Elizabeth Semmelhack had just picked up an exceptional donation from a D.C. collector: footwear by early-20th-century master Pietro Yantorny. Semmelhack decided to visit the Renwick before flying home. As the gallery’s guard X-rayed her suitcase, she had an idea. “Nobody was around … so I asked if he could X-ray each individual shoe” — revealing the mysterious Parisian shoemaker’s secrets.
Semmelhack’s no spy; she’s curator at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. The museum’s 12,500 artifacts include wood sandals from Egyptian tombs, yucca fiber flats from Anasazi ruins, gothic “beak shoes,” armored German boots, Manolo Blahnik Sizzle stiletto heels — and 16th-century Venetian “chopines” with 20-inch platforms that make Elton John’s boots look demure by comparison.
Bata’s new socks exhibit flaunts Queen Victoria’s 1840 monogrammed hosiery and pairs Elsa Schiaparelli’s mid-1960s apple-green stockings with Beth Levine’s “race car” shoes.
Such engaging sites make Canada’s largest city ideal for a family vacation. In Toronto, amusements stimulate mind and body.
If you go:
SeeTorontoNow.com
(800) 363-1990
(events sidebar)
Doors Open Toronto
May 29 and 30
Free admission to 150 cultural, historical and architectural sites
toronto.ca/doorsopen
Toronto Waterfront Festival
June 30 to July 4
TOwaterfrontfest.com
Renaissance Festival
July 1 to 4
casaloma.org
The high-energy, clean metropolis constantly refreshes itself for culture-craving residents as diverse as D.C.’s. The urban core appears in perpetual motion: people of all ages cycling, jogging, dog-walking, skating, hopping on old-fashioned, bell-clanging streetcars. The CN Tower, once the world’s tallest, now literally rocks families with an eco-themed motion simulator ride. From its windows you can see the recent transformation of three miles of waterfront into inviting parks with sloped boardwalks, mazes, docks and “beachlets.” Colossal blades of glass lance the sky. Castles? Toronto has the authentic — Casa Loma, with medieval turrets, underground tunnels and grounds perfect for July’s Renaissance Festival. And a reimagined one: Westin Harbour Castle, where families get the royal treatment.
“Toronto is the city of neighborhoods, each having a uniqueness,” said Kevin Currie, co-owner of Wheel Excitement. Kensington Market buzzes with neo-hippie shops, organic eateries and eye-popping G-rated outdoor murals. The Beaches boast quaint cottages and a boardwalk. Baldwin Street Village is ethnic foodie paradise. Harbourfront Centre will host the Toronto Waterfront Festival (June 30 to July 4). Chaired by Currie, its family-centric events include Tall Ships races and rowboat building.
Minutes north, the Royal Ontario Museum’s new Bat Cave delivers mind-tingling thrills in a near-real setting filled with flying high-tech mechanized models. After a market-fresh lunch at ROM’s Food Studio, cross the street to sculpt fantasy animals at Gardiner Museum’s drop-in clay studio.
Bata offers family time, too, Semmelhack said. Step in for weekend scavenger hunts, clog painting and funky footwear modeling.
Reach Robin Tierney at [email protected]
