This photo is a part of Nathan Philips Square, which is the big public square in front of Toronto City Hall. Pictured is a public skating rink that is free to use all winter. People without their own ice skates can rent a pair for a couple of hours to join the other skaters in turning laps around the rink. It’s a place where many new Canadians try out this popular winter pastime for the very first time!

A link to this interesting set of photos on Flickr titled ‘Locals and Tourists’ has cropped up in a few places now so you may well have already taken a look; if you haven’t it’s worth a glance. The images are maps of cities around the world that show the location of all photos currently available in public Flickr and Picasa search APIs.

I recently received a call from a hotel concierge asking if I did tours of Toronto that cover famous locations used in film and television. As a film buff and local tour guide, I know many places that have been seen on screen. After all, Toronto has a reputation as a popular city for making motion pictures. Next to Hollywood and New York City, there isn’t another place in North America that is home to more film and TV productions (although Vancouver is coming close).