{"id":5314,"date":"2026-08-10T13:56:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T13:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=5314"},"modified":"2026-08-10T13:56:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T13:56:54","slug":"oh-canada-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=5314","title":{"rendered":"Oh Canada!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Toronto has a population of three million but compared to New York City feels far less crowded and noisy. I\u2019m basing this far from scientific observation on a recent six-day visit.<\/p>\n

My friend C lives in a spacious condo in an almost parklike setting. It feels distant from \u201cdowntown\u201d but it\u2019s only a few minutes away. Many of her family members live close by enabling lots of time together.<\/p>\n

While there we watched Ted Lasso<\/em> which I\u2019d somehow let slip by. It\u2019s charming but can\u2019t say I became a huge fan. We ate well, enjoyed lots of wine, caught up on the past and cooked together.<\/p>\n

The Gardiner Museum is devoted to ceramics. The physical space is light and airy; the exhibits are terrific. So is the gift shop but buying ceramics that would require shipping seemed silly do I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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Tilting moves the liquid.<\/p><\/div>\n

Among the current exhibits was the International Ceramic Art Fair full of contemporary work. There are also areas devoted to the kind of porcelain \u00a0(Chinese export and related) I have far too much of but, as it largely belonged to my family, can\u2019t jettison.\u00a0 After lots of viewing we had a delightful lunch at Clay, the museum restaurant.<\/p>\n

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Also loved the Bata Shoe Museum showcasing, hardly surprisingly, footwear. The exhibit devoted to artifacts from Vindolanda, a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian’s Wall in England.\u00a0 So many variants on sandals! Also on view are items capitulating the history of footwear including \u201cshoes\u201d from all over the world\u2014these Indian paduka from Jaipur were likely for a very formal occasion. If you\u2019re into the American Wild West you can see a display of cowboy boots.<\/p>\n

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Indian Paduca –tread carefully<\/p><\/div>\n

One night we went to Sorrel, an excellent restaurant in a hot area of the city where prices seemed high to me because the American dollar is high compared to the Canadian. The grilled artichokes and my bouillabaisse were great. Another night we whipped up quite a good pasta with shrimp, beans, fennel and crushed tomatoes courtesy of the New York Times<\/em> cooking site.<\/p>\n

Compared to New Yorkers, Torontonions, (how they style themselves), are incredibly polite. Even airport personnel are polite! \u00a0I saw fewer dogs than at home but perhaps wasn\u2019t in a particularly dog-enhanced area. The city feels less foreign than London, Paris or Palermo, probably because it\u2019s part of North America. After all, we speak the same language although Canadians have certain advantages like a different government and universal health care which my friend says works well although certain situations require a long wait.\"\"<\/p>\n

Although C mentioned butter tarts we didn\u2019t eat them. However, I can see why they would be delicious.<\/p>\n

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Canadian Butter Tarts<\/strong><\/p>\n

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