Reposted from Automobiles de Luxe

By Gunnar Heinrich

That night I slept the sleep of a newborn's parents. Every noise that came from outside - cars pulling in, laughter from early morning revelers, or sounds completely imagined, had me up from under the covers to the window peering through the curtains to see if anyone dared touch my midnight black Mustang.

I looked forward to daylight so that I might actually get some rest!

In retrospect, my wariness was travel-fatigue-induced overkill. Would I have been so cautious with a Taurus? No. But that night my mind was working overtime.

Rational put it that we do live in a world where the Bush Administration has succeeded in making Americans really unpopular.

I've friends who've had their cars vandalized north of the border.

And a Mustang, on the hairy edge of no-where, with state tags would make for a great target for vandals or would-be thieves.

The car was insured, but who would want to stop a vacation to fill out a police report? Not to mention having to haggle with said insurance company(ies) afterward while they would attempt to deny said coverage by picking from-the-rotten-excuses-tree that grows in every insurance company's carefully guarded orchard.

Anyway, enough said. The sun rose that morning. And my baby was there, smiling at me. We were going to Toronto.

Two hours later we ('Stang and I) rolled off the Q.E. Dubbya (Queen Elizabeth expressway) and into the heart of Canada's largest metropolis.

Now a word or two about Canada's self-described "second city." Toronto, home to 2.7 million, sits beside a lake, like a certain other "second city" I've ventured to in the past. It's described as a town that celebrates diversity where the population is something near 40% Chinese. Indeed, downtown feels as though that stat is conservative at best.

Since the peninsula on which Toronto rests is mostly flat, there are several points on the highway to the city where you can see its skyline from a distance. The most striking center piece to the tall line of buildings is, of course, the CN Tower. In fact, the 1,815 foot (553 meter) Tower (the world's tallest freestanding structure until the Burj Dubai is completed) is one of precious few interesting structures out of the hundreds that jam up next to Lake Ontario.

Most of downtown is swamped with new Asian-style buidings - lots of floors, green-tinted glass windows outlined by shiny metal. But unlike most of America's biggest cities, there's always contrast in Toronto. There would be a thousand foot skyscraper that casted a shadow over a weedy parking lot; A-list retail like J.Crew (if I could stand calling it that) situated next to D-list Joe's Comics; 1970s windowless concrete tower butting up against a glasshoused gallery.

Streets are setup grid-style; labeled with clearly Canadian names like York, MacDougal, Robinson, and Sherbourne. Trolley tracks cross many of them and trolleys seemed to play a bigger part in mass-transport than does the subway.

Mustang did well here. It burbled around town with certain American swagger. Toronto's casually mannered and comported pedestrians duly took notice.

You know, men grimaced or applauded, women swooned, babies cried, dogs howled etc.,etc. The look really is the sell point to this machine; it's a boulevardier exemplar - to be had Wal-Mart cheap.

Around town the ride was compliant and never did the harshness of trolley tracks (trams) or undulating tar bother my posterior or wrestle my nerves. I finally arrived at the Holiday Inn on King Street (yes - that company did eventually get my money CDN $197 per evening) where for two night's stay I was billed for just one night of parking.

A further word about Toronto. A day, perhaps two is sufficient for a visit. Short on landmarks - and dare I say - an indigenous culture or scene of any singular note - it's a world city that likes to boast some pretty provincial claims; of the CN Tower's restaurant - highest wine cellar in the world; of the underwhelming and overpriced (CDN $15 per ticket) Royal Ontario Museum a.k.a. "ROM" - fifth largest museum in North America; of the town's ethnic population- one of the most diverse in North America. Stand back...

As far as "second cities" go, Chicago has Toronto beat by a magnificent mile. And as far as Canadian cities go, Vancouver trumps Canada's largest in just about every way, while Montréal ranks a very distant second place- mostly interesting because of the Francophone factor (though St. John's Oratory is magnificent)

That having been said, my stay there was enjoyable. My comfortable room looked squarely at the CN Tower and its nightly light shows from a 17th floor vantage, I ate well at Sushi Time! and East! Generally speaking, customer service was great. And Toronto's denizens proved at various times friendly, helpful, and even downright sociable.

It's the people you that you'll meet that stand as your cause to see Toronto - which is an overlooked facet about which all the requisite tourist authorities should boast, highlight, or trumpet.

Still, I'd be remiss were I to say that I took every opportunity not to use Toronto's public transportation (which is fair at best- the subway has two lines) and used the 'Stang instead.

Perhaps I should have been shocked how much the Ford had grown on me. But, all I knew was that this was one versatile car that I enjoyed driving.

When it came time to go home on Labor Day, I looked forward to the journey.

Part Five > Home Again, Home Again