Page 191 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Canada

extraordinary range of foot­
TORONTO’S 12 "'= wear collected by Sonja Bata,
NEIGHBORHOODS Spadina Museum, a member of the eponymous
The city of Toronto is Historic House shoe manufac turing family.
and Gardens
essentially a jumble of The building was designed by
individual neighbor­  B1 ⌂ 285 Spadina Rd the prestigious contemporary
hoods, each with its own § (416) 392 6910  Dupont Canadian architect Raymond
colorful atmo sphere. # Jan–Mar: noon–5pm Sat & Moriyama; it is an angular,
As well as Chinatown Sun; Apr–Aug: noon–5pm contemporary affair complete
and Kensington Tue–Sun; Sep–Dec: noon– with unlikely nooks created to
Market, seek out Little 4pm Tue–Fri, noon–5pm Sat look like a chic shoebox.
Italy for its excel lent & Sun ¢ Mon; Jan 1, Good The collection is spread
pizzerias and some of Fri, Dec 25 & 26 over several small floors and
the city’s best bars; features three changing
Koreatown for karaoke James Austin, first president exhib itions as well as regularly
venues or specialty gro­ of the Toronto Dominion Bank, rotated items selected from
cery stores; and Little had this family home built on the museum’s substantial
Portugal for its superb the bluff overlooking the city permanent collection. One
custard tart bakeries. in 1866. The last of the Austins fixed exhibit is entitled “All
moved out in 1982, and the About Shoes,” which provides
site was acquired by the City the visitor with an overview of
clamoring to make its mark and of Toronto and the Province of the functions and evolution
possessing the money to do Ontario. Spadina Museum has of footwear. It begins with a
so. Conse quently, the Members been restored to reflect how plaster cast of the earliest­
of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) the Austin family lived during known footprint, discovered
commis sioned this expensive the 1920s and 1930s. There four million years after it was
structure in the Romanesque are several enjoyable features, made in Tanzania, and has an
Revival style. Finished in 1892, notably a trap door in the interesting section on medi­
its main facade is a panoply of Palm Room that allowed eval pointed shoes. A second
towers and arches, set beneath gardeners to tend to the permanent feature is the
a series of high­pitched roofs. plants unseen by the family. section on celebrity foot wear.
The interior is equally grand, This rotating display could
with gilded Neo­Classical include Marilyn Monroe’s red
columns and huge stained­ stiletto heels, a pair of Elton
glass windows. In 1909, a fire 13 "= John’s platforms, or Michael
razed the west wing, which was Bata Shoe Museum Johnson’s gold lamé sprinting
rebuilt in Italian marble. The  C2 ⌂ 327 Bloor St W St shoes. There is also a display

MPPs were annoyed to find George # 10am–5pm Mon– of unusual and improbable
that much of the costly stone Sat (to 8pm Thu), noon–5pm footwear, including unique
was blemished by dino saur French chestnut­crushing
fossils, which can still be seen Sun ¢ Good Friday, Dec 25 boots and a pair of US army
∑ batashoemuseum.ca
today in the west hallway. boots, the soles of which are
Visitors can sometimes watch The Bata Shoe Museum was shaped to imitate the foot­
the parliament in session. opened in 1995 to display the print of a Viet Cong irregular.

“All About Shoes”, one of the
permanent exhibitions in
the Bata Shoe Museum

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