyramidal roof, ramping up at an angle as if pointing towards the stars. Together, they form an enigmatic complex that has the look of a cosmic observatory, or some mysterious lunar fortress." 

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Original Source: The Guardian

Vogue has named West Queen West the second hippest neighbourhood in the world in part thanks to its street style, arts and culture scene, and prominent indie shops and designers. 

Here's what they said: 

"Toronto is currently enjoying newfound prominence—and desirability—amongst globe-trotting tastemakers. Queen Street West is a verifiable artery of indie patisseries, homegrown labels, and hidden-from-view galleries—hallmarks of hipness, if ever they existed. It’s also the home of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, well-established “art” hotels The Drake and the Gladstone, and the charming Bicyclette, a local clothing boutique and lifestyle brand whose owners love “glitter, DIY projects, treasure hunts and details.” Soho House Toronto is nearby, as is Graffiti Alley, a block where street art is both 100 percent legal and lauded."

Toronto followed only Tokyo's Shimokitazawa. The report was surprisingly refreshing. Here is the full list of the world's hippest neighbourhoods.

1. Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, Japan
2. West Queen West, Toronto, Canada
3. Sodermalm, Stockholm, Sweden
4. Tiong Bahru, Singapore
5. Centro, Sao Paulo, Brazil
6. Canal Saint-Martin, Paris, France
7. Bushwick, New York City, U.S.
8. Brera, Milan, Italy
9. Wynwood, Miami, U.S.
10. Zona Rosa & La Condesa, Mexico City, Mexico
11. Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia
12. Silver Lake, Los Angeles, U.S.
13. Hackney, London, U.K.
14. Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
15. Dashanzi Art District, Beijing, China

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Original Source: Vogue 

In one year, Toronto and the surrounding region will become home to the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games and to celebrate the Canadian Paralympic Committee has released a moving video showing three Canadian medal hopefuls practicing for the games.

Featuring 17-year-old swimmer Danielle Kisser, bronze medal winner of the 100 metres breaststoke at the 2011 Games; cyclist Jaye Milley; and wheelchair basketball player David Eng, who was part of the gold medal team at the 2012 London Paralympics; the video harnesses the power of training, hope and passion and turns it into fuel for the forthcoming games. 

Entitled, “Are You Ready?”, the slickly edited video focuses on Parapan athletes as the Toronto Games will feature qualification positions for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. 

"I am hugely confident that Toronto will deliver the best ever Parapan American Games in one year's time," Americas Paralympic Committee (APC) President Jose Luis Campo is quoted as saying. 

"Two years ago, I witnessed how successful the London 2012 Paralympic Games were in Great Britain,” he continues. “I really believe that the Parapan American Games can have a similar impact in Canada in terms of raising the profile of Para-sport and changing perceptions of people with an impairment."

The Pan Am and Parapan Am Games will kick off on August 7, 2015 and will feature 1,600 atheletes from 28 countries and territories. 

Watch the video below.



Read the full story here. 
Original Source: Inside the Games

Toronto has long been transformed into other cities in the name of Hollywood, but for once the city is starting to star in its own films. 

"But recently," says an article that appeared on Yahoo, "the Ontario capital has been able to actually be itself in big Hollywood productions, instead of pretending to be something it's not."

A slew of films over the past couple years were not only filmed in Toronto, but openly depict the city and embrace its cultures—exploring its neighbourhoods and highlighting the city's diverse regions.

The latest movie to cast Toronto as a character itself is What If (formerly called The F Word), which is set for an August release date. Directed by Michael Dowse and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan and Adam Driver, the film predominately shows the east end, highlighting the Scarborough Bluffs and the Docklands. 

"A strong economy and thriving culture have helped establish TO as one of the world’s “it” cities over the past half decade," the article says.

Highlighting a number of films that feature Toronto, including an upcoming thrilled called Enemy starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the article makes a case for the city's blooming roles on the big screen.

Watch the trailers below:





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Original Source: Yahoo