A Tale of Two Cities: Toronto – London UK
What are the differences between living in Toronto and London UK? How does a high end companion who has bases in Toronto and London UK compare life in them? If you’re travel curious, here’s a limited account. Reading this tale of two cities will be much lighter than Dickens!
I divide my time equally between Toronto and London UK
Nowadays I always add UK after London, because there’s a London about 2 hours’ drive from Toronto and more Londons elsewhere in the world. Hence adding UK to London prevents confusion. Since there’re also 4 Torontos in the USA and one Toronto in England, I should also be adding Canada after Toronto. Yet somehow people don’t seem to be as confused about Toronto as they are about London, so I add Canada after Toronto only when I feel that the situation calls for doing so. What’s better about life in Toronto than life in London UK? Many people ask me this question. There’s better and there’s worse in each country. So I reframe this common question to what’s different about living in Toronto from living in London UK.
The first difference
is condo living. If you live downtown anywhere in north America, you’re bound to live in a condo or in close proximity to those who live in condos. Condo [short for condominium] high-rise buildings remind somewhat of hotels with their long twisted corridors [that could at times do with convex mirrors to enable one to see round corners] and many doors with suite numbers. The hotel resemblance is complete with a lobby with a reception desk where a concierge [also called a security guard] oversees the comings and goings of visitors and variously assists the residents and staff of the building.
The terms condo and apartment are not interchangeable as are the terms flat and apartment in the UK. The term flat is not used in Canada at all, while the term apartment in the Canadian sense denotes a suite in a building which does not have facilities such as a gym, swimming pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi or hot tub,