Sunday, September 14, 2008

Kensington Market Artwork...Err, Walk

Eric and I decided to take a Sunday afternoon stroll through a neighborhood of Toronto called Kensington Market.
It's unpretentious and Bohemian-esque...including several blocks of bazaar-like shops and ethic food cafes and restaurants.
It is definitely one of the more colorful areas of town. Click on the pix for more detail.
Included here are some of the larger of the many examples of "wall art" or murals to be found on the buildings in the area. There were smaller pieces, too.
Food, cafes and restaurants are everywhere as are used clothing, produce and knickknack shops.
And crowds of people.
Incredibly casual and relaxed, Kensington Market doesn't give the impression that it is trying to remain something it once was or even trying to be something it isn't, it just is.
It was kind of cool to see so many specialty food shops and ethnic eateries. Where is there a cheese shop in the Yonge/Eglinton area where I live? I couldn't tell you.
Anyway, the murals were everywhere...
...on every building and in every alley.
Aren't the birds sthuper?

5 comments:

James Redekop said...

I dunno if you'd be interested, but Cory Doctorow's surreal SF novel Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is set mostly in Kensington Market.

Adam said...

How did you know I was a Sci-Fi geek? Never heard of the novel but I'll check it out.

James Redekop said...

I didn't know, but I figured that, if Kensington Market appealed to you, Doctorow's book might, too. Though it's the least "science-fictiony" of the books of his that I've read (Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is my favourite of his). It's more of a surrealist novel: the protagonist's parents are a mountain near Kapuskasing and a washing machine; his brothers are an island, a zombie, and three nested Russian dolls.

Anonymous said...

Cheese shop is on the southeast corner of Eglinton and Mt. Pleasant.

Toma said...

Thanks for the wonderful photos! They remind me of my visit in March and the personal tour with our Canadian Hope bloggers. We are so looking forward to frequent visits to this mesmerizing part of Toronto.