Toronto: Meeting Place

Who doesn't love to travel? From sitting on the beach to backpacking around Asia, everyone has dreamed it or done it at least once. Yet sadly, the 'real life' realities of loans, bills, work, etc. keep most of us tethered within the limits of the GTA.

Depressing? At times, yes. Unfortunate? Hardly.

The globally-minded citizen could do a lot worse than to be stranded in Toronto. Thanks to a bunch of lets-not-get-into-it government programs, Toronto's cultural landscape is less 'melting-pot,' and more 'patchwork quilt.' Sure, this has a lot of people upset and worried over changing ideas of 'nationalism' and such, but I prefer to leave those debates to the politicians and lecture halls. At the end of a long, mind-numbing UofT lecture all I really want to do anyways is stuff my face with shawarma.

Politics aside, Toronto is inarguably multicultural. A walk down Danforth-Bloor takes you from Greece to Japan, Korea, Ethiopia, Mexico and beyond, and Toronto's Chinatown, Little Italy, and Indian Bazaar are some of the largest and most vibrant in North America. Lets face it: our city takes 'cosmopolitan' to a whole new level. So take heart all you broke, globe-trotting-wannabe Torontonians; stop surfing expedia.com and travelocity, and look closer to home.