Background:
I've lived in Toronto for five years (four of those in the heart of the downtown area... I spent my first year at the Mississauga campus). Although I hated it (mainly because of the extreme weather and some crappy experiences), I still had some good times living there. It's where I sort of grew up as an individual (emphasis on "sort of," haha). What I loved most about living in such a big city is learning the knowledge of its streets and becoming familiar with particular spots that I enjoyed going. It made me feel like the city is mine.
Anyway, get on with it!
*Warning: a lot of food-related things and restaurants will be mentioned.
- I miss being able to walk everywhere
- I miss the creepy, smelly subway (mainly because I actually learned how to take it, lol, and it helped me with my NSEW bearings)
- I miss Harbourfront (and taking the University St. down) and its diamond waters
- I miss Second Cup's London Fog, ginger snap cookies (I miss the one particularly on College St.)
- I miss the Starbucks on the corner of St. George and College
- I miss the Tim Hortons on the corner of College and Spadina -- a large French Vanilla, hot chocolate, Iced Capp, honey-glazed donut please!
- I miss the Burger King on the corner of College and Spadina
- I miss the little convenience store called College Variety on College with the nice Korean store keepers
- I miss the laundromat, Konnichiwa Japanese restaurant with their super delicious Katsu Don and Udon, John's Italian Caffe with their seafood linguini and tiramisu, Sambuca's prix fixe menu, the little video store, all situated on Baldwin St.
- I miss the Village Idiot Pub and their Fruli strawberry beer
- I miss the Lucky Moose Mart and everything Taiwanese that they sell there, oh and the Jasmine Green Tea!
- I miss the shady Barbeque Pork place on Spadina
- I miss the Thai restaurant near the Kensington Market that had the best Thai Iced Tea
- I miss the TD bank on the corner of Spadina and Dundas, as much as I hated it
- I miss walking past the Robarts library
- I miss the Blockbuster on Spadina that closed down even though I was their best customer
- I miss the upstairs Pho place on Spadina
- I miss the Vietnamese restaurant on Spadina and their Hai Nan chicken with the divine rice with veggies
- I miss the Arton Bead store and the Icing bead store on Queen St.
- I miss all the clothing stores and boutiques on Queen St.
- I miss the Crepe Cafe on Queen St. that served the best paninis and savory crepes
- I miss the Chapters on the corner of the-streets-I-can-never-remember-the-name-of and the Scotia Bank theatre right next to it
- I miss the Metro, formerly known as Dominion, at the corner of College and University and getting cans and cans of Campbell's Garden Minestrone Soup and salami and Perrier
- I miss the drugstore above the Metro where I'd spend hours looking at makeup
- I miss the Baskin Robbins at the Village Grange
- I miss walking past the police stations on Dundas, College (lol, men in uniform *wink*)
- I miss walking to class, especially to Victoria College, Rm. 101, where the early morning light would come in at a slant through the windows and set the dust a-dancing
- I miss the Eggsmart place that served breakfast and brunch, which had the best freshly squeezed orange juice
- I miss the Little India restaurant on Queen St. and their Butter Chicken, na'an, and lamb biryani dishes, oh and the mango juice
- I miss walking to Eaton Centre and the World's Biggest Bookstore
- I miss the bubble tea place on Yonge St.
- I miss seeing the very awkwardly structured ROM on Bloor St.
- I miss seeing all the tall buildings and expensive people (lol) on Bloor St.
- I miss the Loblaws at the corner of Christie and Dupont
- I miss being able to see the CN Tower from my bedroom window when I lived on Ross St.
- I miss Big Fat Burrito and their root beer
That's all I can think of at the moment. I probably missed some things so I'll continue to add them as they come to mind. I think above all, I miss the freedom to wander. Peripatetic walking is the best.
