Neighbourhood #1: Ossington Village

And so it begins. I met up with Sim yesterday at 1pm at the corner of Dundas and Ossington. Our first stop was at Pizzeria Libretto for some lunchies. We share a fixed price lunch which started with a really tasty Arugula, Pear & Walnut salad. Next was a yummy thin sliced Marghertia pizza, and a few biscotti to finish. I felt like I was going to break a tooth, and they weren't Sim's thing so I wrapped them up for later. I may or may not have embarrassed myself with the waitress by saying "I'm never coming back here again until I have a job." It wasn't meant as an insult, more as compliment I suppose. I can't afford places that add $5 to the menu for ambiance. I'll take the cheap meal or a nice home cooked meal instead.

I had spotted a store with a closing business sale so we stopped by Tibet Touch on Dundas. It was mostly clothes. At first I thought it was going to be more like the that eclectic store on Bloor in the Annex, but it was a bit of a bust. The cafe I had seen during my internet research phase was not available so we took a walk down the West side of Ossington. We stopped at first cafe we passed which was Goet Eten. Sim pointed out that it was German for good eats. Good deal. [edit: not the actual translation, as later discovered] I ordered the Mocha, and Sim got the Latte. I know mine was delicious. Perhaps a tad more than I would usually spend on a caffeinated beverage, but it was good enough to make me forget. We sat and drank our coffees and played a few games of backgammon. Sim has that extra talent in BG that I'll never quite obtain. I think it comes from learning a game as a child and playing through to adulthood. But I do put up a good fight.

Next we stopped into a vintage clothing store called Vintage1. There were some cute clothes, and Sim inspected some of the hand crafted belts. They had some wild 70s blazers. They were all so wonderfully tacky. Next we hopped across the street to Frantic City. I was really hoping to find something to buy. I did pick up a Steinbeck, but at $9 it was between getting the book or buying a beer later. And the beer won out. I really loved that bookstore. They had all sorts of really interesting books on display, and then the rest neatly organized on the walls. On we went. We were in search of a gallery we wanted to stop in on. Unable to find it we took a walk down to Queen and into a small park beside CAMH to read up on the CAMH Heritage wall. We even called the number to listen to a recorded piece describing the creation of the wall and a bit about the inhabitants of the asylum at the time. Eventually the electronic voices became too much and I had to hang up. I meant to write down the number and extension but alas I forgot. After a quick check on Sim's smart phone we were off to Gallery TPW. The gallery was exhibiting one of the major annual shows, Photorama. It was all contemporary photography, with a lot of creative editing. The exhibit actually first caught my eye online because the lead photo strongly reminded me of Sim's personal work. Staged photos with a bit of cheeky editing. We had a nice walk around the gallery, commenting on the ones we were taken by, and the ones we weren't. We also stopped in on the AWOL Gallery for a much smaller showing. Interesting graph paper-esque paintings. I think I liked the cloud one best.

At this point it was nearing 4:30 and we knew we had 30 minutes to kill before some of the evening establishments opened their doors. We were thinking about stopping at a particular Tequila Bar Sim was interested in, but when we found the doors still closed we moved on. We walked passed a side street with a really interesting piece of graffiti. I took this wide picture and then Sim grabbed a shot of me (which I might post up later). We kept on from there until we were back up at Dundas and we went on the hunt for The Communist's Daughter. I had called it Communist's Sister all day, but finally by the end I had it right. We got there at about 20-to and needed to kill some time. We took another walk west, past Tibet Touch in search for...anything. I spotted a Nova Era, which seem to be popping up all over the city. Or perhaps I'm travelling around more and noticing just how many locations they have. Our small walk was a bust, and by the time we got back we still had 15 minutes to go until doors opened. I spotted a Beading store across the street, Soo Ling Beads & Beading Co. so we hopped over to check it out. It was a lot smaller inside than I had pictured. If I was a handy crafter it might be a place I'd consider getting my beads & beading accessories. Maybe if I decide to try hemp bracelets again I could pick up a few add-ons. At any rate. We still had 10 minutes left after that so we just poked our heads in and asked if we could sit down. The nice bar tender gave us the nod. We picked a table at the back and both ordered a pint of Maclean's Pale Ale. At first sip I liked the beer, but found there to be an acrid aftertaste. That dissipated and it was fairly enjoyable. I think Sim gave it the thumbs up. The place was Sim's recommendation, and I'm glad we stuck around for it because it was super cute. Perhaps a bit dark, but not too dark for a few more games of BG! At about 6:30 we called our first neighbourhood adventure to an end. Sim headed back East and I waited for the 63 to come. There was actually a bus there when I first crossed but it was out of service. The next to come as an S loop which turned back South at Bloor. The next regular bus was PACKED. Some people with passes hopped on at the back, but there was no more room at the front. I think I was the only person, perhaps with one other, that didn't make it on. And that just meant all the more room for me on the half empty bus that arrived 2 minutes later. Boom.

I'm not sure what's neighbourhood is next. Somewhere that we won't regret missing out on the summer time experience. And perhaps for next time I'll prebandage my heels so I don't have to whine about blisters. I miss sandal weather already. The end!