Coffee and Stuff

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

August 2025 - Toronto ON

Reykjavik Iceland

Saturday we spent the morning reading and catching up online.

I booked our hotel in Montreal for next weekend. We'll be staying downtown so we can enjoy the city. We looked at taking the train but $1,700 was a ridiculous amount for tickets. I can better spend that kind of money!! I also used points for 1 night of our 3 nights hotel, the self-parking is $40 a day!

I made pineapple, ginger, lime granita (NEW) and pavlovas for two, instead of strawberries I used this recipe for honey cream and nectarines and raspberries.

I also made coleslaw and potato salad for dinner.

I threw in a load of laundry.

The pavlovas were a hit, served with the cream, fruit, and granita.

Sunday and it is a smoky sunshine day as  we headed to Port Credit for breakfast at Cafe Panchita. I don't know the last time that I was in the car!!

Toronto is just so weird. There is Lake Shore Blvd west and east divided by Yonge St. Then Mississauga, which is west of Toronto has Lakeshore Blvd east and west divided by Hurontario.

It is all the same street running along Lake Ontario.

          LAKESHORE MISS         LAKE SHORE TOR

WEST  HURONTARIO EAST  WEST YONGE EAST

It is so smoky that you could smell it.

Cafe Panchita is a tidy little spot that includes a bakery. Their story is very interesting.

The food was very good! I had Huevos Divorciados Del Turco - Poached eggs, labneh, salsa brava, chimichurri, creamy avocado, paprika & sourdough.

And John had Tortilla de Patatas - Three eggs Classic Spanish Omelet, potatoes & onion confit, olive oil.

We changed our plans based on the heat and smoke and checked out some murals on our way home with a stop at the $ store.

Then home to relax in the AC.

I was happy to see that a friend had received our postcard from Iceland.

Monday is a holiday here in Ontario. Though the first Monday of August is celebrated in most of Canada as a public holiday, it is only officially known as "Civic Holiday" in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, where it is a territorial statutory holiday.

In other provinces and municipalities, the holiday is known by a variety of names, including British Columbia Day in British Columbia, New Brunswick Day in New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan Day in Saskatchewan; all of these places celebrate the date as a provincial statutory holiday.

The holiday is celebrated as Heritage Day in Alberta; Natal Day in Nova Scotia, in commemoration of the founding of the Halifax–Dartmouth area; Natal Day on Prince Edward Island celebrating the birth of the province; and as Terry Fox Day in Manitoba, in honour of the Manitoba-born athlete.

The first Monday in August is not generally observed as a holiday in Quebec, parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, or Yukon, but replacement summer holidays may be observed on other dates.

Monday Mural from San Diego earlier this year.

I finally did book our train tickets to Montreal, it was a little cheaper than the other day, business class which includes a meal and drinks, and I was able to use my Amex points ($700) to cut the price in half!!!

I did some travel research for some ideas I have.

We caught up on MC AU, almost done with S17 as we are down to top 3!

Chatted with my 85 yo friend who lives in a retirement home, always fun to catch up.

We both did some laptop maintenance.

I backed up our photos after organizing some of them into their proper folders.

Tuesday Signs from Niagara Falls last week. Treasures from Toronto.

Another smoky morning. BTW I had to look this up. In most contexts in Canada, the correct spelling is smoky, not "smokey". "Smoky" is the standard adjective used to describe something filled with or smelling of smoke. "Smokey" is primarily used as a proper noun, most famously for Smokey Bear, the U.S. Forest Service mascot. 

I did a bunch of administrivia, Telus, pay M/C, electrician request, Montreal research, cut calla lilies, clean silver, Cleo account fixed, etc.

We met up with an old (young) friend Suzanne for a late lunch at The Well. I used to work with Suzanne and she was the reason we went to Singapore in 2015 as she was working there.

 John had pad Thai from KAO KANG by Koh Lipe a Southern Thai restaurant recognized by the Michelin Guide for three consecutive years, Suzanne had a Japadog, and I had delicious fish and chips from Hooky's.

Samosas I am going to have to try these one day.

Suzanne insisted on by birthday drinks!

Wednesday 

John played golf in the afternoon. While I headed out for a haircut.

Flowers while waiting for the bus.

Stopped at Bready's for a cheese Danish and then got 2 shirts for John at Winner's.

Thursday we left together, John to golf, me to mooch around and that I did.

College Park and then Ikea's, which I always forget about, Marshall's and the Eaton Centre, no purchases!!

A great deal, but the line up was long.

The sign reads "lap dances still tariff free"!

Inside the Turkish candy store.

The American Eagle ad everyone is up in arms about.

Someone was asking me if you could still take the PATH through The Bay store, yes.

Back home I tidied up and started our packing for the weekend.

Friday we finished packing and we caught the 9:30 bus to Union Station for our train to Montreal.

Despite being on a train for 5.5 hours we still managed to do 9,600 steps.

It was crazy how far we had to walk to get to our car! The seats are very roomy and comfortable.

John declared that this is the only way to go!!

Bloody Caesar's to start.

I had pre-ordered our meals, salmon cake for me and a gluten-free chicken dish for John.

We were astounded by the changes as we were heading into Central Station, so many new condos. We arrived only 20 minutes late, a vast improvement on J and L three hour delay two weeks ago!

We walked up to our hotel.

First stop was for a Public Art post (hosted by Natalie). So many changes in the downtown core as well, for the better.

Once we checked in at Hilton Garden Inn, at Sherbrooke and Park, and got settled we headed out to explore, our destination was Prince Arthur.

    La Cité, where we once lived! 

The former First Presbyterian Church at 315 Prince Arthur Street West in Montreal was converted into a condominium building called Les Jardins de l'Église in 1990. The conversion involved significantly altering the interior of the church, which had originally been designed by architect Alexander Cowper Hutchison in 1910. 

One of Montréal's first pedestrian streets, Rue Prince-Arthur Est is lined with restaurants and patios. Gluten-free restaurant.

Prince-Arthur Street leads to the architecturally rich Square Saint-Louis with its imposing 19th century homes.

Prince Arthur Street in Montreal is known for its "bring your own wine" (BYOW) restaurants. This means that several restaurants along this pedestrian street allow patrons to bring their own wine or beer to enjoy with their meals. It's a popular concept in Montreal, offering a more affordable dining experience by allowing customers to supply their own alcoholic beverages.

It was still early so we stopped for a beer, an Irish stout, Callahan's, in a micro-brewery.

My choice for dinner, bad choice as it would turn out. I had wanted their lobster. Lobster is always on special in the summer in Montreal as they get their lobsters from Gaspe.

Things started well. John went to the corner store, depanneur, for a bottle of wine.

Lamb chops.

The lobster was awful! Lukewarm, the butter congealed and tough as rubber boots. It was sent back, and the waiter just shrugged and said that's how we serve it. The hostess handed me the menu and I said I'd have the lamb chops and waited and waited until John asked our server about my meal and he said "oh, I thought you were going to share his (John's) plate"?!?!?

We laughed it off as we walked back to our hotel.

COOKING

John mentioned how much he enjoyed our breakfast fruit salad when we had visitors last week. So I bought red grapes, apricot and a nectarine to go with our usual raspberries and blueberries this week.

Saturday slow cooker BBQ chicken thighs (NEW) potato salad coleslaw

Sunday lamb kababs tzatziki Greek salad pitas

Monday burgers

Dilallo's Buck burgers made using the old family recipe Luigi and his wife Josephina employed to make burgers for their children. The signature dish remains the Buck Burger; dressed in lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mustard, relish, cheese, capicola, and Dilallo’s famous homemade peppers.  Banana peppers. This was good but the burgers were too thick!

Tuesday late lunch

Wednesday leftovers

Thursday ham, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, bland looking but good. Clean out the fridge. 

Speaking of bland, this was a menu item for the train.

Friday Montreal

WATCHING

Departure  is a Canadian suspense drama television series (4 seasons). season one follows the investigation by the fictional Transport Safety and Investigations Bureau into the disappearance of a British passenger plane over the Atlantic Ocean and the reasons behind it. Season 2.

READING

I continued with Fall of Giants.

I flipped through the Ultimate Avocado Cookbook.