Subway Saturday: Coxwell Station

This week we decided to try something a little different with our Saturday. In an effort to set out and explore the many random neighbourhoods of Toronto, we decided to start a whole new thing with Subway Saturdays…

The basic idea is this: we put the names of all the subway stations in Toronto into a bag, then pick one at random to go visit. The idea was that we’d end up exploring parts of the city we’d never otherwise go, and hopefully find a few hidden gems along the way. However, our first attempt wasn’t quite so straightforward.

We printed off all 69 stations, put them in a bag, shook it around a bit, and Luke reached in to draw our first destination…. Lawrence East. We quickly looked up where this station was, only to find that it was at the extreme east of the entire subway system, all the way out in Scarborough. We were not entirely thrilled, but stuck to our guns, researched the area to find something to do there and set out on our first Subway Saturday.

But then, while sitting on the train an announcement came that no trains were running to Lawrence East! We took it as a sign, and decided to get off at another completely random stop along the way: Coxwell Station. This turned out to be a wise decision.
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Alighting at Coxwell, it didn’t seem like the busiest area, but it was still on the Danforth which has many cafes and restaurants. Wandering down the road we came across Patisserie la Cigogne and decided it would be a good spot for lunch, with lots of tasty cakes and breads on display and mouthwatering menu of Quiches, baguettes and tourtieres. Luke opted for a baguette while Elizabeth had some quiche, both of which were absolutely delicious. First Subway Saturday gem discovered! Success!

While at lunch we discovered that we were near a neighbourhood called Gerrard India Bazaar. This sounded interesting to us so we decided to go for a walk that would take us down through Monarch Park to the area, where we spent a while just wandering the streets, savouring the smell of Indian food that seemed to engulf the entire neighbourhood. We strolled up and down the street, admiring the big colourful murals painted on the sides of buildings. At one point, we stopped into an Indian Emporium - which smelled very strongly of incense - to check out the elaborate sculptures, hand painted boxes and children's books about Hindu mythology.

It was an interesting part of town to explore. We’ll be back for a curry there at some point in the future. (Subway Saturday gem #2!).

Our walk took us back up Coxwell, right back to the station. Along the way we admired the weird and wonderful houses that pack the area. There are definitely some common architectural features between them all but it often seems like every house has its own unique character.

So ended our first Subway Saturday. Despite a slightly rocky start it ended up a big success, and we think we’ve figured out the best way of doing it now - just look at the subway map and pick a place to go that seems like it might be interesting. Hopefully we’ll find some tasty food, and interesting places along the way.

​Here are some more photos from our Saturday:

This time last year we weren't in Mexico, but we were enjoying ourselves in Swift Current. And two years ago we were learning all about Maple Syrup.