Today we rode our bikes down to Biidasige Park, Toronto's newly reclaimed park at the (reconstructed) mouth of the Don River. We thought we'd just pop in and check it out, but we ended up spending several hours there, walking the paths and watching people kayak, paddleboard, fish, and canoe.
This is the only public work I've ever seen where the final product was much more beautiful than the artists' renderings. The playground is just amazing, and full of kids having fun. There were swings and climbing poles and slack lines and zip lines and a giant sandbox, slings and slides and those big animal sculptures you can climb up into. There were different kinds of waterbirds and butterflies. And I couldn't believe how grown in the plants were along the new riverbed, considering how recently they'd been planted.
If you live in Toronto and you haven't been yet, it's worth a visit. I should also mention how good the public communication around this project has been. We all like to complain when the govement messes up big public works (cough cough *Metrolinx*) so I think they deserve a shout-out for delivering something beautiful.
