Chapter 897: Toronto Travels I
After getting ready for the trip, Li Zehan and the others met again, and then followed the housekeeper to the garage.
"Who are we going to drive?" asked Lee Taekhan, who got the car keys from the housekeeper, to Kim Tae-hee and the others.
"At this time, I think I should be the tour guide. Cheng Shiqing immediately spoke.
"If you insist, it's up to you. Li Zehan said indifferently.
"Before we get in the car, there's one thing that has to be done. Olivia said mysteriously.
"What's the matter?" Li Zehan and the three of them all cast curious glances at her.
"Before coming to Canada this time, I went out of my way to buy sunglasses for several of us, seven pairs per person, and one pair a day. Olivia patted the bag she had brought and said.
"Tae-hee and I were just in Canada for five days, so we didn't need to buy seven pairs of sunglasses. Li Zehan said funny.
"I've already bought them anyway, and it's not just when I'm in Canada that I can wear them. Olivia said disapprehantly.
"Okay, then let's put on our sunglasses. Li Zehan said.
After choosing out the sunglasses, the four of them got into the car together and set off for the first destination.
Lee Chae-han's first stop on their afternoon itinerary was Graffiti Street, which Kim Tae-hee had just mentioned.
Originally, this was supposed to be the second destination, but in the words of Kim Tae-hee and his wife, it was a good time to take pictures, so they changed their plans and decided to go to Graffiti Street first to see the street art on this side of Toronto.
The urban graffiti wall originated in the Bronx, New York's poorest neighborhood in the 60s, when young people liked to paint their gang's symbols on the walls to occupy territory. Later, some non-gang painters thought that painting on the wall was a good idea, so they put aside the gang consciousness and gradually formed a kind of spray painting art with the wall as the carrier - graffiti, in addition to the content of deformed English characters, there are also 3D realism, character realism, scene realism, cartoons, etc.
Bright colors, strong visual effects, and bold personality without borders soon spread all over the world because of its cool and tense personality art.
The function of graffiti has gradually entered various fields such as design, fashion, media, film and television, music, and clothing from the original division of territory, challenging social norms, and striving for the voice of the disadvantaged, and has become an international trend of new culture.
As the economic and cultural center of Canada, Toronto is of course indispensable for creative and individual street graffiti art, and Toronto's ethnic and cultural diversity also gives it the most colorful street art forms, from Chinatown (Chinaton) where Chinese gather to the most prosperous and lively city center.
Although the streets and alleys of Toronto have works that can make people inadvertently shocked by art and infected by color.
However, there are still 5 most representative street art clusters.
Due to time constraints, Li Zehan and his team chose to go to Graffiti Alley, the most famous of the five street art clusters.
Toronto's most well-known Graffiti Alley, also known as Rush Lane or Rick Mercer's Alley, is a small street south of Toronto's Queens Street est, between Spadina Avenue and Portland Street, about a kilometer long.
There are many works by famous Toronto graffiti artists, and these paintings are constantly being updated with each passing day, and new paintings are constantly overwriting old paintings. Coming here for a walk will never be the same experience.
Many people who like street art have an in-depth understanding of Toronto's street art, and they think that the graffiti wall here on Graffiti Street is the most temperamental.
Graffiti is a controversial issue in Toronto, with many people seeing it as a form of artistic expression that adds color to the city and beautifying the environment, and many people see it as an act of vandalism that makes the city feel criminal. The municipal administration has actively managed graffiti, on the one hand, it has developed measures to encourage graffiti artists to create under certain conditions and in specific places, and on the other hand, residents are required to report random graffiti vandalism, and the police will intervene.
But there are exceptions, like this graffiti street.
Most of the residents of Graffiti Street not only allow graffiti artists to work on their back walls, but even hire them to paint them, and they rarely clean up the graffiti afterwards.
Over time, it has become a unique part of Toronto, attracting photography enthusiasts and tourists alike.
These street artists often divide their work into different categories and levels: pure graffiti, artistic font (more elementary), cartoon (intermediate), and abstract (master). In this small street, the original graffiti artists were unorganized, but they still followed the rule of not erasing other people's works and covering their own.
When Li Zehan and the others arrived at Graffiti Street smoothly, they were dragged by Olivia to a café to buy coffee as soon as possible.
In her words, strolling around here with a cup of coffee in hand will make it feel more vacation-friendly.
But Li Zehan and the three said that they couldn't understand it at all, but they didn't reject coffee.
"Today you are the royal photographer of the three of us. After selling coffee and leaving the café, Kim Tae-hee took off the camera hanging on his body and handed it to Lee Zehan.
"It's my pleasure. Li Zehan took the camera with a smile and said.
"You're going to make us look good. Olivia said with some trepidation.
From the moment they stepped into Graffiti Street, they found that many people were taking street photos, which made Olivia itch to see it and wanted to join in immediately.
"When you are packing, you should bring the Polaroid with you, and it feels like it will take good photos. Kim Tae-hee said with some annoyance.
"I suggested to you that I want to take that, but you said that we have too much luggage and there is no need to add to the burden. ”
"Why, are you so happy to catch me wrong?" asked Kim Tae-hee as he looked at him with a straight face.
"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
"The words I want to hear are the words that after you say it, you won't be beaten by me because of it. Kim Tae-hee said threateningly.
"Then I'll answer your question when we get back to our room tonight. Li Zehan helped Kim Tae-hee cut his hair and said.
"It seems that what you are going to say is definitely not a good thing, or a bad idea, otherwise you will not dare to say it in front of us. Olivia said, touching her chin.
"Children from all over the family should make less trouble for adults. Li Zehan waved his hand impatiently and said.
"I must have been hit by me, and I felt empty-hearted. Olivia said firmly.
"Okay, we have limited time, so let's hurry up and visit Graffiti Street. Lee Taek-han decisively chose to divert Kim Tae-hee's attention and prevent them from continuing to discuss this topic.
Lee Zehan changed the topic so bluntly, Kim Tae-hee and the others naturally saw his thoughts, but now it is indeed as he said, time is relatively short, and too much time should not be wasted on some trivial matters.
Li Zehan and the others spent about 40 minutes here on Graffiti Street, basically in the process of finding a suitable background and taking pictures.
In order to take good photos of the three of them, Li Zehan also did his best.
I worked tirelessly to find the most suitable angle.
Therefore, there was also some price, that is, the whole person was sweating profusely, the pants he was wearing were also dirty, and there was a hole in the knee.
also because of some behaviors when looking for angles, he was often stared at with strange eyes by those who passed by.
"I was so moved by your passion for photography that I decided to buy you a pair of pants. Olivia said to Li Zehan with a deeply moved expression.
"I really need a new pair of pants right now, so I'm not going to accept it. Li Zehan looked down at his pants that could be scrapped and said.
"Even though I sacrificed a pair of pants, the photos I took were really good. Kim Tae-hee said while wiping his sweat with a tissue.
"I think you should buy five-point pants or cropped pants so that it doesn't happen again. Olivia stared at Li Zehan's pants for a while and said.
"I also feel that the soul of the photographer hidden in me is burning today, and if I enter the state, it is very likely that the current situation will be repeated. Li Zehan said thoughtfully.
"Didn't you see a clothing store on the way here, so go there and buy pants that match your top. Kim Tae-hee said after looking at the time.
"It's okay, he's in good shape, and he can hold on to whatever he wears. Olivia patted Li Zehan's chest a few times and said.
Her act of eating tofu openly made Li Zehan can't help but roll his eyes.
"Be careful, Ollie, she's always wanted to trick you into wearing women's clothes. Cheng Shiqing whispered to Li Zehan.
"Honey, did you tell him something that shouldn't be said?" Because Cheng Shiqing said it to Li Zehan in Korean just now, Olivia didn't understand anything other than hearing her own name.
"No, it's just a little bit of a concern. Cheng Shiqing denied it indifferently.
"You must not betray me, my dear, or I will really cry to you. Olivia grabbed Cheng Shiqing's arm and said.
"It feels like she's really going to hold you and cry for three days and three nights. Li Zehan said thoughtfully.
As for Olivia's desire to fool him into wearing women's clothes, it is basically impossible for her to get her wish when she already has a defensive mentality, but it is Olivia's turn to worry about whether she will be cheated.
Cheng Shiqing glanced at Li Zehan helplessly, and then coaxed Olivia, who was once again incarnated as an older child, as usual.
After chatting for a while, they went to the clothing store they had just seen to buy the pants that Li Zehan needed.
Among Toronto's many attractions, there's one place Kim Tae-hee really wants to visit, and that's the camera created by Oscar-nominated director Atom Egoyan and his co-stars.
Order a drink there and enjoy an old movie playing in the bar.
However, except for her, the other three were not very interested there, and Kim Tae-hee was embarrassed to let them accompany him.
The second stop was the Gardner Museum of Ceramics, where they planned to take the literary route.
The Gardner Museum of Ceramics is the only museum in Canada that showcases the art of ceramics.
Ceramic art is considered one of the oldest artistic and material cultures in the world, and the museum's collections span continents and eras, allowing visitors to learn about the development, decoration and formal styles of ceramic craftsmanship.
The Gardner Museum of Ceramics was originally a private museum to preserve the George Helen Gardiner couple's private collection of ceramics.
In order to make their ceramics collection more accessible to more people, the Gardiners moved the museum to a building in Toronto's Queen's Park in 1984 and opened it to the public as a public museum.
Between 2004 and 2006, the museum underwent an expansion project that was redesigned by Canadian architect Bruce Kuabara, adding 1,300 square meters of museum space and adding exhibition halls, event areas, gift shops and a café.
The expanded museum has also won several architectural awards and is open to the public daily.
The Gardner Museum of Ceramics collects Ancient American pottery, Chinese and Japanese ceramics, European pottery, European ceramics from the 18th to early 19th centuries, ceramics from the 19th to early 20th centuries, modern and contemporary ceramics, and other collections.
Unlike the three Kim Tae-hee, who are very interested in the museum's exhibits, Lee is more interested in the museum's café run by celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy.
As soon as he put forward this idea, he directly received Kim Tae-hee's big eyes.
Olivia, who is also interested in eating, gave him a thumbs up.
Not long after entering the museum, Lee Taek-han and Kim Tae-hee began to have headaches, and it was supposed that Sung Shi-qing and Olivia's occupational diseases were stimulated after seeing those exhibits with a certain history.
Lee Taek-han and Kim Tae-hee are constantly instilled with a lot of technical terms that they don't understand at all, as well as historical events that they don't care much about.
Because of this situation, Lee Taekhan and Kim Tae-hee didn't bother to go to the café in the museum to taste coffee, so they pulled the two away less than twenty minutes after arriving at the museum.
Because Cheng Shiqing's parents are more accustomed to having lunch at around six o'clock, Li Zehan and the others thought about it and decided to give up the third trip and go home directly.
Of course, the reason why this third trip was abandoned was at least half of Kim Tae-hee's thoughts.
Their scheduled third destination was St. James's Church, the oldest church in Toronto.
But when Kim Tae-hee learned that the church was an Anglican church, her interest in it dropped at once.
Whoever made them all devout Catholics, so it affected her senses about St. James's Church somewhat.
After buying some of the things they needed, the four of them drove home.