Food – slightly weird

5th July 20235th July 2023

The Danforth – Greektown, Toronto

Monday, 3 July, 2023

Many years ago I crossed the bridge over the Don Valley Parkway to see what was there. Bloor Street becomes Danforth Avenue here and everyone calls it The Danforth. At the very start of Danforth Avenue I saw a Greek restaurant and in I went. What I remember was that I was the only woman in there. There were groups of men sitting with coffees and smoking (that’s how long ago it was, smoking…). I hadn’t much of a clue about Greek food so I asked the server what I should order. He led me into a small kitchen and started to tell me what was simmering in each pot. I loved this experience and didn’t have it again until I went to Porto a dozen years ago or so. It was just as thrilling then.

I remember I chose a lamb stew with artichokes and lemon. I also ordered a Greek salad (sounds like a lot of food now, but I was keen to try things) which arrived as juicy red tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, black olives, and topped with fresh feta cheese and an oregano dressing. No Greek meal I’ve had since then has measured up or even pleased me, although years later I found a place near College and Yonge Street who grilled calamari perfectly. So yes, this blog starts and ends with food.

I don’t really remember walking along the Danforth much after that. It got the name Greektown for the people who lived there. This was once the biggest Greektown in North America, and although the Greek population and Greek-run business have declined, people of Greek descent are still the largest ethnic group here. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) boasts about 2% of its total population are Greek, the highest concentration in Canada. If you’ve seen the original My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you’ll have seen the neighbourhood masquerading as Chicago’s Greektown.

What I remember for the most part about the area is the Playter Estate where my sister shared a tiny apartment while still in art college (grand houses), a lovely fancy grocery store that I couldn’t find on this new visit, and a very popular little mall with a good health food store called Carrot Common that I didn’t visit this time either. I’ve been along this street a bit, but it’s never been an area that I was desperate to visit. Here it was 2023 and it felt like it was time to go back and see what changes there were.

I didn’t see any reference to why Danforth Avenue is known as The Danforth, so fill me in if you know. I did find out that it’s named after Asa Danforth Jr., who was originally commissioned to build a route that headed east from Scarborough towards Trenton in the 1850s. At first it was known as Danforth’s Road and was well used until nearby Kingston Road became the more popular passage between Toronto and destinations to the east.

We got out at Chester Station and walked over to the main street. It’s an easy journey just one train all the way from the bottom of our city block right across Bloor Street until it becomes the Danforth. The subway line is called the Bloor-Danforth Line and stretches from west to east right across metro Toronto.

I had two goals – to find the grocery store and to find some grilled calamari that was as good as that College Street version. Food! Greektown is about food, it’s true for most people. As usual, I set my goal low knowing that it would be warm and it would be more walking than I could easily manage. I hoped there were benches.

We arrived at Chester Station, ready to explore

The Danforth looked bright and clean. It felt like a bit of a treat to be walking along this obviously more well-heeled area

Although I didn’t find my fancy grocery store, I did find Rowe Farms so we browsed and came out with nothing

These butchery displays always remind me of Spain. In Rowe Farms

Does the area look Greek? Well, some of it does, I suppose. But then I’ve never been to Greece. A Greek friend who saw the street sign photo was very puzzled. ‘Why,’ she said, ‘it says Logan Avenue in Greek. Why? Where is this?’ So I needed to explain that this was common in Toronto – for street signs in ethnic areas to be displayed in both languages.

My first glimpse of anything European didn’t look Greek at all but this Italianate bell tower a short distance away. It surprised me

The area on and around Logan Avenue has luxurious views. At the Danforth it starts at Alexander the Great Parkette with its ATG statue and fountain, columns and flowers. Built in 1994 it’s considered to epitomise ‘the local flavour’. The streets then branch northwards into the Playter Estates, an area to consider for a cooler day’s stroll.

This vista was somewhat breathtaking to me, really. I wished I had the leg power to walk down the entire street. Green, sumptuous and I suppose wealthy

Another view of the same street. The first one must be very small in your view

We kept walking along the street and met some construction. Roadworks are plaguing Toronto and creating many transit diversions, but the Danforth has a subway and no bus so it’s a bit less of a bother. We got closer to the Italianate church and visited the faithful Dollarama, window shopping along the way. We were finally getting hungry, but hadn’t seen anything that beckoned us in.

Sign across the road right where the construction was. The street hosts the Taste of the Danforth each year in mid August. Traffic will be halted and the street will be full of Greek food and celebration

The most impressive building is definitely the church whose bell tower I had spotted earlier. It’s a Catholic church called Holy Name, established on September 11, 1913. In August 1914, construction of a proper church began only to be interrupted when, that same month, World War I was declared. They could do no more than lay the great cornerstone on November 14. Services were held in the basement, the only completed part of the building, until in 1921 a hall was built, then in March 1926 the main church was finally finished and opened. Today the church conducts services for the African Catholic community along with its other services.

A bit annoyed that I didn’t take more photos Holy Name church (the one with the bell tower). It was quite majestic.

Billboards along the street

I’d done some research into where you could get good grilled calamari and nothing had looked like it could promise more. So we retraced our steps when the way ahead seemed to thin out from interesting shops and sights. At first we went into a place just to see what they might offer but it felt too formal and fancy, so we went to the place I’d read about. No room on the patio so we went inside. If a place can be judged by how busy it was, this would be OK or better.

The busy patio where we ate lunch. It was more casual here

Dips as a starter. Taramasalata, hummus, tzatziki, baba ganouj

Grilled calamari with onions and a lemon wedge

OK. So the review. The dips were OK, and the pita was pita. Compared to our dips at the Paramount, the dish fell short. As soon as the calamari arrived, I knew I’d be disappointed. There was no charring. This looked bland and tasted that way too. It seems fresh onions or leeks were normal with this dish. We ate it because it was in front of us. No more than that. My favourite lamb chop recipe is a Greek Canadian one from Toronto chef Christine Cushing. I’d replicated it in the land of cheaper Lamb (UK) and it was always perfect – thanks, Christine for the video lesson. This chop wasn’t as good as the one I’ve made myself, so although it was nice to have it, I always prefer when I buy something better than I can do myself at home. So this meal gets a 4/10. Sorry! (Yeah, I’m a harsh critic but it’s my money after all.)

We walked a little bit after our meal, over to Broadview Avenue at the beginning of the Danforth. We considered ice cream, rejected it, admired Danforth Church from afar, and were ready to go. My legs were done, and so was our visit to the Danforth.

This impressive building is Danforth Church, known for its inclusivity and very active community involvement

8th April 2023

Parkdale Living

Friday, 7 April, 2023

I didn’t have much recent experience of Parkdale when I first came here to the flat we sublet from someone who planned a winter getaway from Toronto. There’s a reason for that. Parkdale has always been a west end neighbourhood with a bad reputation – drugs and prostitution, that’s what I heard. I’d passed through it on my way to the Polish neighbourhood of Roncesvalles. sure.

Green marks Robin's place and the pink is Parkdale — Green marks Robin’s place and the pink is Parkdale

A very long time ago I even lived here – on a street called Spencer perhaps in 1967. I wasn’t there for long and my memory is vague, but in those days the bad reputation wasn’t there, it was just a family-oriented and easy for single living, an almost suburban area on the edge of Toronto . I llived for a while with a group of guys from Salford (Manchester) – they had a band. One was a boyfriend of a friend of mine, Angie – her parents owned a nudist colony near Hamilton, but that’s another story. That one was very handsome, out of my league I thought. Then there was another – and how shameful that I don’t remember the names of either one – Geoff, Ray? I lived in this apartment with ‘the other one,’ there was no love but it was convenient and friendly… It was here I met my first serious boyfriend, Jimmy, a young genius musician – at a party and again that’s another story. My biggest memory of those days is that I was carefree, it was a rock n roll sort of life but more everyday, and that was a store on the corner where I could call and order groceries and they’d show up at my door. Maybe it was just a few months but I was cocooned from the reality of the neighbourhood, it was just a place to stay.

This is Jameson Avenue – a street with apartment buildings on both sides. Each one is different. Krish read that it’s the most multicultural area in the world. Could be, I suppose

Fast forward many years, and Robin and I once bid for an apartment a street or two away from where I am now – Dunn Avenue. It was the ground floor of one of the very large Parkdale houses and there was a patio off of one of the bedrooms. I thought I had that apartment in the bag after I found out that the owner was a cyclist and talked with him about my cyclist ex husband. Then I was stunned to not be offered it. Not long afterwards, my mother died and the shock of it, the reality of what life stretched ahead of me and my need to go for what I needed and wanted in my life, meant that I left Toronto and headed for London. Crazy days.

The desk I thought I would use but haven’t. I’m too used to the coffee table

So here I was and still am in Parkdale, not far from these two places, and in the first several days neither one of us was happy with it. ‘Don’t walk alone here,’ Krish asked. ‘Always take a cab home if it’s dark, no matter how early.’ He was referring to the many people who prowled and lounged on the streets, homeless, sometimes drunk or high. I reminded Krish of our early days in Hackney when it was derelict and neglected, and tried to make light of it. Then we grew to liked it. Like many such neighbourhoods, Parkdale had its share of community and pride. The shop owners were friendly, the mix was eclectic, people spoke to each other here and there.

We found restaurants, shops, the library, the community centre. I explored the streets as much as the winter weather allowed. In one shop, Soepa, I met Jenna and her family – husband Karma who was a chef, and little daughter Suki. She may have singlehandedly won me over, immediately knowing my name and remembering everything I asked her about, ‘That parsley you asked about? I’ve got some in now.’ Suffering a little from the price of food, we went and still go every week to get a box of food – they’re given out without question from the community centre on a street corner on the main street – keeping what we know we needed and giving away what we didn’t. It all helped us feel more welcome.

Food-centred as always, we found two Indian shops, Soepa of course (it’s a specialty food store), a restaurant called Mezz which is a bar with a daily changing menu, a Filipino takeaway, a hole in the wall shop where they make fresh samosa chaat, a Tibetan restaurant called Himalayan Kitchen that makes a great lassi… this area is called Little Tibet, one of the largest Tibetan diaspora outside of India and Nepal/ There are so many Tibetan cafes and shops – Tibetan, Nepalese, Indian. i already knew about the Skyline diner where I’d eaten with my friend, Leslie and who served the breakfast Krish would get sometimes – steak and eggs – I’d get a small Greek salad and a few pieces of the steak, enough.

Bells at one of the Buddhist temples in large houses on the side streets. This one is very close to me

Queen’s Supermarket – an Indian variety store with some interesting groceries. On this day they had green mangoes on the stalk

Mandala Corner is just off Queen Street and sells a small selection of Indian shelf goods, as well as snacks

Tibet restaurants and cafes everywhere. Momo heaven for some

Something else about Parkdale – the homes. There are streets of large houses, with so many different architectural styles it’s bewildering. The roofs are my favourite, but also the balconies and verandahs The ice and snow has kept me from wandering or lingering too long, but now our days here are getting shorter but warmer I really do have to take the time to do that. There’s a lot of history here.

Parkdale was founded as an independent settlement in the 1850s, became a village in 1879 and ten years later amalgamated with Toronto. It was originally an upper-income suburb and that’s why there are so many grand houses. Maybe of these have interesting histories. With any luck, in the warmer weather approaching now, I can look more closely at some of them. It seems that the building of the Queen Elizabeth Way (highway) in 1955 changed the neighbourhood. It became denser, apartments sprang up, immigrants and lower-income people moved in. In the 1970s it was an area where inpatients from the psychiatric hospital to the east were released to be integrated into the general population again. That’s in part how it gained its reputation as a neighbourhood with poverty, crime, drugs, homelessness, and large numbers of people living with mental illness. It’s commendable that a caring community has sprung up to help Parkdale’s very mixed population. There are definitely characters on the streets, you get used to seeing them, but I also know that they are clothed and fed well if they know where to go.

One of many of the large houses in the neighbourhood

There’s a penchant for these conical shapes on top of small buttress-type additions, with some being what the internet tells me are Frustums (flat sided cones). This is one of my favourites

An example of a grand house with many verandah styles

We are also close to the lake. The train tracks and highways (two of them) stand in our way but there are pedestrian bridges that go across. While I’m not really a lake person here, I do have a thing for the water (looking at rather than being in it) and so we have gone down there to take photos. On the day we went it was snowy and icy so I chose the route with the least slip and fall possibilities. There’s another bridge at the bottom of my street but the parkette area is much bigger so I avoided it. The bridge further west was my choice. On the way I was struck with the curve of the bay and the number of transport routes stretching below me, the suburbs looming across the sweep of the lake, not so far away. The bridge was a long pedestrian one and covered in graffiti. Once across there was a parkette and a rugged wooden fence bordering the road. Then walking back the view of central Toronto seemed stunning with the setting sun at my back.

There may be some more talk about Parkdale but for now that’s it. We’ve had hard times here – the bugs, the space we’re in and how little of it we were actually given, the way the building smells of (many) dogs, the noise from neighbours – crashing about, heavy feet, loud arguments that worried me, the way I hear the wind howling when I open the window at night, the cost of laundry…we hope these things are temporary, especially the bugs (how we fear taking them with us). These things apart, we will miss it here.

We’ve been here since early January and so I’ve taken a lot of photos. I can’t choose to feature all of them, but I’ll try to be guided by what’s written here and more may crop up if I’m inspired.

I’ve been reading a blog for some years written by an American woman who goes to Venice every year for a month or two at a time. She’s also called Jan, and writes every day while she’s away – six or seven paragraphs with five or six photos. I enjoy seeing how she spends her days. She’s very different than I am, filling her days with museums and art galleries, usually eating one meal out and one meal in (I found her on one of my foodie sites, The Hungry Onion, after all). Should I do this? Would it work better? Jan’s Continue reading “Parkdale Living”

27th June 2022

Bradford Day 3 – Media Museum and Goodbye to Bradford

Friday, 17 June, 2022

Friday was the hottest, and check-out, day.

We went down for breakfast. Carol welcomed us and then asked ‘Another fishy breakfast?’ She remembered everything we ate the day before and asked if we wanted the same. What a talent. Krish repeated his fish breakfast while i had a smaller version of a full English one and not longer afterwards wished I’d stuck with the haddock I’d had on Thursday. Too hot for meat!

We went up and packed everything. I suggested we might have a cool morning and go to the media museum that everyone raves about so we stored our luggage and walked over.

On the way we went into the Waterstones bookshop where i bought some cards. I’d read about it in my research. It’s been called the most beautiful bookshop in the world, and most certainly the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have left this till the last day because I could have spent much more time here. The bookshop is inside The Wool Exchange Building, a grade I-listed building built as a wool-trading centre in the 19th century (1864-1867). It is likely the most significant building in Bradford. From the outside you’re not so aware what awaits you inside. The Wool Exchange is a lovely enough building, with lots of elaborate stonework, turrets and a great clock tower, but along the side on Hustlergate, Waterstones entrance is on a very modern glass wall. Once inside, it’s a different story. It feels like you are inside a beautiful old chapel. Leaving it to the last day also meant that I was hurrying a bit and only now see how, if I’d sat upstairs in their cafe, I’d have had a better view of the whole shop.

(Pictured before) Krish peering into Waterstones through its modern glass wall entrance

On our way over to the Science and Media Museum I thought it would be good to pop into Sunbridge Wells, which is an underground retail complex with Victorian style units running the length of the tunnels. We didn’t make it – we got a bit confused by where it was, then deterred by Krish’s dislike of anything remotely cellar or cave-ish. On these short visits, and with my limits on walking and climbing, there will always be things we don’t see. It’s hard to not regret this. However, we did see some interesting things. Over near the chip shop there was loud Indian music. When I traced the source it seemed to be coming from a balcony at the top of a lovely red brick corner building. Each time we’d passed here, the music was playing. The square below had benches and had they not been some sort of convention spot for people to lay around on, I’d have sat a while listening to the music and admiring the building.

The building opposite isn't bad either — The Grade II building opposite isn’t bad either. Prudential Assurance, 1895. The only major *building* in *Bradford* to be built of red brick and terracotta.

We also had to pass the town hall again. It has a really large square, Centenary Square and City Park, in front that has a huge mirror pool with 100 fountains. When we walked through there was no water – that might have been nice though, like running through the sprinklers. Bradford City Hall was opened in 1873. The building was designed in the Venetian style. The bell tower was inspired by Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and houses 13 bells.

Near the town hall is the opulent looking Alhambra Theatre. This is where we would have eaten had there been a performance day while we were there. The restaurant has British food and a great view of the city, they say. The theatre is an interesting looking one, rather like a Brighton building. In 1964, and in 1974, it was designated a Grade II listed building. It underwent extensive refurbishment in 1986 and seats 1,456. Too bad we didn’t go in. Near the theatre, the streets are anything than opulent. There’s a lot redevelopment needed around there.

The museum is just beyond the town hall next to an Ice Skating building. It’s across a major road with traffic to and from Leeds. Things really open up around here and there are nice views.

The museum itself is in a modern building. It opened in 1983 as the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television. There are five floors of exhibits and there are cinemas, one being the first IMAX theatre in Europe. Today two of the floors were closed, getting ready for new exhibits. We wandered around and I have mixed feelings about this place, bearing in mind that we probably lost out on seeing some good stuff on those closed floors. Some of it was very interesting but other bits felt dated and amateur – the TV area especially. There was a videogame section I’d love to have looked at but mostly I saw arcade machines and an extra entry price. Some of the things we saw:

In the science section, they had a mirror maze. I thought it might trigger my vertigo but Krish had a go. Was fun watching him trying to figure out where he was and which way to turn

A lovely statue of JB Priestley outside the museum

Near the museum — An interesting schematic map near the museum

We wanted to have some lunch before the train and eventually settled on a place in The Broadway that did grilled chicken and burgers. I had a chicken on a naan thing and Krish a burger. To be honest, this fast food option was the best thing we ate the entire time – something to think about for the future. Fast food is not always such a bad idea!

Krish walked to the hotel for our case while I walked to the station. On the way I passed Bradford Hotel and St George’s Hall, the buildings that had welcomed us when we first arrived. St George’s Hall opened in 1853 as a stunning Victorian Concert Hall, renovated in 2016. A huge building!

I waited for Krish on the street level and started to feel anxious ten minutes before our train time. He showed up with about four minutes to spare. We hurried up to the platform to find our train. No one had got in yet and then a station worker came over to tell us it was cancelled. Not only was it not going anywhere, but there were no trains to London for the rest of the day. We could instead use our tickets to get on a train to Leeds and then from there another train, leaving in an hour, would honour our tickets and get us to London. No choice then. We got on the train for the short journey to Leeds, then found our platform for the next leg. Although this was all a bit annoying, in the end it worked out OK. The Leeds to London train was an hour faster and not crowded since the train had put on extra carriages for those of us who had been stuck in Bradford. The only drawback was that I lost my first class carriage that I’d bid for back in Bradford. The train journey was easier than the original, though, since we had only three stops instead of the eight with the other train line.

At Kings Cross there was the usual culture shock of arriving back in busy London. We let one bus pass us and then got in the next and off to home again! Bradford crossed off our list.

A post script – I hadn’t been keen on Bradford, even while I was there. Thinking back and gathering the photos gives me a chance to reflect on it all. It was a very interesting place and there are things I didn’t see that I would like to see again. Perhaps a combined visit with Leeds could work. I’d go to the Peace Museum if it were open, and the Industrial Museum, and I’d definitely see Sunbridge Wells and the village of Saltaire. I’d even go to the Indian restaurant I’d never reached .

Bradford is Beautiful poster — Is it? Not at first glance but look more closely

The origin of Bradford — This plaque was embedded in the ground near The Broadway

25th June 2022

Bradford 2 – Bradford Cathedral, Little Germany and curry

Thursday, 16 June, 2022

Thursday the heat began. Ouch. it was really REALLY hard going for me. But first – breakfast. This was the first time we’d booked a hotel that included breakfast and Krish wrinkled his nose at the prospect. It used to be a big deal to get a hotel breakfast but, since the pandemic, they have mostly regressed to nothing better than hospital cafeteria style – with steam tables full of questionable quality and predictable British favourites. Luckily for us, the Midland had a ‘nice’ breakfast with juices, fruit, some cheese, yogurts and various spreads, then a menu of cooked to order food. The first day I had haddock with a poached egg, and Krish had a kipper with his poached egg. This was the type of light breakfast I love. The dining room was large with only a couple of tables being used by guests and it was all presided over by Carol, the best hostess we have ever had. Carol was probably in her 60s, and had her grey-blonde hair up in a bun. She wore a loose fitting black dress with a slit at the bottom hem that revealed a white slip. She walked with a heavy limp but managed the walking back and forth quite well. The Queen of the dining room!

The only hotel room photo I took – a messy one. Who else always thinks they’ll unpack everything and make it nice but lives out of the suitcase?

From the hotel window – the nicest view we’ve had for ages. Overlooking the back of The Broadway and, just beyond that, the cathedral

Looking towards the 'cold' food — Looking towards the ‘cold’ food

We had a plan and it included me taking buses if I needed to – I had a freebus pass after all – but it didn’t come to that.

We left the hotel and went through the nearby cathedral grounds. I popped into the quite lovely and very quiet and cool cathedral. The site of the cathedral has been used for Christian worship at least since 627AD. By 1327 there was a stone church here, some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of the Nave. The oldest parts of the present building, the nave arcades. were completed in 1458. The Tower was added to the West end and finished in 1508. The newest parts were completed in 1963. I thought the largest stained glass window quite spectacular but the light behind it created a rather disappointing photo (the third one).

When I came out I found Krish had left (ugh). He sent me a text that he’d left. not having heard that I was going into the cathedral, and was in Little Germany (German Quarter he said) which was next on our list. It’s right next to the cathedral so a very short walk. Little Germany was home to the German merchants, many Jewish, who came to Bradford in the late 1850s for the prosperous textile industry. Little Germany itself is also protected as a Conservation Area. Of the collection of 85 buildings constructed between 1855 and 1890, 55 are listed. Most of the buildings were constructed for the use of textile businesses, including imposing warehouses/

I started up the steep hill. There was a bunch of the area I didn’t see – just too much of a steep hike on a hot day. At first I was a bit disappointed by the area – I’d read so much – but after a while, started noticing all the architectural detail and then I enjoyed it.

Contoured dopr — First time I’ve seen a contoured door

Back near the intersection with the main road bordering little Germany is The Bradford Playhouse which seats 266 people and was founded back in 1929. It was called The Priestley for while, after Bradford son J. B. Priestley who was its president. He wrote of the theatre, “it is a genuine popular movement, not something fostered by a few rich cranks.” To bolster this sentiment of being independent and ordinary hardworking people, at the back is a mural that commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893.

Which once was a stark warehouse and business district is now a neat and impressive neighbourhood of imposing buildings, peppered with art. The most famous of these is a portrait of David Hockney (one of Bradford’s most famous sons) in nails. Yes, the kind you hammer. The sculpture is 16ft high, 12ft wide, and weighs almost three-quarters of a ton, consisting of 12 panels. The 250,000 nails that make up the artist’s portrait were hammered into a base of lacquered marine plywood and fixed onto the wall.

We left Little Germany in search of lunch. Just beyond lay a road considered to be a good source of local (probably curry) restaurants, but when we got there it was a major road with lots of traffic. It was after noon now and the sun felt relentless. It was getting harder to find shade and I decided to veto the journey when we figured out how far we’d have to walk to find a bus. Instead we turned about and walked towards the city centre. There was a street near the hotel called North Parade and we’d read that it had a good collection of independent cafes and bars. It was on our list, we were hungry and thirsty so off we went.

We went around the back way this time, passing the older entrance to the Kala Sangam (the South Asian community arts centre) which is in front of the cathedral. I rested in the cathedral grounds for a while. Then at the very back of the hotel was a large vaulted area leading along Forster Square Station. We hoped there was a way out from here and luckily there was.

Continue reading “Bradford 2 – Bradford Cathedral, Little Germany and curry”

24th June 2022

Bradford Day 1 – Arriving and Yorkshire Puddings

Wednesday, 16th June, 2022

I had left packing until the morning we left for Bradford. My packing phobia – what if I forget something? what if my packing takes forever and I miss the train? – is tempered by my eventual realisation that, as long as I had my medications, my phone, and my bank cards, I was going to be fine.

It was Krish who had decided on Bradford. Hard to say why really, and backed up by the number of people who, when I mentioned I was going to Bradford answered with ‘Why?’ or ‘Bradford? Well, I’m game for anything and anywhere really. Nothing to lose.

We’d been watching the weather forecast – rain, then no rain, then cool, then very warm. My preferred weather when going anywhere to explore is 15-21C, not windy, a few light showers OK. We were in for 23C on average. I anticipated lots of rest in between short excursions.

Traffic was crawling as we left Dalston and we decided to get on the tube for the rest of the journey – just one stop. This got us to Kings Cross with about 40 minutes to spare. I spent some time trying to upgrade our journey but the bidding was too high. Our train was at the very far end of the station but we got our seat and were on our way. A three-hour, easy journey with some brunch along the way.

Crowded tube — The tube was busy and we were the lone mask wearers

Busy Kings Cross — Kings Cross was busy. I hoped not too many of these would be on OUR train

Waiting at Kings Cross – the platform is sometimes announced very close to departure time, then it’s a rush!

Inside train carriage — Here we go again! We’re on our way

Quality Street poster — A promising sign – Quality Street is made in Bradford

Arriving at Bradford Station — And we arrived a minute or two early to a station that reminded me of Southend

I liked Bradford at first glance. It was more wide open than I’d expected and some of the architecture was quite arresting. It was an easy 10 or 15 minute walk to the hotel too, although the last bit was uphill for a short distance. We checked in, were told that we had to pay extra since I’d booked for only one. I was sure they were wrong but later on discovered they were right – oops. The hotel was a grand one and quite old. It felt official. When we got off the elevator, it took a while to get my bearings. Which way? I had to find a cleaner and ask where to go – ah, I see. But when we walked in we were in a small room with twin beds. Nothing to do but go back down to reception and get a new room and new keys. The ‘right’ room was large and very brown as usual (can the hotels please leave the 70s) with a king bed, bath and walk-in shower as requested. And no fridge. Damn – there go plans to have some food and real milk for tea available.

Henry Irving plaque — One of the strangest hotel plaques I’ve ever seen. Very encouraging!

We rested for just a short while and then wandered around the city centre. There was almost no one around and it was rough – lots of closed shops, lots of aimless and homeless people, indoor markets that had seen better days and no sign of anywhere promising for dinner. The markets were full of Indian places serving deep fried snacks and small crowds sitting together eating.

Bradford - wool city — I loved this needle and thread structure , which -reflects Bradford’s past as a major woollen textile producing city. Near the hotel and opposite Forster Square Station

Fascinating building — I was really attracted to this building, which was smothered with all sorts of signs and advertising posters. The busiest shop exterior I’ve ever seen!

Solly's Fruit and Veg — An interesting sight. In a city populated by many Asians today, there’s Solly’s – a reminder of a Jewish immigrant past, in Oestler Market

Here and there remnants of Eid — Some streets still had Eid lights. I was hoping they’d be switched on at night, but they’re waiting for next year…

Bradford has bid for and won city of culture for 2025 and remarked that they had a LONG way to go. I asked Krish where he thought the regeneration might be happening and then we saw where it would be – right next to a market, with hoarding all around….excavating – for something tall, I’m sure. This will be weird for the city, which is stuffed with very old (many, many listed) buildings housing pubs and nail bars and the like. We walked around a few blocks, managed some steep hilly streets, and took in the chaos. ‘It’s beat up and run down,’ I told Krish. He said ‘that’s the same thing’ but I don’t think so.

This isn’t the day we’d go in, but the Wool Exchange is an amazing building – the exterior is soiled but you can’t help noticing all the beautiful detail.

As you leave the Wool Exchange, and before you get to the Midland Hotel, there’s a brand new mall, The Broadway. We picked up a snack and some water and on up the hill to our room.

Now, my first mention of food. Bradford is known as the curry capital of the UK. It has a huge Asian population. How many Asian restaurants would you think there were? Two hundred! That’s what they say. So much curry that, when Krish and I did our usual ‘where to eat’ research, we couldn’t really see anything other than curry. There were a few pubs, some also serving curry, a bunch of burger places, some kebab shops, a couple of fish and chip cafes…one restaurant looked promising – the 1914 in the Alhambra theatre, but sadly it opened only during performances and we’d hit a period where nothing was playing. We did searches for Best Places to Eat in Bradford and Google was great at coming up with places…in Leeds. We were determined to not let this get to us and for the first night we’d 90% decided that we’d go to a nearby pub and have their Giant Yorkshires.

The menu read ‘A giant yorkshire pudding filled with your choice of filling from below, served with rich and tasty home made gravy.’ and below that – Yorkshire Burritos ‘Wonderful home cooked fillings wrapped in a light fluffy giant yorkshire pudding, served with rich and tasty home made gravy.’ We’d been to Yorkshire a couple of times and not been able to find a menu with Yorkshire pudding (very odd) so this is where we had to go.

Shoulder of Mutton — If they’d had food here, we would have gone. It looked so charming.

The City Vaults was once an old (Lloyds) bank built in 1880. This is a grade II listed building on a street intriguingly named Hustlergate. (Hustlergate is named for wool merchant John Hustler (1715-1790) a man credited with turning Bradford from a village into a city, a city which was to become the world centre of the wool textile industry because of his work.

We were an oddity in that pub, which was filled with half-drunken people who seemed at loose ends, many sitting alone. We shared a giant Yorkshire filled with a vinegary (was it red wine?) stew, and a Yorkshire burrito – a YP wrapped around pulled pork, stuffing and apple, accompanied with a large gravy boat. This was a heavy meal really so we didn’t try to eat it all but we’d done it – had a Yorkshire pudding in Yorkshire!

‘Home to bed’ and to ponder the obvious question. Is a Yorkshire pudding done better in Yorkshire? The answer – NO!