Amsterdam Bridge & Torontobrug

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Address: Torontobrug
Date: May 2024

    This is a tale of two bridges. This is the tale of two cities. In 1974 Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Toronto in Canada became twin cities.

 

    A bridge in Amsterdam was renamed Torontobrug. This means Toronto Bridge. 

The Burgemeester (Mayor) of Toronto at the time was David Crombie. David travelled to Amsterdam in October 1974 to rechristen the bridge.

 

    Torontobrug spans the river Amstel. It carries lanes of traffic and has a small lift portion to allow taller boats to travel through.

  Back in Toronto a dutch style pedestrian bridge was built. In June 1978 the Mayor of Amsterdam, Wim Polak, came to Canada to officially open the bridge.

 

   The Amsterdam Bridge also has a section that opens to allow tall boats to pass.

 The bridge was closed to pedestrians for a number of years but has since reopened to allow people to cross again.

 

 The Amsterdam Bridge is far more famous than the Torontobrug. It played a role in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. After a night out, Nia Vardalos and John Corbett share a kiss on the bridge. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the highest grossing North American romantic comedy of all time.

 

  You can walk, drive or sail to visit these bridges that celebrate two cities coming together. While not quite identical, they are still twins.

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Map of Our World

Torontobrug

Amsterdam Bridge

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Post # 360

Zoo Street Names

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  46 Trumpeter Street
Date:  May 2020
Website:  www.torontozoo.com

  There is a neighbourhood of houses located on Sheppard Avenue East and very near to the Toronto Zoo. Some of the streets are named after zoo residents. You could visit this neighbourhood before or after your visit to the zoo and continue your animal adventures. The photo above was taken from inside the zoo and you can see the rooftops across the Rouge Valley.

  We entered the neighbourhood via Rouge River Drive. The Rouge River runs through the valley just behind these houses.

  The first animal street we encountered was Coyote Crescent. The Toronto Zoo does not have any coyotes in its collection. There are many wild coyotes that call the Rouge Valley home. We are sure that at some point a coyote has trotted down Coyote Crescent.

The zoo does have a fake coyote located behind the Australasia Pavilion. This one is there to possibly keep wild coyotes from getting too close to the kangaroo enclosure.

  Another wild resident of the Rouge Valley is the red fox. The Toronto Zoo briefly had one on exhibit. They had printed up signs and hoped everyone would come to see their fox. We came, but by the time we got there the fox had already dug its way under all the fencing. He escaped into the valley to join his wild friends.

  Red Fox Place takes you to Mountain Lion Trail. 

  The zoo does have one of those. A mountain lion is also known as a cougar.

  Snowgoose Terrace cuts between Mountain Lion Trail and Red Fox Place. Snow geese breed up above the timber line and during migration they head south past the Toronto Zoo.

  It is rare that a snow goose lands and spends time in Scarborough. You can always go to the Toronto Zoo and see their lesser snow geese all year long.

  Heading north, the next street was Reindeer Drive. 

  The Toronto Zoo has several caribou. In Europe they are called reindeer.

  We drove onto Jaguar Street. We didn't notice any Jaguars parked on any driveways. Come to think of it, we didn't see any Mercury Cougars or Ford Pumas on Mountain Lion Trail either.

  The Toronto Zoo used to have jaguars out by the Americas waterfall and may get some again in the future.

  We continue our journey. There are fifteen animal streets in total so we have a ways to go. The next street  is Muskox Drive.

 

  The zoo does not have musk ox, but it does have yaks which are kind of similar. Whoever named some of these streets should have done better research.

  The next street is Wolverine Way. Sorry, but no wolverines in Scarborough wild or otherwise.

  On the opposite side of the neighbourhood is Antelope Drive.

  The zoo has had many antelope on display through the years. The antelope above is a sable antelope. The zoo also has impala, eland and wildebeest.

  Savanna Drive is not named for an animal. It is where a large number of African animals spend their lives.

  The African Savanna at the Toronto Zoo is one of the largest sections and includes giraffe, rhinos, zebra and more.

  Bald Eagle Avenue cuts right through the center of the neighbourhood.

  The zoo has several bald eagles. Our favourite is Wombly the bald eagle ambassador.

  Bald Eagle Avenue ends up becoming Panda Square. Panda Square goes around Trumpeter Park.

  The Toronto Zoo had special panda visitors from China in both 1985 and 2013. Everyone who saw them remembers the giant pandas fondly.

  Trumpeter Street runs across the bottom of Trumpeter Park.

  Trumpeter swans are quite common at the Toronto Zoo, especially in the pond at the bottom of the Canadian Domain.

  The two animal streets that branch off from Trumpeter Street are Chipmunk Avenue and Bobcat Terrace.

  You have a good chance of seeing wild chipmunks darting across trails at the Toronto Zoo. This little guy has his cheeks full. Bobcats on the other hand will not be found at the zoo.

  The last street in our tour of the zoo name streets is Cheetah Crescent.

  This cheetah at the Toronto Zoo was enjoying the sunshine and flowers. You can enjoy visiting the actual animals at the zoo and then seeing the streets that the animals inspired.

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Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo
Zoo Street Names

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Post # 360

This That & The Other Streets

Location: Porters Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada 
Address: 9 This Street
Date: July 2025
Website:  porterslake.ca

  Porters Lake is a small community located about a 30 minute drive from Halifax, Nova Scotia. We diverted through there in our travels in order to see an unusual cluster of street names. We said to ourselves, "We've got to see This!". And of course That and The Other.

    Okay, so follow along carefully as we are only going to say this once (actually a few times). Take Highway 7 through Porters Lake and turn on This Street. First you will come to That Street. Don't turn on that street. Stay on This Street and you will reach The Other Street. If you take The Other Street it will take you back to That Street and eventually you will end up on This Street again. If you had turned on That Street you could still get to The Other Street by following it to the end. The Other Street will take you back to This Street. If you then turn right on This Street you can get back to the highway.  Don't worry about getting lost as This Street dead ends at the lake and That Street always takes you to The Other Street and vice versa. Basically every street in this little cluster touches The Other Street. If you are on a street just take that street until you get to This Street. Stay on this street until you get to the highway. Easier done than said.

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Map of Our World
This That & The Other Streets

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Post # 351

Fire Hydrants

 

Location: Elm Creek, Manitoba, Canada
Address: Gladys Street Fire Department
Date: Oct 2014
Website: https://www.rmofgrey.ca

    You can't park in front of them. Dogs like to pee on them. In case of a fire you hope that one is nearby. We are talking about fire hydrants. Here are some of the most interesting hydrants that we have encountered.

 

    Now we could do a whole blog just on fire trucks (and maybe we will). When the fire department shows up to fight a fire, it is a hydrant they need to attach their hoses. Only then can they get the water they need to put out the flames.

USA HYDRANTS

 

    On Ditmars Blvd. in Queens, New York we found this hydrant next to Astoria Park. It was all painted like the American flag. It stood out amongst the other plain hydrants. We are uncertain if it was special for any other reasons.

 

 

  At the Irvine Spectrum Center in California we spotted this shiny, gold fire hydrant. This must be a special hydrant, but sadly it was not real gold.

 

   The New York State Museum is located in the state capital of Albany, New York. It includes an entire Fire Engine Hall. It also includes items collected from where the World Trade Center towers fell. These are two different types of hydrants (shown above) that survived the disaster.

GREECE HYDRANTS

 

 This hydrant was located near the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It was pretty insignificant except for the tortoise right beside it. We know dogs like to pee on things to mark their territory. We don't know if this tortoise just finished marking the hydrant as his.

CANADA HYDRANTS

 

 

 On the highway towards Dildo, Newfoundland we spotted this Minion painted hydrant. In the movie Minions there is one scene where Stuart, the one eyed minion, actually hits on a fire hydrant.
 

   The world's largest fire hydrant sits next to the Elm Creek Fire Department in Manitoba. There used to be a bigger fire hydrant in South Carolina but it has since been taken down so we redeclare this the world's largest. It is about 29 feet tall and took six months to build. It was unveiled on Canada Day in 2001.

 A regular fire hydrant sits next to the giant one. You definitely would not want your fire department or your large fire hydrant to burn down.

 Dalmation dogs were used back when firefighters travelled in horse drawn fire wagons. Since then they have become beloved companions even to modern day fire fighters. At Fire Station 314 in Toronto, this hydrant dalmation keeps an eye on the street out front.

 

 

 In Scarborough, Ontario there is a sailor hydrant near the Highland Creek Royal Canadian Legion.

   In Scarborough, Ontario there is another hydrant located in Milliken Park. The only issue here is that the hydrant is all alone in the middle of a field. We are not sure when this hydrant may be called into service. Perhaps a picnic fire?

  Near Berczy Park in Toronto we saw this hydrant exposed while some construction work was taking place. You can see by this photo how big the pipes are. This helps keep a water pressure between 50 and 100 psi.

    The hydrant in the photo above was sheared off when a car drove over it and into a restaurant on Yonge Street in Toronto. A hydrant could send out as much as 5,500 litres a minute. Umbrellas are a good idea until the fire department can get the water shut off.

  Most places do not want your dog to relieve themselves against their walls etc. We have not noticed any signs near hydrants. It seems the fire fighters are fine sharing the hydrants with their four legged friends.

  In the Toronto Santa Claus Parade every dog carried its own hydrant with them. It seems marking your territory just wasn't enough.

  Our final hydrant on this list has a celebrity connection. Mr. T filmed his television show T And T in Toronto. In Season 3 Episode 12 he sits on the hydrant pictured above waiting for a limo to pull up to a hot dog stand. It is at the corner of Queen Street West and James Street. This episode was probably filmed in 1989 or 1990. Is it possible that this is still the same hydrant from 35 years ago? While hydrants can remain in service for up to 50 years, we have to report that the hydrant currently in that spot is a newer design.

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Map of Our World
World's Largest Fire Hydrant

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Post # 348