Though Toronto is usually a bustling urban centre, it can also seem quite empty relatively speaking. Even during this Caribbean Festival week-end, parts of the city felt unusually quiet. On Saturday, I did my shopping through a subdued Chinatown, likely caused by the combination of the holiday week-end and the street closure of Spadina. Even the crowd in Kensington Market was sparse. I did discover that the alley next to the small Latin marketplace now hosted several small outdoor food vendors selling fresh juice, Japanese octopus balls, tacos and ceviches. Then it was off to Dufferin Park to check out the latest addition, a reflexology path embedded with different sized stones. It was psychologically interesting to see who finished walking the path and who stepped off at the sharper rocks.
Sunday was equally low-key. After yoga, I had a light lunch at small coffee shop on trendy Ossington. But talking to a few folks reminded me that some lives were full of people behaving badly. The nice thing about misanthropy is the minimal daily interaction: less exposure to assholes, and less submitting other people to your own douchbaggery. A matinée showing of Terry Gilliam's Zero Theorem only confirmed that hell is other people.
The streets remained empty on the Civic Monday holiday. Making purchases at an empty Dufferin Mall was heaven: no line-ups, no crowds, and lots of selection. I spent lunch at Madras Masala, making my way through a giant "gunpowder dosa". After eating such a large serving, a pleasant afternoon nap finished off a drowsy afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment