| Life works in really strange and wonderful ways. At | | | | are titled "A Bruce Bell History Project". So there is |
| the beginning of this week I talked to my brother in | | | | no doubt that this is a real expert, even a local |
| Austria on the phone, and he said he'd been reading | | | | celebrity.Just outside the St. Lawrence Market used |
| this German travel magazine and there was a big | | | | to be the terminus of the Underground Railroad, the |
| write-up about a Toronto-based tour guide who | | | | pier where thousands of the former American slaves |
| provides culinary tours of the St. Lawrence Market, | | | | arrived after having made their secret passage from |
| one of my brother's favourite places that he | | | | the American south to Rochester and on to freedom |
| discovered on his recent trip to Toronto.I asked my | | | | in Toronto. It's amazing how much history there is, |
| brother what this fellow's name was and he looked it | | | | even in a comparably young city such as Toronto, |
| up and said "Bruce Bell". I did an internet search and | | | | and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Bruce's unique |
| within a few seconds I had located Bruce Bell Tours; | | | | stories.From the St. Lawrence Market building we |
| and I knew I had to meet this person. Bruce Bell, the | | | | walked north through a courtyard to another former |
| popular history columnist for the St. Lawrence | | | | City Hall of Toronto by the name of St. Lawrence |
| Neighbourhood Community Bulletin, is also an award | | | | Hall. It was the former city hall of the City of York, |
| winning playwright, actor, standup comedian and the | | | | that was officially renamed the city of Toronto (an |
| honourary curator of the most photographed building | | | | Indian word for "meeting place") in 1856. St. |
| in the city of Toronto, the historic Gooderham | | | | Lawrence Hall is a beautiful classical building, and Bruce |
| Building better known as the Flatiron. Bruce just | | | | took us inside to show us the ballroom, the most |
| recently published a book on Toronto called "Toronto | | | | well-preserved original ballroom in Canada. The |
| - A Pictorial Celebration".Immediately after I hung up | | | | chandelier is original, was originally lit with coal gas and |
| with my brother I was on the phone with Bruce, we | | | | today is illuminated with natural gas.This was the |
| briefly introduced ourselves and he said, come down, | | | | heart of Toronto's elite WASP (white / Anglo-Saxon |
| join me on Thursday for my culinary tour of the St. | | | | Protestant) society during the 1800s and Bruce shed |
| Lawrence Market. Sure enough, this morning, | | | | more light on the many behavioural norms of the |
| punctually at 10 am I arrived at the souvenir shop at | | | | time. Women were not considered persons and could |
| the main entrance of the market and I met Bruce | | | | not walk on the street by themselves or |
| and the other participant in our tour, a young | | | | accompanied by any man other than their husband. |
| architecture student.As the official historian of the St. | | | | Men had to defend their wives' honour in duels and |
| Lawrence Market Bruce has special access to all sorts | | | | sometimes ended up having to shoot their best |
| of areas of the building that other people never get | | | | friend as a result of a harmless (by today's |
| to see. Right away he took us up some stairs, pulled | | | | standards) misunderstanding. The city and country |
| out a special key and led us into the former mayor's | | | | were run by English noblemen, and Catholic |
| office, since the market building used to be the | | | | immigrants from Ireland, arriving in masses after the |
| original city hall of Toronto. The building has | | | | potato famine of 1849, were despised by the local |
| undergone several transitions, and the two side wings | | | | ruling class.As a result, the Catholics were |
| were removed to make way for a steel-girdered | | | | segregated, but they did receive a spot inside St. |
| shed built in 1904 that was modeled after the | | | | Lawrence Hall, a big room called St. Patrick's Hall, |
| Victoria Train Station in London.From the former | | | | where they were allowed to congregate since they |
| mayor's office we had a perfect view of the market | | | | were barred from entering the ballroom which was |
| and we also had a beautiful vista of the downtown | | | | reserved for the WASP elite. Irish Catholics had to |
| skyscrapers and the famous Flatiron Building to the | | | | enter St. Patrick's Hall through a back staircase since |
| west, and St. Lawrence Hall to the north. Bruce took | | | | they weren't allowed to mix with the English |
| us down the stairs in the market hall itself and shared | | | | aristocracy. The portion on the northeast side of St. |
| various tidbits of history with us. The shoreline of | | | | Lawrence Hall housing St. Patrick's Hall incidentally |
| Lake Ontario used to be right at Front Street, and | | | | collapsed in 1967 and was completely rebuilt.After St. |
| after landfill was added, the Esplanade became the | | | | Lawrence Hall we walked through a beautiful |
| waterfront, and today several hundred meters of | | | | Victorian Garden outside of St. James Cathedral, |
| additional landfill have expanded the city's territory to | | | | Toronto's largest house of worship, and the 5th |
| a new waterfront.Under Bruce's guidance we started | | | | church in the present location. Bruce took us inside |
| our tour of the shops which include bakeries, butcher | | | | and shared more historical information with us, about |
| shops, fish mongers, fruit stands, delis, dessert places | | | | the original British settlers of Toronto and ruling elite |
| and specialty vendors of all kinds. The first place he | | | | of the times, which included the famous Bishop |
| took us to was a bakery that also serves lunches, | | | | Strachan, the creator of St. James Cathedral. Bruce |
| and we got a delicious taste treat of smoked salmon | | | | showed us the various stained glass windows that |
| and backbacon, each on a small piece of bread. I am | | | | adorn the church, all of which were crafted at |
| not usually a big fish eater, but this savoury morcel | | | | different times. Especially stunning are the Tiffany |
| was delicious. At another store we got to sample | | | | stained glass windows on the east side which have a |
| "Indian candy" - smoked salmon cured in maple syrop. | | | | particularly intense coloration.St. James Cathedral |
| What a treat!We walked by some of the butcher | | | | marked the end of our culinary and historic tour of |
| shops, many of which have been in the same family | | | | the St. Lawrence Market area. We had received a |
| for generations. I admired the creatively presented | | | | great introduction to Toronto's history and enjoyed |
| cuts of pork loin stuffed with spinach, cheese and | | | | the diverse culinary delicacies of Toronto's greatest |
| bacon, a perfect solution for a non-chef like me - just | | | | market. Bruce's entertaining and informative lessons |
| stick it in the oven and pull out a delicious gourmet | | | | on a time in Toronto's history when women and men |
| meal.After a brief tour outside the building where | | | | were segregated, when society was strictly |
| Bruce explained the building's history and early | | | | regimented by expectations of etiquette and social |
| Toronto society to us, we went into the lower level, | | | | status, and when Irish and English weren't allowed to |
| where all the dessert shops, fruit stalls and specialty | | | | mix made me realize how incredibly far Toronto has |
| vendors are located. We got several more samples: a | | | | come in the last 150 years.Bruce Bell offers other |
| huge variety of delicious honeys from New Zealand, | | | | interesting tours about Toronto's Distillery District, its |
| a sampling of speciality jellies and jams, tender white | | | | Art Deco skyscrapers and a tour called "Comfort and |
| chocolate truffles that just melt in your mouth, and | | | | Steam" that takes you through the Fairmount Royal |
| for dessert - after all these sweat treats - | | | | York Hotel, Union Station, the Skydome and the Air |
| Nutella-filled crepes. All the samples we received were | | | | Canada Centre, among other places. Considering |
| utterly delicious.Bruce took us into the bowels of the | | | | everything that I learned in the St. Lawrence Market |
| building, today mostly used for storage and | | | | tour, I hope to have a chance to catch another one |
| refrigeration, but in previous times these areas were | | | | of Bruce's tours and broaden my local knowledge of |
| the men's and women's jails. Bruce explained that in | | | | this city in the near future.Susanne Pacher is the |
| the 1850s women had no rights and many men | | | | publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions ( |
| simply stuck their wives in prison, especially after | | | | Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional |
| child-birth or during menopause, when they got a little | | | | travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel |
| cranky. The iron hooks that prisoners were chained | | | | experiences, interviews with travellers and travel |
| to are still visible on the walls.The basement is also | | | | experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, |
| decorated with a number of murals that explain | | | | contests and many other features. You will also find |
| Toronto's history. As the official historian of the St. | | | | stories about life and the transitions that we face as |
| Lawrence Market and a well-known columnist of the | | | | we go through our own personal life-long |
| St. Lawrence Community Bulletin, Bruce is actually | | | | journeys.Submit your own travel stories in our first |
| depicted on the mural. About 15 historic plaques | | | | travel story contest ( and have a chance to win an |
| throughout a variety of buildings in the downtown | | | | amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River. |
| area provide insight into noteworthy past events and | | | | |