I'm a big dragon and phoenix fan and I got to see lots of those.
What I had never seen before were comparison examples of porcelain and painted designs beginning with the original Japanese designs, then Chinese riffs, and subsequent British interpretations. Of course, I didn't take a picture of them. Next time.
I find all museums and art galleries to be enlightening, even when I'm not particularly interested in the subject matter, the Cosmodome north of Montreal being a case in point some 20-plus years ago during an ice storm. I fell in love with ceramics at art college 30 years ago and it's hard to believe I'd never been to the Gardiner before now.
Ambled over to the Duke of York by the Bedford exit at the St. George subway stop in the Annex. I used to go to the Duke pubs in the '70s. The food was always good then, and it's truly amazing to find that 40 years later it's still good. Scary realisation: I was going to the Dukes long before any of the current wait staff or management here were born. Yikes.
In terms of food selection, sure, it's the same old pub grub; however both our taste buds say the Duke just does it better. The battered fish were extremely good and the beef burger sliders were intensely beefy.
Bonus, we finally tasted a Moscow Mule. I've tried the Kettle brand Moscow Mule potato chips -- yummers, love anything with lime -- but we didn't have a clue what the drink would be like. So freakin' good -- and icy, icy cold in the copper mug.
Tuesday was another slow amble through the downtown. I finally saw the dog fountain on Front Street in action. Previous trips, it was either under construction or turned off in the winter. It's two blocks from Hi-Toronto where I usually stay, and worth spending a few hours under the trees, people and dog-watching and reading a book.
Then finally, came home to my not-so-green-anymore tomatoes from Mike at the farmers market. Love the natural green-to-red graduation because they all started out uniformly green. I'm eating them one at a time, really good, sharp, acidic tomatoes.
Lots of vendors are moving outside tomorrow -- see you at the market!
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