I don’t know much about art, and I’m really not sure why there is a giant sculpture of a black-widow spider next to the condo at 33 Mill Street in the photo below.

Here are a few more choice photos from my tour of The Distillery District…

Sooooo……who came up with the idea for the black-widow spider sculpture?

And perhaps a better question: why?

Well in any event, the black-widow gives the area some character, and it’s definitely a conversation starter!

Here are some other notable shots…

On the subject of sculptures, what is this giant, steel, half-man, half-moose doing at the front Parliament Street entrance to The Distillery District?  Perhaps it was created by a Moosehead beer drinker, on a bender?  It’s definitely an attention-grabber, as I had to wait five minutes for people to stop gawking at it and for children to stop climbing on it in order to get this picture.

Again, I’m not so sure I understand “art.”  This looks like a pane of glass surrounded by four rock-benches.  Is this our version of Stone Henge?  In any event, the passer-byers seem to check it out whether they know what it’s for, or not.

Here is one of the many, many art galleries in The Distillery District.  This one is located on the main floor of 33 Mill Street along with a host of other commercial/retail ventures.

When it comes to art, I’ve taken one thing from my father: I only buy a piece of art if I buy it from the person who created it.  I see no purpose in buying a piece of art from a shop on King Street.  I want to meet the artist and know that it wasn’t created on an assembly line.  I’ve purchased art all around the world, but only from the creator.

A little off topic….but here is a photo of my brother, my father, and myself in an art college in a remote part of Thimpu, Bhutan.  This kid was the only 6th year student in the class, and we bought everything he had painted:

Okay, so that was a strange tangent to run off on.  Anyways…

Here is the Segway dealership that I mentioned in yesterday’s post.  I find the whole concept of the Segway to be quite odd, but even stranger is the fact that there are scores of people trying them out every day as they ride up and down the red-brick path in the courtyard at The Distillery.

There are several fantastic restaurants to play host to your wedding reception, and Friday night was a special occasion for this lucky couple.  I took this photo from a distance as I was afraid of getting too close, not only because it would be rude, but also because the bride had a massive tattoo of a dragon across her whole back!  She was also wearing thick black mascara, black eye shadow, and was probably a vampire slayer…

You know the area you live in has been yuppified when a store that sells nothing but expensive lamps opens up and becomes quite successful!  That orange mushroom lamp is a mere $325.00, FYI…

Here is the patio outside Fresh & Wild which was fills up at lunch time every week day!  See that old man in the back?  I thought it would be funny walk up next to him and ask, “Do you mind if I sit here?” despite all the empty seats.  Yeah, I chickened out…

Expensive lamp stores aside, you also know that your area has been gentrified, yuppified, and is home to the city’s cultural elite when Fresh & Wild opens a location at the base of your building.  The same box of herbal tea that costs $1.99 at No Frills is $5.29 at this location of Fresh & Wild.  I’m not cheap, I’m just very cost-conscious.  Oh yeah…..and I’m also not a complete moron…

Here is Balzac’s Coffee in an old refurbished building.  I find it amazing that people sit and drink coffee inside this very structure where booze was distilled during prohibition and smuggled down into the United States seventy years ago.

This is without a doubt, my favorite building in The Distillery District!  It’s called “Stone House” for good reason, and the food here is great!  I’ve only been once, but that was enough.  I love how new-meets-old with the 150-year-old stone building in the front and the one-year-old glass and concrete tower in the back!

This is why I think this high-rise condo “works” within the confines of The Distillery District.  There are so many incredible old structures and buildings in the area that one high-rise condo hardly takes away from the aura, history, and charm.

As a Realtor, I highly recommend purchasing a unit at 33 Mill Street to reside in or for investment.

As a Torontonian, I highly recommend having dinner, drinks, and taking in some live music one Saturday night in The Distillery District.

Man, do I ever love our city…