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Annual TCAF Report: DAY THREE
May. 17th, 2017 11:21 amI somehow managed to get enough rest between tossing and turning through the night to remain easily awake the whole of Sunday. Probably helped that I had three cups of coffee throughout the day, which doesn't usually help me, but maybe Canadian coffee is just better all around.
First cup came with breakfast at my usual place: the Golden Diner - a little hole-in-the-wall in the midst of Tourist Town, Greek-run with packed breakfast specials. They've changed a lot since I first started coming, though, so it may be time to start looking for another place.
After breakfast, Charles wanted to experience TCAF a bit more, so he headed there and I took the subway to Queen for a little shopping.
I should point out, aside from throwing my usual diet to the wind for this trip, I also stopped taking the subway through Toronto as much as I used to, so hotel-to-Queen was my first go the whole weekend. Mike showed me during Nuit Blanche that Toronto is a lot smaller than I thought, and most of it is really pretty walkable.
First stop on the Queen shopping tour: Black Market. They had a $1 - $10 sale going on throughout the whole store, so I bought a bunch of little things, plus a nice leather jacket! It's a size too small, but I think if I install a zipper (it has buttons), it'll close. I'm really happy with it, and two of the patches I picked up at TCAF will go perfectly on it! I switched from my hoodie to the jacket in the entry way on the way out.
Next stop: NYX to pick up some of their amazing Butter lipstick. It started raining, so I switched back to the hoodie so I could have my hood up. Thankfully, the rain didn't last long, and I ducked into the Dr. Martens store to check out some prices on a nice pair of classics. Too expensive for this trip.
My end goal for the day was Kensington Market, at the end of China Town just off Spadina. I stopped in at a couple random spots on Spadina til I got to Kensington. I hit up Butterfly for my traditional purchase of a grab-bag, ducked in and out of some of the surrounding shops I like, and then explored some of the coffee places Robin and Mike suggested.
Robin said she really likes Moonbean's coffee. The Devil's Brew. Mike said he likes their coffee better, but likes the working environment at Casa Cafe better. So I bought some beans from Moonbean and bought a small cup of coffee at Casa and sat outside at the super cute, but super tiny sitting space on their front deck. I did enjoy the working environment there better - the space was the perfect size for me to draw, but they also serve ice cream, so I had to endure the Mother's Day family crowd screaming for ice cream every few seconds. Really good coffee, though.
When Charles met up with me at Casa, we decided to go back to Moonbean, after I regaled that they do have more sitting space, but it's all chiefly indoors. It was a good decision all around. Though they don't have regular iced coffee (only Cold Brew, which is different), their coffee is pretty good, and their sitting spaces are so much more spacious - for a while, we were the only ones in their back sitting space. People mostly crowded the front and the back patio. It was a nice way to end the day.
But then we endured the traffic of going over to Danforth and finding parking for Messini's - a Greek restaurant that blew us away last year. They were hidden by construction, and the wait for a table was long. I was kind of cranky by the time we got seated, but tried to lose the attitude. The Greek fries were awesome as usual. And I ordered what I got last time - grilled octopus - which didn't blow me away as I thought it would. Next time, we'll probably stick with Sneaky Dee's or Black Bull for our last Toronto meal.
The ride home was pleasant, because we had to go out of the city for Messini's, so we got to see what going into Toronto from the north looked like. Just as breathtaking. We passed through Riverdale, which is all lush and green in contrast to the grey cityscape.
First cup came with breakfast at my usual place: the Golden Diner - a little hole-in-the-wall in the midst of Tourist Town, Greek-run with packed breakfast specials. They've changed a lot since I first started coming, though, so it may be time to start looking for another place.
After breakfast, Charles wanted to experience TCAF a bit more, so he headed there and I took the subway to Queen for a little shopping.
I should point out, aside from throwing my usual diet to the wind for this trip, I also stopped taking the subway through Toronto as much as I used to, so hotel-to-Queen was my first go the whole weekend. Mike showed me during Nuit Blanche that Toronto is a lot smaller than I thought, and most of it is really pretty walkable.
First stop on the Queen shopping tour: Black Market. They had a $1 - $10 sale going on throughout the whole store, so I bought a bunch of little things, plus a nice leather jacket! It's a size too small, but I think if I install a zipper (it has buttons), it'll close. I'm really happy with it, and two of the patches I picked up at TCAF will go perfectly on it! I switched from my hoodie to the jacket in the entry way on the way out.
Next stop: NYX to pick up some of their amazing Butter lipstick. It started raining, so I switched back to the hoodie so I could have my hood up. Thankfully, the rain didn't last long, and I ducked into the Dr. Martens store to check out some prices on a nice pair of classics. Too expensive for this trip.
My end goal for the day was Kensington Market, at the end of China Town just off Spadina. I stopped in at a couple random spots on Spadina til I got to Kensington. I hit up Butterfly for my traditional purchase of a grab-bag, ducked in and out of some of the surrounding shops I like, and then explored some of the coffee places Robin and Mike suggested.
Robin said she really likes Moonbean's coffee. The Devil's Brew. Mike said he likes their coffee better, but likes the working environment at Casa Cafe better. So I bought some beans from Moonbean and bought a small cup of coffee at Casa and sat outside at the super cute, but super tiny sitting space on their front deck. I did enjoy the working environment there better - the space was the perfect size for me to draw, but they also serve ice cream, so I had to endure the Mother's Day family crowd screaming for ice cream every few seconds. Really good coffee, though.
When Charles met up with me at Casa, we decided to go back to Moonbean, after I regaled that they do have more sitting space, but it's all chiefly indoors. It was a good decision all around. Though they don't have regular iced coffee (only Cold Brew, which is different), their coffee is pretty good, and their sitting spaces are so much more spacious - for a while, we were the only ones in their back sitting space. People mostly crowded the front and the back patio. It was a nice way to end the day.
But then we endured the traffic of going over to Danforth and finding parking for Messini's - a Greek restaurant that blew us away last year. They were hidden by construction, and the wait for a table was long. I was kind of cranky by the time we got seated, but tried to lose the attitude. The Greek fries were awesome as usual. And I ordered what I got last time - grilled octopus - which didn't blow me away as I thought it would. Next time, we'll probably stick with Sneaky Dee's or Black Bull for our last Toronto meal.
The ride home was pleasant, because we had to go out of the city for Messini's, so we got to see what going into Toronto from the north looked like. Just as breathtaking. We passed through Riverdale, which is all lush and green in contrast to the grey cityscape.
