Anyway, I have a bone to pick with my Canadian friends. When we decided on our summer vacation destination, I reached out to my friendly neighbors up north for suggestions on places that were a must see. I received some lovely tips, but felt a little disappointed that not one suggested Graffiti Alley in Toronto. Shame on you guys! It was actually recommended by one of Jason's co-workers as a must see attraction, and once Jason mentioned it to me, I knew that it was definitely going on our travel itinerary.
I am one who loves street art, and actually don't mind getting stopped at the railroad crossing because I like to spot the graffiti on the rail cars. I'm always amazed by what people can create with a simple can of spray paint.
Through a series of alleyways, there are so many artistic treasures to explore.
Allison was thrilled to spot her favorite cartoon characters, Tom & Jerry!
But I think my favorite was this super colorful under the sea mural that covered an entire wall.
Nothing seemed to be off limits within the confines of the alleyways. Even the trashcans received a touch of graffiti.
I even spotted an amateur graffiti artist putting his own mark on display.
Residents must start their kids out early on learning graffiti, as shown by this colorful sidewalk chalk rainbow :)
I guess not everybody feels the same way that I do about graffiti...
The only downfall was there was a lot of trash littering the entire area, but I guess you can expect that in any alley across the world.
Jason did have a moment where he thought we might be in the "seedy" part of town, but I felt perfectly safe walking the area. I mean, who wouldn't run from these neighborhood watch guys?
Would you take a stroll down Graffiti Alley or skip the attraction altogether?
Take your time with editing them, deary, at least you're not shoving hundreds of them into our throats with no selection like some do over at Facebook with their vacation photos :)
ReplyDeleteI'm generally not a fan of graffiti, especially if they're violate public space, only when they're done to brighten up some sad walls or when they're in the form of optical illusions and such things.
I hear ya! When someone puts their entire camera roll up, I admit I only look at the first couple then move on. There should be a rule to only sharing the highlights, not every blurry photo you feel the need to post lol.
DeleteThat's why I liked Graffiti Alley. They neighborhood looked really run down, so all the art really punched up the view. I still don't get the massive appeal of Tim Horton's to the Canadians. I swear, you couldn't walk 10 feet without seeing one of their cups laying on the ground. I was slightly offended by the massive amounts of litter in the area.
That is crazy cool! I have a major fascination for street art. I love all of this.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I always have to stop and admire a colorfully painted wall when I come across one.
DeleteThat is amazing. I've always been fascinated by street art. I think it's an amazing art form.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is!
DeleteGraffiti is absolutely one of my favorite forms of art. There's an edginess about it that I just love. It has the poppy, bold look.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I can't even evenly spray paint a jar, so to see this kind of talent is mind boggling to me!
DeleteWhat a fun walk! And of course you're still editing pictures. Don't you know in this digital age people snap 100 photos for every 1 they actually look at? Good luck getting through all that...
ReplyDeleteI believe it. We are a snap happy generation!
DeleteFirst off - fantastic photos. The colors are amazing! Funny we have the same goals....home organization and photo organization. I have a lot of photos that I never organized...I mean real photos, not digital. I am not sure how to tackle that one!
ReplyDeleteI did the real photo organization a few years back. I bought some of those cardboard storage bins from Michael's that they usually put on sale 7 for $10 and spent about a week going through and getting everything filed away. Now, when my girls go through the pics, I give strict instructions to put everything back in the order I had them in. I don't want to go through that mess again!
DeleteThat would be neat to see as long as Mario jumped on any seedy types haha good to get photos organized, as then you know what you have.
ReplyDeleteDon't mess with Mario!
DeleteI think graffiti alley looks like a really cool place to visit. I like the under the sea mural the best too.
ReplyDeleteI love all of it. Graffiti is certainly an art form. I love the crazy looking bunnies. Tom and Jerry are fun too. Mica loves Tom and Jerry!
ReplyDeleteYou would have loved the sea otters, but someone painted a pornographic wiener over one, so I didn't think it would be appropriate to share it here. It's still one of my favorites though, even with the lewd marking.
DeleteThese are all fantastic! The very colorful ones are absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for sharing this beauty with us today!!
ReplyDeleteThese artists are so talented, I only wish they have their works recognized and placed in an appropriate medium. They could pretty much earn a descent wage with that talent!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I've seen some amazing spray paint graffiti artwork on some of those Facebook videos and am always blown away by the talent. I bet they can fetch a nice price for some of their pieces.
DeleteThat is so beautiful. I would love to do some photography out there.
ReplyDeleteThese are just amazing! Such talented artists!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely take a stroll down graffiti alley! Those are some talented people that created this art!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's some crazy talent! I'd consider it an attraction. I don't believe someone should deface property but I think the people who are gifted in the art of grafitti could spruce up buildings and areas by displaying their art (with permission, of course).
ReplyDeleteThis street art looks so colorful.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing.
my brother is a graffiti expert. (not really, tho he likes it) sometimes he is being hired by some shop that is soon to open, he do the graffiti thing design. it looks nice anyway!
ReplyDelete- Our Family World
That's so cool that you no a real life graffiti artist! I bet you are proud to see his designs on the buildings that he's commissioned to work on!
DeleteI love all the colours. I am a huge fan of this kind of art, these people who do them are SO talented. They are so gorgeous to look at! - Jeanine
ReplyDeleteI honestly love street art! It's a great way to see how talented artists are and they're so nice to look at as well. I love the different graffitis that you featured but I would have to agree with you, I love the under the sea one!
ReplyDeletevery artistic! i like it ! this is a pure talent! I hop i have that kind of talent too! lol. ive been liking graffiti since im 16. it is very intersting
ReplyDeleteI am a total street art fanatic, so this entire post just made my day. It looks like I have another destination to add to my travel bucket list.
ReplyDeleteThis is totally something we would take time and check out. We love quirky off the beaten path stuff. Amazing talent there in that alley!
ReplyDeleteThat's really cool - I would definitely take a trip to see the alleys. It's fascinating that someone can do that, but I can't help but wonder with all that creativity what their day job is? Very curious. I do not like to see grafiti in public places such as parks or defacing monuments, but when it's somewhere to liven up an otherwise dreary area, bring it on!
ReplyDeleteI get upset when I see it on playground equipment and blatant vandalism, except for on the train cars. I know, I shouldn't pick and choose, but I do love to watch it stroll by while I'm waiting for the train to pass. It makes the wait a little more tolerable.
DeleteBeautiful pictures! I can believe it! I've got photos still chilling on my computer from years ago. Just no time!
ReplyDeleteFunny how much talent these people have
ReplyDeleteWow. It is hard to articulate how beautiful all the street art is! Not only would I take a walk down graffiti alley but I would take a million photos as well!
ReplyDeleteOh wow these are all very interesting images! We have an entire wall of similar artwork along our city's riverfront. I take the kids every now and then to check out the newest additions. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter loves graffiti. When we went to Rome there was graffiti everywhere, even on the touristy places you would NOT want to find it. I found that disconcerting. But here...all in one place? That's pretty awesome!
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad that the touristy areas were trashed up like that :( I always think of Rome as one beautiful, clean place. Makes me sad that's not the case with the graffiti mucking up the area.
DeleteI have to say I love watching the decorated trains go by too. Not the tagged ones, but the ones with artwork on them. Pretty cool alley to visit but you missed the best part of Canada, the Rocky Mountains. Alberta and BC are definitely worth seeing. Mostly just the mountain areas of course. Although Vancouver is a beautiful city with its Stanley Park right on the ocean. We try to get there every few years.
ReplyDeleteWe were on the completely opposite side of the country :( I would LOVE to explore the Rocky Mountains. I am thinking I'll get there some day with just the hubs, though I did enjoy hiking through the Smoky Mountains with the girls a few years back. Vancouver is definitely on my bucket list too. I'll have to make sure we hit up Stanley Park when we get that way.
DeleteSuch interesting street art!!
ReplyDeleteYou know, there are so many holidays I've yet to write about.. and usually when I wait long enough I just won't bother hahah
Ai @ Sakura Haruka