Past Events (Goldie Walks 2023)

Steps Count: 10,000 steps 

Time spent:  2 hours

Everybody expected a brutal day for outdoor activities.  We came well prepared, perhaps a little overkill for that purpose. The sun gave us a surprise as we came out from lunch.  We bathed in the warmth along the shore line. The Toronto skyline right in front and the calm body of the water on our side.  A number of water birds greeted us as we moved.

Then, for a brief moment, the sun vanished.  Wind changed to a fierce chill and snow started dancing in the air.  The atmosphere was dark and bleak.  It presented us a winter face we all knew too well.  Luckily, it was not for long.   Out came the sun and right away the scenery reverted to its former glory.  It stayed for the rest of our journey.  For sure we must have done good to deserve such blessings!

Detailed schedule

10.30am - Carpool pick up at Yorkmills subway station

11.30am - Lunch at Huevos Gourmet, 160 Marine Parade Drive

2 to 4pm - Lakefront walk along from Humber Bay Shores Park, passed Humber Bay Arch Bridge, to Gzowski Monument and then back.

Steps Count: 7,500 steps 

Time spent: 90 minutes

Detailed schedule:

10.30am - Carpool pick up at Yorkmills subway station

12 noon - Lunch at Millcroft Inn

2 to 4pm - Forks of the Credit Provincial Park

5pm  - Lunch at a Goldie friend's house in Mississauga

Steps Count: 6,500 steps 

Time spent: one hour

Steps Count: 6,000 steps 

Time spent: 60 minutes

This scenic and historic park formerly Guildwood Park, is a sculptural sanctuary and has beauitful gardens.  It has an interesting history that reflects famous artists, powerful  political figures and contributions made to the art community. For more details, please refer to its website below.

Steps Count: 10,000 steps 

Time spent: half day

Detailed Schedule:

12 noon - Lunch inside Foodcourt

2pm  - Acrobatic Show at Coca-cola Coliseum

4.30pm - Heritage Walking Tour starting from Prince's Gates

5pm  - Ice Skating Show

6.30 pm - Dinner at Hotel X

10.15 pm - Drone Show outside Food building

Steps Count: 8,000 steps 

Time spent: 90 minutes

Steps Count: 10,000 steps

Steps Count: 13,000 steps

The weather was wonderful!  With the sunshine and breeze, everyone was energized to walk.  We started from Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park, where a beautiful marina was seen.  Along the way, we passed by different shops and restaurants, residential homes and eventually arrived at South Shell Park.  We rested for a short period of time and walked back to where we started.  The lake view and the blue sky were picture-perfect.  We all enjoyed the walk.   

Steps Count: 12,000 steps

Wychwood Park is a private residential community in which houses approximately 60 homes.  It is a peaceful and quiet neighborhood with paths that visitors can walk on.  We strolled around the place and walked to Casa Loma from there.  With the cooperative weather, despite the cloudy sky, the walk was comfortable and enjoyable.  After that we walked to the nearby restaurant for dinner.  

Steps Count: 5,000 steps

Windfields Park is a very quiet and peaceful place for a walk. It had short trails with a mix of solid walking paths and wooded areas.  It is very easy to walk.  When we were there, there were not many people - an absolutely great place to catch fresh air and to escape from the city noise!

Steps Count: 7,000 steps

After we had lunch together, we headed towards Edwards Gardens, where we spent our afternoon  exploring nature while walking along its trail.  During this time of the season, there were many blooming flowers in a variety of colors, making the gardens particularly appealing.  We had a very relaxing walk.  Prior to departure, we stopped by the gift shop, where we purchased some beautiful flower pots.  Edwards Gardens is a wonderful place to walk around in.  

Steps Count: 5,000 steps

We first met at The Chef's House, which is located in downtown Toronto and staffed by students from George Brown College, for lunch.   Then we walked to St. Lawrence Market, a public market with two hundred vendors selling everything from homemade mustard to seafood.  It was a great place to shop for grocery.  After that, we stopped by a Goldie's friend's home for rest and chat, followed by a short walk in the neighborhood.  We had a lovely afternoon together.  

Steps Count: 10,000 steps

Immediately after our enjoyable lunch, we started our Seeing the Invisible journey via an app, which guided us around the exhibition and prompted us to view each artwork in its location. This walking experience began at Museum of Contemporary Art, which led us to Sorauren Park and ended in High Park. Throughout the journey, we were able to appreciate various international artists’ augmented reality work, such as Ai Weiwei, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, etc. This was a fun way to walk following the app and view all the interesting artwork!

Steps Count: 8,000 steps

Mall walking is a great way to keep us stay active, especially in bad weather.  Because of the snow, we postponed our outdoor activity, as originally planned, and went to Yorkdale Shopping Centre instead.  Firstly, we had lunch together in a restaurant inside the mall  Then we started our indoor walking and shopping.  Yorkdale Shopping Centre was large enough for us to stroll around all day.  We found the walking was just as enjoyable as outdoors.  Before we went home, we had coffee together.  Some of us continued to stay for getting more steps in and shopping.  Any weather conditions will not stop us from exercising.   

Steps Count: 6,200 steps

The annual ice festival returned to Toronto.  We followed the ice sculpture trail around Bloor-Yorkville and explored more than 40 ice sculptures displayed at the event.   There was also ice craving demonstrations to show people how those magnificent sculptures were created.  At night the  sculptures were lit up by lights, making the viewing more spectacular.  Having gone on this self-guided tour of ice sculptures, we not only appreciated the hard work and effort the ice sculptors put into making those incredible pieces of art out of ice, but also we had the opportunity to be physically active by walking along the ice sculpture trail.