Katie and her friends go to lots of places.
Some of them I made up (though if someone wants to open a French-Cuban fusion place called Chez Che I'll be thrilled!) but some are real. I have included links if you want to know more about the real-life places Katie goes!
Bay Street: Kind of the "Wall Street" of Canada, where Katie's older sister, Anne, used to work before she fell apart.
Cabbage Town: Where Katie's parents live, an older neighbourhood, where artists, professors, lawyers, and fancy-pants professionals often own homes.
The Drake Hotel
Where Katie and her friends used to have breakfast. A pretty hipster-cool hang out. Some of you would love it. Some of you would hate it. And some of you would not understand it...
Don Valley
The Don River Valley runs through Toronto. It is wide, dense with trees in parts, and in parts bridges and roads cross it. People used to live in the Don Valley, and industry was along its banks, but not so much any more, I don't think...?
Dundas Square
Located near the Eaton Centre, in central Toronto. They want it to be like Times Square. (Toronto tries to be New York sometimes. I think it should give up and just be Toronto.)
Eastview
Eastview isn't really an "official" neighbourhood in Toronto, I don't think, -- though there is an Eastview park, and an Eastview Boys and Girls Club. These things are situated in the eastern part of downtown. Still very central in Toronto-proper.
Gibson House Museum
One of the people who answers his phone is a little girl outside this museum. And I used to work there! It's in the "North York" part of Toronto, way at the top of the subway line. It belonged to the Gibson family, who were instrumental in organizing the Upper Canada Rebellion. The house has a little vegetable garden which is pretty unusual in Toronto. (If you follow the link, you can see the dress I wore while I worked there!)
Joe Fresh
Cheap, stylish clothing you can buy at your local grocery store! Katie wears a skirt from Joe Fresh. I expect that she probably wears a lot of clothes from Joe Fresh.
Kensington Market
This is where Katie gets her Thai food from. It's a fun little neighbourhood. Second-hand stores, vegetable, fish, and cheese markets, a European butcher and lots of little restaurants with lots of ethnicities represented. I once bought an earring from the one and only Spike from Degrassi!
Lake Shore Boulevard
Eoin and Katie drive along Lake Shore after the wedding to get to her aunt's place. It's a long road that runs along the waterfront.
Queen Street Bridge
This is where Eoin and Katie spray-paint the first fairy-godmother-girl image, when they're caught by the cops.
The Senator
This hotel where Katie and Melissa like to get lattes and drinks after work is actually based on a hotel my friends and I like to go to in downtown Saskatoon, but I can totally imagine it being in Toronto!
Seven West
Eoin and Katie go to this 24-hour cafe just off Yonge Street kind of near the University of Toronto campus. It's been there for ever.....
7-Eleven
This is a chain of convenience stores to be found across North America. Many of them (all of them?) are open 24 hours. Katie and Eoin go to a bunch of 7-Elevens across Toronto because they think Anne might have taken a photo in front of a 7-Eleven somewhere in the city.
Shoppers' Drug Mart
A much-loved drug store, selling makeup, food, shampoo, condoms ... anything you could ever want at 2am. This is where Katie buys her emergency tshirt, and also hangs up her first "art message" for Anne.
St Clair and Bathurst
This is a fun part of town, where many young people often live. It's pretty central, and very near the Italian and Jewish neighbourhoods. This is where Eoin lives. (I also lived here for many years.)
St George Station
Where Kaite and Melissa meet up before the wedding. It's a "hub" station where people change lines. (I lived right by this station for a few years.)
University of Toronto Faculty Club
This is where Melissa and Katie attend Lucy's wedding. I have never been there. It's too fancypants for the likes of me.
Yonge Street
The longest street in the world! It runs through downtown Toronto. Lots of head shops, souvenir stores, chain restaurants, poster stores, and a strip club or two...Where Katie and Eoin find the 7-Eleven Anne used to frequent.
