Continuing the City Tour…

I could have done without the interruption of the visit to the hospital this week, I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back home. Suzanna has worked hard to make our bedroom as comfortable a place as possible for me, I’ve been appreciating her efforts all the more after having been away.

Tonight – thinking back on what my nose remembers of Toronto!

The large production bakeries. One along the Gardiner close to the CNE, another on Eastern Avenue, and I can’t forget the Peak Freans outlet in East York. I’m salivating just thinking about them.

The exhaust fumes of the Toronto Bus Terminal on Bay Street, indicating that I’d soon be on my way to visit my beloved aunt and uncle in Bancroft.

The cheese shop in Kensington Market. I would beg my mother to let me wait outside while she shopped, too much cheesiness for my little girl nose!

The perfume counter at Simpson’s at the Eaton Centre. Buying my first bottle of perfume there, Miss Dior. Still my favourite. On evenings when I’m alone here, I’ll often spray a little on my pillow to help me fall asleep. A comfort sniff!

The Lush store on Queen Street West. The smell being a little overpowering if I remember, but the almond bath bombs were worth the headache that came with stopping in for a few minutes.

The smell of film developing chemicals at the Black’s camera store in the original Don Mills Centre (the mall having been reinvented several times over since I was a girl). I was hooked at age five when Mr. Eddie Black gave me a tour of the back of the store. The beginning of a life long passion for photography!

The tannery that used to reside at the junction of the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway. The stench would jolt me out a nap in the backseat of the car every time.

The Bloor-Yonge subway station. Indescribable. Rather best left undescribed.

Chinatown. Depending on the season, the aroma could be very appealing (the smell of dim sum wafting out on a cold winter’s day a particular pleasure) or the stench of rotting food from the back alleys could be stomach churning. Not the place to be on a hot and muggy August afternoon if it can be helped. Most definitely not during a citywide garbage strike. Trust me on that one.

Good thing the baby animals at the Riverdale Zoo were so cute, because what came out the back ends wasn’t so delightful to take in!

The smell of fuel at the ferry terminal, waiting for a trip over to Centre Island. And yes, I quite liked it (and I know I’m not the only one!)

The heavy, musty scent of earth and vegetation at Allan Gardens. I spent many delightful hours in the greenhouses photographing all manners of flowers and cacti.

St. Lawrence Market. Every stall brought a different, and often intriguing aroma. I’m really missing those peameal bacon sandwiches!

Freshly baked waffle cones at the CNE.  Funnel cakes would be a close second.

Remembering the days of living close to Lake Ontario, the occasional day when it would smell as it every fish that had ever swum in its waters had died at once.

Exiting the terminal at Pearson Int’l Airport. I’d bet that blindfolded I’d still recognize that I was home again.

Now it’s time to go back to scraping adhesive off of my skin from the bandages. Just when I think I’ve found the last little bit…