A most colourful night...

Hello from Toronto!

We are staying here at our daughter and very soon to be son- in- laws place

in the heart of Little India or The Indian Bazaar as it is otherwise known.

If you don't know, Toronto is the city of neighbourhoods.

Greek Town, Little Italy, Polish Town, Cork Town, just to name a few.

The beauty of this is that you experience the food, festivals, shopping, clothes,

sights and sounds of many cultures.

Here in Little India we took a stroll at night to see what sights we could find...

 Even at 9:30 at night a lot of shops were still open...

Breezy summer dresses in all shades of silk and cotton...



Did you know the swastika is actually an old Indian Sanskrit symbol

  that literally translates to "be good"?

 I love all the layers of colours...

 ...maybe tomorrow...

 Blue is the new black this summer...

 Clothing for all sizes...

Wednesday was the Rakshar Bandhan or festival of Brother Sister and many women were

dressed in beautiful clothing. I'm not sure if they do this every night or what but

 I caught this woman as she was crossing the street in her sparkly pink sari...

 Through the shop window, this shop was a real mod podge of things

 from drums to incense to hair dryers and who knows what!

 How's that for a deal?!

 Sugar cane juice for sale, freshly pressed...

 Indian bling anyone?

 At this shop I watched as the salesman held up choices for one mans

daughters to look at...

 I think there were three of them...

 Boy, is he in for some wallet emptying nights!

 Yummy!

 This ice cream truck was heading home when a family flagged him down...

 More lovely saris...

Now a happy family with cool treats!

 I suppose some saris are so expensive that they cover them up at night to

lessen temptation from would be sari thieves...

This shop had some very interesting scarveless mannequins...



 What a deal on the SZ 40!

 More treats on the streets..

 Happy, friendly shop keepers all around!

 Don't forget the latest Bollywood ads!

So there you go...Little India after dark!

 



Mother of the Bride...

Yes that would be me!

How exciting when my daughter asked me to go wedding dress shopping with her!

Something I've never really done, except for my own dress which was of a more casual affair.

So we made our way down to Queen St West, where all the cool shops are.

This is Cabaret.

Fantastic vintage clothing from the 1900's through to the 70's and custom designed and fitted new wedding dresses.

It was like walking onto an Audrey Hepburn movie set.

Not only were the clothes exquisite but the accessories were to die for as well.

Hats and shoes and bags of beautiful taste and design...

(if only I could fit into this little number!!)

There were things for the gents as well...

Lederhosen anyone??

Love the squirrel tie.

The shop keeper was the most friendly and helpful guy and

made us feel welcome. No snobbishness here.

High end products without the stuffiness or pretentiousness of what I expected from a bridal shop.

So into the little boudoir dressing room went Aja...

...and then...

Out she came!

...a few little adjustments...then look how pretty!!

Look at those sweet little polka dot shoes, handmade in Italy!

Dress #2...

 This was really cute but I liked the first one with the organza skirt.

Aja liked the first one as well.

But to me it really didn't matter since I was clouded over with emotion to see

how excited and happy she is.

The wedding isn't until the fall so she still has time to look around some more.

But like I said, when all is said and done, she'll be the

prettiest bride I've ever seen because she's

my baby girl...my one and only...

love you sweetie!

 

 

 



To market, to market....

Toronto is often called the City of Neighbourhoods.

One of the oldest and most well known is the area called

Kensington Market.

My grandmother used to take me here as a child and I was always intrigued

by the vast array of culture and food.

During the 1920's and 1930's it was home to a very large

Jewish community where there were many shops reminiscent

of markets in their homeland.

Post war after the Jewish community moved to more affluent areas of Toronto,

the area became a melting pot of immigrants from Spain, the Caribbean, East Asia,

Central America, Sudan, Somalia, Iran, Vietnam and Chile.

In the '60's plans to demolish the Victorian era row houses and shops were

halted by newly elected mayor David Crombie.

Thank goodness for this!

It has morphed from it's immigrant roots, through the hippie era and now

hosts a plethora of shops, eateries, homes, cafes, pubs yet has

still kept it's charm (somewhat) and it's original function as a market.

Although there is so much more going on here in the summer,

we took a stroll through it one day and found delightful images...

Around the corner from Kensington Market is Spadina Avenue.

Seems like the most streetcar lines in the city run along here...

 

And there you have it... a little glimpse into the 'hood.