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PHOTOS BY Gord Mackintosh \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
The bright, multi-levelled PATH pedestrian network runs through Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto.<\/p>\n
Margie and I once tried to explore this improbable 30-km-long weatherproof walkway. Off Bay Street, a PATH sign pointed down some stairs. Another sign then pointed toward doors. We ended up in a parkade. And just gave up.<\/p>\n
This winter, Toronto\u2019s record snowfall and biting cold made the PATH more enticing. We wisely hired a tour guide.<\/p>\n
Nick from Buzz Tours eagerly greeted us at Union Station\u2019s Great Hall. He explained that PATH is not an acronym. (For kicks, Nick asks tourists to guess what it stands for.)<\/p>\n
While Nick might ask silly questions, he also hears some. Pointing to a row of payphones, a 12-year-old recently asked him, \u201cWhat are those?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nick highlights landmarks with fun facts, sometimes one floor up or outdoors. Although the PATH is mostly subterranean, we started from Toronto\u2019s stunning curved glass-and-metal SkyWalk. Then at Scotiabank Arena, Nick said its big sign changes colour depending on whether the next event features the Maple Leafs (blue), Raptors (red) or a concert (multi-coloured). Similarly, the adjoining Real Sports Apparel store switches its gear on main display depending on the next event, even rotating walls of merch.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Gord Mackintosh \/ Free Press<\/p>\n Toronto\u2019s SkyWalk: an above-ground PATH segment.<\/p>\n Nick has an endearing penchant for automatic door-openers while noting the PATH\u2019s unusual number of underground print shops and especially dentists. I asked how many doughnut shops lurk (for some reason). He replied, \u201cLots! That maybe explains the dentists.\u201d<\/p>\n For the birds<\/p>\n Up an escalator, we stood gobsmacked in Brookfield Place\u2019s cathedral-like Allen Lambert Galleria. Nick reports that five sparrows thrive inside among the sweeping arches in Brookfield\u2019s nearby Sam Pollock Square but leave when its fountain goes off in December. Once it\u2019s back on, they return through a downstairs loading dock.<\/p>\n Commerce Court\u2019s logo resembles a pile of pick-up sticks. I assume this celebrates how PATH\u2019s hallways diverge and scatter into Toronto\u2019s bowels. PATH tunnels actually present about 60 junctions, a.k.a. \u201cdecision points\u201d \u2014 to excite neurotics, marital relations and ditherers seeking the dentist. Nick explained that most workers just repeat routes to their office and back \u2014 what he calls \u201ctheir mouse trails.\u201d<\/p>\n From the late 1980s until the late 2010s, PATH featured a colour-coded wayfinding scheme, with each of the four colours of the letters in its name on signage representing a cardinal direction \u2014 blue for north, orange for west, red for south and yellow for east.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Commerce Court\u2019s compass offers guidance where five PATH tunnels intersect.<\/p>\n With security guards deployed depending on each building\u2019s management, and the City of Toronto overseeing connecting hallways, Nick says the few folks here who are unhoused, sellers or promoters know what side of a corridor to occupy. Buskers must apply for a city permit.<\/p>\n Nick pointed out several distinctive PATH destinations like Modern Golf (with a virtual course to assist with club fitting), House of Fine Writing (with fountain pens), plus the Hockey Hall of Fame (without Paul Henderson). When I quizzed the Hall\u2019s ticket agent about this oversight, he intuitively deflected, \u201cI don\u2019t know about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Our tour ended outside Toronto city hall. To return to our hotel, we embraced our newfound PATH mastery and headed back down. We ended up in a library. And just gave up.<\/p>\n Back on Earth\u2019s windswept surface at -20 C, Bay Street\u2019s salt-laden paths nonetheless re-instilled a sense of direction, efficacy and vitamin D.<\/p>\n Rejecting defeat, the next day we embarked on the PATH\u2019s unexplored northern reaches. We found our way down using a time-honoured technique: asking for directions. Seeing a PATH intersection, Margie pointed and insisted, \u201cThis way!\u201d I calmly assured, \u201cWe go this way.\u201d How I guessed it right this one time, I\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Gord Mackintosh \/ Free Press<\/p>\n Warmer, or cooler, than Yonge Street.<\/p>\n Food-court capital<\/p>\n The PATH hosts an extraordinary variety of intriguing independent and chain stores. Plus, it contains untold exotic globe-spanning eateries.<\/p>\n Nick says the PATH accesses 40 food courts, some with drinky-poos. Starting at Eaton Centre\u2019s sub-subterranean food court, we glimpsed compelling, unfamiliar offerings like momo, onigiri, bao, bap. Poutine empanada!<\/p>\n Outlet names lyrically include Mos Mos, HoGa, KoHa. Others pretend they\u2019re outside, like Moon Palace, Thai Island, Forest Hill Farmhouse. Cute brands include Curryosity, Wat Ah Jerk, Soup Nutsy, Nutbar, Sushi-Q. I also nominate the PATH as the world\u2019s food-court capital.<\/p>\n I asked a security guard, \u201cYou get many questions?\u201d She exclaimed, \u201cEveryone gets lost! It\u2019s a maze.\u201d It\u2019s reportedly a rite of passage for locals to get lost here. My Toronto pal\u2019s family won\u2019t allow him to enter, fearing his disappearance.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Tour guide Nick explains a PATH map.<\/p>\n Beyond online maps, a misunderstood app and my built-in inoperative compass, I should have constantly relied on the PATH\u2019s big wall maps. The maps mark your location with a red \u201cHERE.\u201d (Vintage quip: \u201cHow did they know where I am?\u201d) And, yes, we emerged from the PATH at somewhere unexpected and unknown, asking for directions.<\/p>\n Our server at the Duke of York pub later told us, \u201cYou should see when I bring my 90-year-old mother there.\u201d I thought, \u201cHeck, you should see us there.\u201d But Eric at Barbarian\u2019s Steak House regaled us about joining pals on cold days in the PATH for Hawaiian pub crawls, decked out in flip-flops, shorts and aloha shirts. I\u2019m impressed! I couldn\u2019t find my way sober.<\/p>\n Next time in Toronto, go below for some basement a-maze-ment.<\/p>\n gordmackintosh9@gmail.com<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Gord Mackintosh \/ Free Press<\/p>\n A quiet midday in a PATH tunnel.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Margie Mackintosh risks disappearing under Toronto.<\/p>\n
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