Market – slightly weird

31st July 20233rd August 2023

Toronto Old Town

Saturday, 29 July, 2023

It’s nice when there’s a not-so-hot day in Toronto during the summer. Krish was off for his phototherapy and we said we would meet afterwards. This takes some discussion about where we will go, but we settled on King Street East without much of a plan other than Krish mentioning the amazing almond croissants that we’d had some years ago (it was closed that day – a Wednesday) a possible pizza place and perhaps go into Toronto’s First Post Office.

I started my journey and changed to the College streetcar. This is now familiar to me. I love the Alice mural and I had a bit of a wait – also becoming too familiar. There was a lovely smell of baking nearby and I wandered over to a small bakery – Janelle’s and Southern Accent. The latter has meaning to me. The restaurant Southern Accent was undoubtedly my very favourite in town. It was Cajun and Creole and the owner prided himself on having taken the staff down to New Orleans every year to make sure they knew what the food was supposed to taste like. Later in New Orleans myself I didn’t have any food like it, but then I couldn’t get Cajun food so I won’t know how alike they might have been. Southern Accent had a lovely vibe – dark with coloured lights over the bar, cosy with two floors and some nice private alcoves with curtains to draw, with a Zydeco backing track. The server would come and explain the dishes, help you choose, and then bring them to you, always smiling. And it was delicious. Like most places, it fell on harder times, the menu shifted a bit and then the street was redeveloped. They moved, but never made a real success in their new spot. Portions had become smaller, more expensive, and the vibe just wasn’t there – none of it.

However, Janelle was pleased I was buying the spices. I asked her why Southern Accent. She said that they had been her neighbours, hadn’t survived the pandemic, but had befriended her. Good thing too. Janelle was also pleased to hear me ask about her still-warm scones. ‘I’m known for my scones,’ she told me with that broad Toronto accent where the ‘o’ sounds are different. I vowed to go back, ate the scone at the streetcar stop until my ride showed up.

Each time I come to College and Ossington I see the Alice mural. It remains the best street art in the city for me. I want more like this

Scone and some blackening spice from Janelle’s

After meeting we started off at Queen Street. I wanted to take a look at the construction for the Ontario Line there. Things are fenced off and there are ‘guards’ around but no work was going on. This is going to take a long, long time to complete – estimate is 4.5 years but no one expects this to stick. It’s the latest transport controversy for Toronto, and there are many of them.

We also took a little detour into the Eaton Centre. Those flying geese overhead looked lovely but my photos just won’t capture the detail no matter how much I play with editing. It feels like this flock of sixty has been flying up there to who knows where for a very long time. Flightstop was installed in 1979 and was crafted by Canadian artist Michael Snow.

We don’t walk east that often. Yonge Street is the major divide in Toronto. Streets that run off from there are numbered at zero and there’s East and West. Like most cities there are people who love one side of town and those who love the other. I’m a West person in Toronto (East in London, but you knew that). But this time we headed east to see what we could see.

Love a ghost sign. I looked it up and Loew’s was a theatre chain back in the early 1900s. This sign at Queen and Victoria, on the Elgin Theatre, had deteriorated but in 2022 it was restored to its original appearance

I was struck by the two spires so close together. At the front is the Metropolitan United Church (The Met, founded in 1818 as a small wooden chapel and now relocated here to open in 1872. It has a special recognition for its acceptance of all genders) and at the back St Michael’s Cathedral Basilica

Not sure how clear this is but the gate of the church is in the form of two stone churches

A close up example of facadism in the making. The piece of building at the front is the old Richard Bigley building staying up at what will be Richard Bigley Lofts. I wonder what Richard, who sold the Happy Thought line of stoves (“‘Grate’ Happiness at Home” promised an 1885 ad in the Globe newspaper)

I asked Krish if he thought there was more construction going on in London or here in Toronto. He thought Toronto probably had. Anyone know? We were looking at a pizza place but it wasn’t open yet, the sun was shining down at full force now and we just moved along.
Continue reading “Toronto Old Town”

29th January 20231st February 2023

Gaia – “My Earth” exhibit and a flying visit to Borough Market

Friday, October 14, 2022

October 14 is our anniversary. We usually go somewhere to eat, but I find unless we’ve booked it, it often doesn’t happen. We did make an attempt though, looking for a roast or even just a cream tea somewhere.

We were well into our clearing out and packing days during our anniversary week. I’d say that we wouldn’t ordinarily choose to go to London Bridge for such an occasion but I’d booked a couple of months earlier to go see the Gaia My Earth exhibit at Southwark Cathedral. The cathedral is somewhere that we’ve always loved and the place Krish had met our close friend Emma and her husband many years earlier.

Anyway, I’d been wanting to see the Gaia and London Bridge and the cathedral ticked a bunch of boxes so we were going.

Looking down on Southwark cathedral from London Bridge

There’s no way to avoid the crammed passage of eating places bordering Borough Market when you climb down from the bridge

The cathedral is at the edge of the market and there was the usual well-organised entry path. No one asked to look at our tickets so in we went.

Then as you clear the entrance, there floats Gaia.

Gaia was created by UK artist Luke Jerram. It’s a suspended, revolving seven metre diameter model of earth. The artwork has been touring around the world for some time. In Greek Mythology Gaia is the personification of the Earth

There’s also audio – music and voices, including many who are at once awed and fearful of our earth and its future. The model wants to create more respect and responsibility for each other and our planet.

As large as it is, this Earth is “1.8 million times smaller than the real Earth with each centimetre of the internally lit sculpture describing 18km of the Earth’s surface. By standing 211m away from the artwork, the public will be able to see the Earth as it appears from the moon.”.

The atmosphere in the cathedral was hushed. People stood and watched it, some walking around to view it from all sides. At one point a group of school children were escorted in and each one gasped at seeing it for the first time because, yes, it’s very impressive. The backdrop of the cathedral was quite lovely. I’d actually like to have seen it in dimmer light.

The cathedral has some great artefacts scattered about, items that have been found and kept from its earlier days. Originally called St Mary Overie, then St Saviours, there’s been a church here since the early 12th century, but over the years it has been added to and restored. It became a cathedral in 1905. Since Shakespeare lived in Southwark, he also has a memorial here – a statue and stained glass window – so many visitors think he is buried here. He isn’t but his brother Edmund who died in 1607 at the age of 27 is. Each year on Williams’s birthday there’s a memorial celebration here in the cathedral. I’ve never managed to be there for it.

When I came to London in 2002, I’d often go to Borough Market. I loved walking along from St Pauls, over the Millennium Bridge and eastwards from the Tate Gallery – my favourite part was between the Globe Theatre and London Bridge so took in all of the market. Over the years the market has become busier and more trendy, with more and more cooked food stalls popping up. This is true of most markets but it changes the ambience and attracts more crowds of young people. It’s still fun to go there when it’s not so crowded and I tend to stick to the shops in the surrounding streets, like Neals Yard Dairy. I really do try to stay away during lunch hours and weekends.

The very modern Shard presides over the very old market

It was one of those days when nothing appealed in the way of food. We checked out some menus and turned away. We looked at the menu for Roast, inside the market, but again turned away. I grabbed a sausage roll for the bus home and I no longer remember what we ate that night but I think someone still owes me an anniversary dinner!

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!

10th May 202210th May 2022

Norwich – Elm Hill and Over the Water

Thursday, 28 April, 2022

We had the rest of the sausages and hot cross buns and started getting ready to leave. I have recurring nightmares about having to pack for somewhere and not being able to get it together. So in real life I try to get it done early and quickly – it’s almost like PTSD from all those bad dreams. Anyway, everything fit in so that’s good. When the case was almost done, the plumber showed up to fix the shower and said that there was something wrong with the thermostat and it would have to be replaced. A few minutes later the receptionist showed up to offer us a shower in an empty room. Way too late! We politely refused and soon afterwards left our cases in the front lobby and left, passing the views of the cathedral and the back road to where we needed to be. There was construction that Krish was sure was a nod to Ukraine.

We planned to go ‘over the water,’ which is what they call it in Norwich – crossing the River Wensum. It’s also called The Creative Quarter, since the art school and other creative arts venue are there. So ‘Creative Quarter, Over the Water.’ My friend Tom, who has lived here, had told me to check out Elm Hill and I’d seen a bit of it the night before so knew it was worth looking at. It’s just before you reach the river.

It’s worth a moment to say that the street called Tombland is wonderfully named. It comes from two Old English words meaning ’empty space’ – and the area was originally the site of an Anglo-Saxon market.

Elm Hill is considered the most famous and most complete medieval street in the city. It’s steep, cobbled, and lined with some lovely small boutiques. At the top is St Peter Hungate church. The churchwardens planted the first elm trees during the first quarter of the 16th century and these gave the name to the street. They stood there until Dutch Elm disease killed them all.

Although there’s evidence that Elm Hill has been there since the 1200s, very few buildings now there are of an earlier date than 1507, when 700 houses n Norwich were destroyed by fire. The oldest building is The Britons Arms, 1420. The Tudor building above is 22-26 Elm Hill former Paston House, now Strangers Club. The wooden door with the plaque saying Father Ignatius tells another tale. Father Ignatius (Reverend Joseph Leicester Lyne ) and his Anglican monks first came to open his monastery in 1863. He was by all accounts charismatic and controversial. By 1866 his monastery was closed, following wide-spread public outrage and outbreaks of violence over the activities of Father Ignatius and his Third Order. Since I read most of what I know now after leaving Elm Hill, I can’t tell you which buildings are which, but they are certainly memorable. Memorable to my legs too – the cobbles and the steep hill were not friendly to them. Then we went over the water.

I was looking for where Tom used to live but I never found it. He’d sent me a map but I couldn’t make it out – ‘not very good with maps.’ This area was rougher than the other side of the river. Krish and I talked about how different the areas people actually live in can be from what you see in the centre of towns. My legs were tired though, so Krish went exploring and I got a hot chocolate and sat outside waiting for him. We thought we might try to eat here, but somehow we reached the residential area very quickly and so turned around. I could tell I was reaching overload.

I’ll confess to a lot of blurry memory of what we saw. A lot in a short time…no time to linger, explore, contemplate, and at this point of our time away just happy to look and enjoy and be captivated by this and that in our view. It makes me think about how to explore in areas like this where there is so much. Hop on/off sightseeing can be a good overview, but we didn’t do that and rarely do these days. These tours can be good for seeing a lot in a shorter time, but lack the behind-the-scenes off-the-high-street flavour I love. A day somewhere is good only if you focus or have a goal, two days is less tiring, three is ideal or a good taste of what’s on offer. To really explore a month or three is ideal. I miss those longer visits to Torino and, of course, Toronto, La Habra. Will I have those days again?

At any rate this was Norwich so the final bit of our journey had to play out. Before we knew it, it was time for something to eat and get to the station on time. We walked down St George’s Street, trendy and filled with students and digital age types.

A little Norwich geography confusion happened when we realised we were close to not only Pottergate, but not far from St Benedict’s Street again. Suddenly I had that rare ‘putting the jigsaw puzzle together’ experience. Everything was right there.

The penultimate adventure was deciding to go to Haggle this time and again overstepping it, eventually making it through the door. It was full but they had room downstairs. We were alone down there and it was peaceful. We chose our menu items and then I routinely asked if there were green or red peppers in anything. The server went to check and came back with a marked menu – over half the menu was pepper-full, including all of our choices. We’d wanted the lamb tagine and were told ‘It’s just the nature of the cuisine.’ So we left, and I was unable to stop myself saying ‘I’ve had many tagines and never a pepper in one of them’ as I thanked him for his time. Authentic is as authentic does. Well, we weren’t going back to Farmyard, so we headed to the market again.

This was my first time inside the market. There are rows of places and most are for food, one after the other. We swept through and I noticed that Lucy’s had two fish and chips stands – were there more? Krish queued for ramen and I queued for dumplings, and we sat in front of the town hall and ate our final Norwich meal. If Delia is from here, we saw no sign of her, but we managed.

I’d sworn I would take a bus or cab to the station, while Krish would fetch the cases but instead we walked, finally more confident in directions. And off we went to the station and our train home.

The journey was smooth until we slowed down, then stopped. ‘Trespasser on the track,’ they announced. A slowy, stoppy bit later the trespasser was ‘apprehended, a mental health issue sadly.’ England is ‘funny’ like that.

7th May 202210th May 2022

Norwich – King Street Quarter and the Cathedral (mostly)

Wednesday, 27 April, 2022

Our fridge was now stocked so I made sausages with toast for breakfast. Such a good idea. We were loving having a kitchenette.

We left the hotel room with no clear direction. First we walked right from the front door, instead of left. We were on St Faith’s Lane and headed over to Recorder Street. On the corner was a little garden with a lovely gate.

On the street outside was a row of houses leading up to the main road, Prince of Wales. The ne on he corner was my favourite. I wondered what the cost of houses was here in Norwich. I don’t have a clear idea of when these houses were built, but they were pretty – a line of them leading down to what is or was a theatre.

We had thought about going down past the station today to Riverside, but instead we crossed the road and headed into what was called the Kinge Street Quarter. This area promised lots of historic houses and it delivered. It’s also where Julian of Norwich counselled the citizens of Norwich, had her 16 visions, which inspired her book ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ the first book written in English by a woman. It’s considered quite a literary area. The historic houses date from the 12th century. Below, the house with the timber frame over flint rubble and brick ground floor is the Dragon Hall, a former merchants’ hall, dating from the 14th Century. The oldest house is the Music House – 12th century – and I don’t think I photographed it since, looking at the images online, it wasn’t that remarkable! If you know Norwich and see it below, please let me know.

And, although we thought we weren’t going to Riverside, this area does border the river and there it is, with its brand new housing.

We considered takng a look at a model home in the area but it didn’t tempt us for long. It was just funny seeing Pizza Hut and TGIFridays in such close quarters to the timber framed buildings on the street outside.

And the churches and churchyards continued.

Talking of continuing so did our jumbled sense of the geography of this place. Turning away from the river, we were suddenly in the Castle Quarter so again close to the market. This suited us since we had decided that we would have a ‘chip off,’ the market Lucy’s fish and chips vs Grosvenor.

The market was bustling but I didn’t have any step in me so Krish headed in for Lucy’s while I sat at City Hall, a building with a crazy tower on top. It’s supposed to be very interesting inside – we never made it in.

Krish was gone for quite a while and came back with some chips and three fish bites. Krish couldn’t resist the onion rings, but wish he had. That’s always the case. Verdict later.

To get up to Pottergate we walked through the newer pedestrianised shopping area and into The Forum (a mix of free exhibitions, events, activities, catering, shopping and learning opportunities) for a bit.

I think the next photos might show the Guildhall. I’m not sure! I’ll be perfectly honest and say that I have no idea which photo belongs to what anymore. But I photographed anything that struck me and hope you enjoy them.

This time we found Pottergate and the Grosvenor Fish Bar easily. Time for the second part of the chip off. We had chips again, a cod goujon, and some gravy – my request.

And the result. Divided! Krish liked Lucy’s chips, while I thought them a bit too well done and with an odd taste (beef fat? although I think Grosvenor also uses fat instead of oil. Both had a batter that was thicker than we liked. Lucy’s batter tasted nicer but Grosvenor’s fish was a larger piece so moister and more flavourful. Neither won prizes with us but I’d choose Grosvenor. Fun, though!
Continue reading “Norwich – King Street Quarter and the Cathedral (mostly)”