A few weeks ago I cycled to Toronto’s Downtown Chinatown or West Chinatown, then walked along Dundas Street West to photograph murals that I’ve seen on another visit.
The history of Toronto’s Chinatown stems back to the late 1870s. Although the West Chinatown (Dundas Street West/ Spadina Avenue) is more well known, there are also East Chinatown (Broadview Avenue/ Gerrard Street East) and other Chinatowns in the Greater Toronto Area.
Here are five huge murals in Chinatown, located on the south side of Dundas Street West, between Beverley Street and Spadina Avenue.
1. Mural at Number 397
Located at 397 Dundas Street West, this mural features people and young children. I took photos of it in four sections. Unfortunately I was unable to find the artists’ names.
2. The Great Wall Mural
Located at 421 Dundas Street West, this mural was designed and painted by Blinc Studios artists Allan Blender, John Nobrega, Rick Sauve, Brian Broders, Jesse McCuaig and Ming Lau in 2013. It features the Great Wall of China and is the longest of the five murals. I’m sharing six sections although the mural has about a dozen of them.
3. The Forbidden City Mural
Located at 433 Dundas Street West, this mural was designed and painted by Blinc Studios artists Allan Blender, John Nobrega, Jesse McCuaig, and Elaine Teguibon. It features two fierce lions outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.
4. Milky Way Mural
Located at 449 Dundas Street West, this mural was designed and painted by Blinc Studios artists Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Azadeh Pirazimian and Jieun June Kim in July 2017. It features the Chinese fairy tale of the Herd-Boy and the Weaver-Girl.
5. Dragon Mural
Located at 493 Dundas Street West, the Dragon mural was designed and painted on a metal surface by Blinc Studios artists Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Jesse McCuaig, Azadeh Pirazimian, Chris Brown, Frannie Potts and Mohammad Jaberi in 2016.
Weekend Coffee Share
It was a fun walk to see the murals in details. The list of artists shows that it was a team effort to paint them. The finished murals look beautiful, coherent and impressive. They’re my contribution to Terri’s #SundayStills Out of this World photo challenge and Jo’s Monday Walk.
Which mural do you like?
I’d love for you to share what’s been happening, simple joys from your week and/ or favourite public art photos from around the world in the comments or Weekend Coffee Share linkup #109 InLinkz below.
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Natalie the Explorer 
Every one of these were beautifully created Natalie but my absolute favourite is the milky way set of murals – I love the colours and the story that goes with the art – just gorgeous. Thanks for another great party.
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Wow these are amazing and must be wonderful to look at in real life. So clever, there’s something about murals on walls that fascinates me, and yet I’m not a keen gallery lover. Maybe one day I’ll get back to Canada
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Ali, I think murals that are street art are more relatable to everyone than art in galleries. I hope you get back to Canada and stop by Toronto for a visit.
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Leanne, I agree the Milky Way mural is gorgeous. I was in awe of the details shown in the baskets, the buffalo, the clouds and the magpies. Thank you for linking up.
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All wonderful murals…. Love mural 397 the best
Here is mine for this week https://boomercoupletraveljournal.wordpress.com/2023/03/03/road-trip-to-angono/.
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Teresa, Number 397 is beautiful. I love the colours and how it captures older people and young children. Thank you for your PPAC contribution.
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These are amazing. It was interesting to note that many of the murals included pictures of children, the next generation. The great wall paintings are incredible and the next bets thing to being there. Thanks so much for sharing these, Natalie.
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Darlene, I also noticed what looks like grandpas and grandchildren in mural Number 397. The Great Wall mural is truly a masterpiece and you’re right, it’s the next best thing to being there. Thank you for stopping by.
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My only comment on the murals is, “WOW!”
Thanks for the virtual coffee, Natalie.
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Shari, I’m pleased you like the murals. Thank you for stopping by.
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Hi Natalie, these are impressive murals. I’ve been to the same neighbourhood. Glad to see tagging hasn’t coved them up.
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Kevin, Thank you for your comment. Fortunately, these murals were in excellent conditions when I saw them.
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These are all beautiful, and I can only imagine the scale of them, especially the great wall mural.
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Suzanne, I’m pleased you like these murals. The Great Wall mural is very long and the painting details are incredible to see IRL.
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These murals are stunning. I tried to pick a favorite, but it was impossible. Thanks for sharing, Natalie.
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Jill, Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the murals.
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Those are all wonderful, but I love the Forbidden City mural. What a cool way to *visit.*. Thanks, once again, for taking us along with you.
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My pleasure, Ally. The Forbidden City mural looks realistic. I think it’s the next best thing to being there.
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Those are all stunning! It’s hard to pick a favorite but I’ll say the Great Wall. Simply breathtaking.
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Janet, The Great Wall mural is masterpiece for sure. It’s the longest of the five murals and has incredible details.
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These are very interesting and amazingly beautiful. Something meta about painting a wall on a wall.
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Dan, I’m pleased you like the murals. I was in awe of the large scale and painting details of these murals IRL. How the artists transfer their creative ideas onto huge walls is incredible.
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Hi, Natalie- You find the best murals all around you. This post made me very nostalgic for Beijing!
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Hi Donna, You must have seen many incredible sights when you lived in Beijing. I was glad to take this walk to see the murals up close.
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Wow! The Great Wall mural looks so real. Were these murals installed recently? I don’t remember seeing them when I toured Chinatown last September.
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Four of these five murals were created several years ago (2013-2017). I don’t have the year for the first mural but it looks new to me. These murals are painted on the side walls so if you walk on Dundas Street West and don’t look at the side alleys, it’s easy to miss them.
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I guess I didn’t look hard enough.
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Chinatown has so many things to look at so it’s easy to miss a few things in your first visit.
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That just mean I have to visit a few more times. 😊
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Yes, it’s something to look forward to and there is always something new to discover.
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I love the first series. So full of emotion.
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Yes, vivid colours and facial expressions.
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Gosh Natalie these are incredible – especially the Great Wall one. Wow
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I agree. I was glad to walk and see them up close.
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Oh wow! These murals are just incredible. I can not get over the intricate details in them all.
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I was in awe of the size of the murals and painting details.
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These are fantastic murals Natalie and I’m drawn to the Great Wall ones, somewhere I’d like to go one day! Thanks for taking us along 🙂 Have a great week ahead.
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The Great Wall mural is incredible. I think it’s the next best thing to being there. Thank you for linking up.
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I’m incredibly impressed with these murals, Natalie. You can tell a lot of work and detail went into their creation! These murals, especially the milky way one, demonstrate my Sunday Stills theme “Out of This World” which publishes this Sunday!
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Thank you, Terri. It’s mind-blowing how the artists hand painted these huge murals. Do you have a limit on how many posts I can contribute to Sunday Stills? I have this post and another wordless post with pictures that I took at the Ice festival. The theme of the ice sculptures was Dreams & Fantasies 🙂
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You can link to more than one post if you’d like 😁
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Thank you, Terri. I’ll do ping back after your post goes live.
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They’re all so vibrant and dynamic.
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Thank you. I’m glad you like the murals.
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Wowww
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Loved, all the Great Wall of China Murals Natalie! Beautiful.
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Thank you, Ganga, for your comment.
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Those are amazing murals… some of the best I’ve seen! It astonishes me how the artist can turn a concept into a larger-than-life masterpiece.
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Janis, I agree with you. I’m astonished, too.
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I’ve just learned here in Medellin, Colombia, on our Comuna 13 tour, that if a mural has been created by three or more people, it’s called a “master piece” in the world of street art. Hard to pick a favorite, but if I have to choose, I’ll got for the Great Wall of China.
These are amazing works, Natalie, and I have to imagine that painting on metal was an entirely different challenge for the artists. Thanks for sharing!
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Liesbet, These murals look like masterpieces to me for their sheer size and beauty. I agree with your comment about painting on metal.
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Those murals are beautiful and very well executed. Love the dragon especially.
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Thank you Jeanne for your comment. The Dragon looks bright and strong.
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Hi Natalie, the murals of the Great Wall impressed me. Perhaps due tot he fact that the Great Wall is something that fascinates me. I’ve never seen it in person, have you?
This week has been insanely busy and fun (mostly). We moved to our new house on Monday and I’ve spent the rest of the week turning the house into a home. I am far from finished with that task, but everyone in the family do love our new home.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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Hi Maria, I’m glad your move went well and you all love your new home. I haven’t been to the Great Wall so the mural is the next best thing to being there. Enjoy the weekend!
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Well the murals are wonderful! Thank you 🙂
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These murals are amazing Natalie. In my opinion they are the best I’ve seen you post. I find the Great Wall ones to be incredible. I also really like the ones at 397, especially the faces. Thanks for sharing
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Jennifer, Thank you for your comment. I’m pleased you like these murals. They’re so big, it was a challenge to photograph with my cell phone.
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Fabulous murals, Natalie! I am so enamoured with them! The details and the colours … and I particularly love murals on brick walls – there is a charm from the visible brick creases! The Dragon Mural is fascinating – the metal ridges adds such an interest to it. My favourite has to be the Milky Way mural – I love the story it tells! I can only imagine that the size of them is over whelming – you captured them so very well!
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Thank you, Ju-Lyn, for your comment. When I looked up close, I was in awe of the birds (magpies), the baskets, and clouds in the Milky Way mural. The Dragon mural has bold colours and I admired the artists’ skills to paint it on the metal surface with grooves. It was a challenge to photograph these murals with my cellphone. I’m pleased with the results.
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So much to see & explore art in person … I am very grateful for tech that we are able to share in some of your joy & amazement.
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Yes, that’s part of what’s wonderful about blogging.
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These are beautiful murals from Chinatown. I like the mural of the Great wall much. It is fabulous and looks real too. Here in Singapore too, there are beautiful murals in Chinatown. Thanks for this share.
Have a great weekend!
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Amila, Thank you for your comment. The Great Wall mural is impressive. I’m pleased you like it.
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All of those murals or fabulous. Hope you are having a great weekend and have a wonderful week ahead.
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Thanks, Trent. The weekend is going well so far. I hope the same for you.
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Those dragons, the colours and the amount of time they must have taken. Amazing
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I had similar thoughts when I looked at those murals.
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These murals are just amazing! I kept thinking one group could not be as spectacular as the next, but they are. I think the first set of murals and The Great Wall murals are my favorites, but they are all incredible.
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Michelle, I’m pleased you like these murals. I think they’re amazing, too.
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Thanks for including the murals on your blog. They are stunning! My favorite was the Dragon mural—so bright and colorful!
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Diane, Thank you for your visit and comment. I like the Dragon mural for its bright colours, too. I’m excited to “meet” another Canadian blogger. Have a great weekend!
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Wow, those are amazing. I love the Great Wall mural, so realistic!
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Thank you, Pam, for your comment. The Great Wall mural is amazing and much longer than the other murals.
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I agree with Janis. These are some of the best murals I’ve seen. The details are fabulous. The fierce lion reminds me of the fierce beast in front of the Aria Hotel in Vegas. I can’t pick a favorite, though. The Great Wall makes you almost feel like you are there. You did a great job of photographing them.
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Thank you, Marsha, for your comment. I took all of my mural photos with my cellphone. I’m glad all commenters have liked them so far. These murals are so big and long that it was a challenge to try to capture their beauty.
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The size is the problem with taking mural pictures, but you do a great job! These are all fabulous!
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Thanks again, Marsha.
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🙂 Have a great week, Natalie. xxx
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Beautiful murels. Thanks for the tour.
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Thank you, Antoinette. I’m pleased you like the murals.
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They’re fascinating, the way they proudly display the Chinese heritage in their new home must encourage all generations to stay connected to both. Thanks for sharing!
I ponder on my week here: https://lifewithmia.com/2023/03/05/will-mia-start-resenting-my-writing/
Andi
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Andi, Thank you for your insightful comment. I’ll be over to read your coffee share this weekend.
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I liked the dragon. It seems colorful. #Weekendcoffeeshare
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That’s a bright and strong mural. Thank you for your comment.
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I love all of them. Maybe the dragon? Hard to pick!
Here is mine:
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Sofia, Thank you for your comment and PPAC contribution.
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So excited to have come across your post. Beautiful descriptions of the murals – what incredible art. Thank you so much for sharing!
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Cecilia, Thank you for your visit and comment. I’m pleased you like the murals. I’ll be over to visit your blog shortly.
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All of them are gorgeous 😍.
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Mélodie, Thank you for your lovely comment.
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Absolutely stunning murals Natalie.
I’m going to weigh in for: The Great Wall mural, section 3.
I almost could not look at this one without my mind turning it into a photograph rather a painting. It looks like the artist turned even the wall textures into part of the whole. They captured both the look and feel and depth of the place.
So impressive.
Thanks for sharing this collection.
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Thank you, Gary, for your thoughtful comment. It’s mind-boggling to see the details of the Great Wall mural IRL.
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These are all so beautiful and epic and with great history. So very nice. The Great Wall ones is the section I keep going back to. I will pick Great Wall Section I. Thanks for sharing these.
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Thank you, Patrick, for your thoughtful comment. Epic is an excellent description of these murals, especially the Great Wall mural.
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Wow these are amazing! I love the Milky Way, the Herd Boy and the Weaver Girl very much! 😍
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Thank you Lina Belle for your comment. The details in the Milky Way mural are impressive.
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These are wonderful, especially the first one and the Milky Way! I have some murals from Medellin in Colombia in my latest post so I’m triple-dipping this week: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/finding-peace-in-medellin/
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Thank you, Sarah, for your PPAC contribution. I’ll be reading your post with interest as I was thinking of visiting Colombia.
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It’s a beautiful country and very interesting to visit too 🙂
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That’s great to hear 🙂
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Interesting murals in Torontos China Town. I’ve only been to the ones in Montreal / Ottawa. These murals are really impressive and detailed.
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Shawn, Thank you for your comment. I agree these murals are really impressive and detailed. They’re worth a visit when you’re in downtown Toronto.
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A couple from me
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Ali, Thank you for your PPAC contribution. A day trip following in the footsteps of giants sounds like a lot of fun. I’ll be there shortly.
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These are amazing, absolutely beautiful. I would love to be able to see them in person.
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W&L, Thank you for your visit and comment. I’m pleased you like these murals. I agree they’re amazing and beautiful.
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Wow. Those are all definitely out of this world!!!
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Thank you, Kirstin. Glad you like the murals.
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What vibrant colors. Really impressive. I wish I knew about the murals as I was in Toronto in 2022 July.
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Oh, a recent visit to my home city. I hope you had an enjoyable visit to Toronto. It’s easy to miss these murals as they are painted on the sides of buildings. Perhaps in your next visit?
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In my ‘to see’ list
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Feel free to reach out when you visit Toronto again. I have a Contact form at the top of my blog.
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All very nice! I am partial to dragons though.
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Thank you Sharon for your visit and comment. I’m sorry for my late reply. I found your comment in my Spam folder. The dragon murals are beautiful and exude strength.
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That they are and do!
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