Tuesday Treasures

 Tom hosts Tuesday's Treasures.

August 2026 - Toronto ON

I hadn't walked along this section of Front St. in a long time.

Best photo I could get of Small's three homes, unless I crossed the street and it was too hot out!

Next three photos from City of Toronto planning files.

Aerial view looking north, you can see the Globe and Mail building I referenced in this post.

The original National Hotel is the three-story yellow-brown brick facade visible directly at the street corner (currently housing the Value Buds retail store).The historical building itself was carefully dismantled in 2013. Its north and west brick walls were preserved as a heritage facade, and the modern King+ Condos tower was built directly over and integrated right into it.

 The yellow-brick facade originally belonged to a commercial storefront property dating back to roughly 1868.It is highly regarded as a rare surviving example of pre-late-19th-century commercial design in Toronto's original 10 blocks of the old Town of York.

The larger, dark-red brick structure was a 20th-century vernacular warehouse built around 1927. It historically served as a central facility and sales room for commercial businesses in the area, most notably operating as the location for the Linde Canadian Refrigeration Company.

In architectural terms, vernacular refers to common, everyday structures built to serve a strictly practical purpose rather than to follow formal architectural theories or high-design trends.

These two plaques belong to the photo below of the two buildings.

This specific stretch of Front Street East is famous for its remarkably preserved Victorian industrial warehouses and manufacturing facilities:

Standard Woollen Mills (219–221 Front St. East): The distinct brick structures with prominent segmental arched windows were built starting in 1882. Designed by famed Toronto architect E.J. Lennox (who also designed Toronto's Old City Hall and Casa Loma), the main building served as a warehouse and factory for the Standard Woollen Mills Company. It originally housed manufacturers of woollen goods and cigar boxes.

The Toronto Knitting & Yarn Factory (Berkeley Castle): Directly adjacent at Front and Berkeley streets is the historic Berkeley Castle complex, built in 1871. It was a core driver of Toronto’s late-19th-century industrial boom.

The historic George Brown College St. James Campus building on George Street in Toronto was originally constructed in 1874 as the Christie, Brown & Company biscuit and cookie factory.

Building History & Details

Original Use: Factory for William Mellis Christie's famous baking empire, which expanded across the block bounded by Adelaide, King, George, and Frederick streets.

Architecture: Features classic multi-story red brick masonry, segmental arched windows, and a ground-floor arcade facing the street.

I wrote about Mr. Christie's Cookies in 2013!

The image shows the historic Bank of Upper Canada Building (constructed between 1825 and 1827) located at the northeast corner of Adelaide Street East and George Street in Toronto’s Old Town/St.Lawrence neighborhood.

Architecture: A two-and-a-half-storey Neoclassical stone structure featuring distinctive dormer windows and a slate mansard-style roof.

Significance: Recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada and one of the oldest surviving purpose-built bank buildings in the country, which also shares a complex with Toronto's First Post Office. I've posted this block several times, the latest a few weeks ago.

Morning Reflections

 

Weekend Roundup

 Welcome to The Weekend Roundup...hosted by Tom The Back Roads Traveler

1. Starts with "G"
2. A Favorite
3. GOLD- Chosen by Tom

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS

Starts with G Salt Lake City Utah

FAVOURITE

GOSSIP - Montreal QC

GOLD

Aria Casino Las Vegas NV

REFLECTIONS

GLASS GLADSTONE Hotel Toronto

Can you see us????

May 6 - Budapest and Danube River Cruise

May 4 2012 - Copenhagen to Budapest

May 5 2012 - Gate 1 Budapest

May 6 part 1 - Budapest Jewish Interest Tour

May 6 2012 - Budapest and Boarding MS Sound of Music

After this morning's Jewish Interest Tour it is time for lunch before we head to our ship for our Danube River Cruise.

At our guide's suggestion we head to the New York Cafe located in the Boscolo Hotel. Check out my link to their website as it is beautiful.
It was located a couple of blocks down the street from our hotel.

One anecdote tells of how the famous writer Ferenc Molnár, on the day the café opened threw the keys into the Danube so that it would never close.

The lobby

 

My lunch and can I say that this was delicious, John was drooling and wishing he had ordered it:

Malac csülök hagymákkal pirított burgonyával, tejfeles uborkasalátával
Roasted pork trottle with grilled onions, potato & cucumber salad in sour cream

 Borjú Bécsi hagymás burgonyasalátával
Wiener schnitzel with onion potato salad - John

Then it was time to head back to the hotel and ensure our luggage gets on the bus for the short trip to the Danube and our ship The Sound of Music. It was rather chaotic at the hotel as people were pulling out their luggage instead of letting the bellboys do their job.

We (and our travelling companions) held back and waited for the last bus. After a quick ten minute drive we were at our ship.

This is our agenda for the next seven days.

The MS Sound of Music is a 2006-built deluxe river cruise vessel that accommodates 144 passengers.

It is chartered by Gate 1 operators for European waterways like the Danube and Rhine, but the physical ship has since be renamed the MS Johann Strauss.

That's me boarding in pink, Dimo was our constant entertainment, always there to greet us as we re-boarded in various ports.

Coffee, tea, snacks and fruit could be had all day in the lobby area. Wi-fi was also available and a couple of PCs for passengers' use.

 Captain welcoming cocktail party and introductions to the ship's crew

 Our cabin

 We were in cabin 319 on the top deck. We had French balconies, however, in future I don't think it is worth paying the extra as it is simply a window, there is no balcony. Also another thought that being this close to the restaurant may not be for everyone as the vultures guests line up outside your room waiting for the dining room to open.

The view of Budapest as we waited to sail at 9PM

Seating at meals was supposed to be open seating, however, we were seven and had the same large table with the same server for all meals. Sherilly guarded our table for us and ensured no one else sat there. She is from Indonesia and had left her three children with her mother while she worked on board. I think she had a soft spot for Tom, the elderly widow at our table.

The views of Budapest were breathtaking as we sailed out of the city around 9PM.