Walk A Mile In Their Shoes

On Saturday, I arrived bright and early to Dineen Outpost to get some baked goods: almond ($4.75) and butter ($3.35) croissants and a cheese and chive scone ($3.80). They were tasty but more expensive and not as good as Le Consiliabule. I finally used the free passes from the library to visit The Bata Shoe Museum. My relative and I arrived just after 11 a.m. During our hour there, there were only a few other visitors. Like us, they all seemed to have free admission from various sources. I wonder if anyone ever pays for this niche museum?

We started in the basement. The shoes and boots lying around were obviously meant for children but everyone tried on various pairs. The semi-permanent exhibition detailed footwear through the ages starting with Otzi's sandals (stuffed with dry reeds or grass). But shoes meant for fashion or status and not necessarily comfort didn't begin with us modern folks. Through thousands of years, people wore shoes with curled toes, made of precious metal, had enormous heels, and came in bizarre shapes that were no doubt a pain to wear. On the other floors were current exhibits such as dolls and their shoes, and "Shoes in the Age of Enlightenment" that highlighted some of the inequalities including colonization and slavery that enabled the wealth for decadent shoes.

Being close to my old neighbourhood, we hopped on the subway to go to Ossington. Since Ottawa doesn't have good but cheap oysters, I took my relative to Island Oysters for a four-shores platter: $38 for 16 oysters from Newfoundland, New Brunswick, PEI, and BC. They marveled at the freshness of the seafood. We finished off with a slice from 241 Pizza ("great crust", they said) while people-watching on busy Bloor St. We visited a few shops such as the Portuguese butcher shop Nosso Talho ("so much selection") and ended at The Dufferin Mall ("Marshall's! Winners! Walmart!"). It looks like Yoshoku Japanese spot COO has been replaced by Hana Sushi. I don't think the owner brought the sushi conveyor belt with them from their old location at Yonge and College.

The take-away for my relative was the liveliness and convenience of Toronto. They noticed how many elderly or disabled people were moving about on the streets. My take-away was that if I had gotten them to stay with me for a few weeks in the early aughts, maybe we could have been living here all this time. In any case, I'm seeing them off on Sunday and then I have another week left on my sublet to enjoy The Big Smoke.