Station Cafe

  Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

May 2025 - Toronto ON - Ottawa ON 

Funchal Madeira

Saturday and Sunday - we really enjoyed our first weekend home. John did a grocery run to Metro. 

Strawberries - grown in Canada $3

Butter was $5!! 6 pork chops for $8, will make 3 dinners for us.

Traffic was crazy on Saturday.

We are leaving on Friday for a 4 day trip to the Ottawa Tulip Festival so I made dinner reservations for Friday and Sunday for our friends and us. Yes, I'm that person, wanting everything organized. I hate when everyone stands around saying, "I don't know, what do you want to do???"

I also planned out some other activities for John and I in Ottawa.

I ordered rain pants for myself and foldable water bottles for our trip to Iceland and booked a Food Walk for when we arrive.

Monday Mural from Camara de Lobos Portugal

We had mani-pedis ($35/50) booked for 10:15. Spring has sprung in the neighbourhood.

I went for a haircut and then I went to the bank to cash in our leftover Euros and got $600 CAD.

I tried to buy/order some Iceland ISK kronas but BMO doesn't carry them. It seems TD does, hmmm, I have a friend who works for TD.

I decided to check out the "new" Union Hotel, it is disappointing that they still have a temporary building sign. 

Union Hotel is an independent boutique property in the heart of the financial district.

It began as the Strathcona Hotel in 1933, operating as a popular lodging spot for nearly nine decades until closing during the early COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, it was temporarily leased by the City of Toronto to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness, before reopening in February 2025 as the Union Hotel.

I would come back to check out their cute cafe/bar.

John went to get some wine and used his Aeroplan points so he only paid $4.50! We need to work on using our points.

Tuesday - Food signs from Lisbon Portugal last month. 

As I headed out the door I got an email (almost trashed it as spam) with a title Order Reference Number NNNNAA but saw an Irish name. It seems "Unfortunately we cannot process your application at this time as we are unable to trace a record of this event" referring to my request for a copy of my birth certificate...a little odd, considering I have had a couple of Irish passports.

Anyhoo...I sent her a JPG of the copy I have and she said that would be helpful.

I started the day with only one operational elevator that then had trouble getting the doors closed, I was going to walk down to the 25th floor, but then we were on our way. Then caught the 10:30 bus to go out to Burlington to meet with a friend for some lunch and shopping therapy. We pulled out of Bronte station, my stop was next, with a whine and a stutter. We then sat for 30 minutes being told we had "operational issues". Eventually we were told to walk to the back of the train as  it slowly backed into Bronte where we disembarked. We were told that the 1:05 train was on its way and we got into Appleby around 1:15. Then I caught the 3:19 back to Toronto, which was on time, and arrived at 4:15. My bus was at 4:45 and traffic was heavy. The driver, who drives like an old woman, took 30 minutes to get onto the Gardiner, 2 blocks!! I got home at 5:42!! 

John went golfing and had to same kind of traffic nightmares, on and off the course, leaving on the 13th hole due to rain!

He did find a mural on his way.

Wednesday I went to the Eaton Centre just to check things out. I bought a hat and had some sushi for lunch.

John's scotch order arrived.

I chatted with Teresa about Portugal. Then I did some administrivia (MNBA, Amex, Priority Pass, Away cards, Telus device care/watch).

Thursday and this is the forecast for Ottawa as we pack to leave tomorrow morning!

I caught the 9:30 downtown. I spoke to Richard at Telus (Canadian telecommunications) about John's Samsung watch not holding a charge and cancelled the device care on it. Richard and I also chatted about Lisbon as he was there when we were, but his was a company Outstanding employee perk trip.

I went to Winners and scored some Talbot t-shirts for $15 each. Then to Purdy's (Canadian) for some chocolate for the weekend.

Then I picked up Jersey Mike's sub, I know an American company, but at the employees are Canadian and they are paying local rent.

Then we got packed for a very rainy weekend!

Friday we were awakened  by a fierce storm and then the power went out! My brain immediately went into contingency mode.we were on our way to Burlington to meet our friends at their house and leave our car there. Their daughter drove us to the bus meeting point.

The sun came out as we boarded. It was a great drive to Ottawa. We did one bio break and one lunch break before arriving at 4.   

Click here for Day 1 recap.

John's new Canada cap.

This week's rantings!

COOKING/EATING

Saturday carnitas with pork butt on tortillas sour cream tomatoes scallions lettuce

Sunday leftovers

Monday , mashed cauliflower/potatoes and asparagus

Tuesday meatloaf  stuffed with broccolini and cheesy broccolini potatoes

Wednesday salad cold cuts eggs cheese

Thursday spicy Brazilian coconut chicken very good i would add more spices. We had it with bread to use it up.

Friday OTTAWA Johnny Farina's veal scaloppini and GF pizza

WATCHING 

We started watching Yes, Chef with Martha Stewart and José Andres. We had eaten in one of José Andres' restaurants in Las Vegas in February, and then I remembered that he had posted that he was in Toronto at the time filming this series!!

I caught up on Great British Bake Off and Bollywed.

Nonnas  is a 2025 American biographical comedy-drama film. After losing his beloved mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers as the chefs. Cute.

The Apprentice  is a 2024 independent biographical drama film. The plot examines Donald Trump making a career as a real estate businessman in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s, highlighting his relationship with attorney Roy Cohn. The film struggled to find American distribution due to its subject matter and an attempt by Trump's legal team to block its release.

The Taste of Things (French)  Set in 1889, it depicts a romance between a cook and the gourmet she works for.[5] The character of the gourmet is based on Dodin-Bouffant, created by Swiss author Marcel Rouff in his 1924 novel La Vie et la passion de Dodin-Bouffant, gourmet (The Passionate Epicure).

 The Handmaid's Tale - two more episodes to go!

READING

I finished The Wives and I tried really hard to like the main character, and I should have, but her negative attitude about everyone and everything could really bring a person down. As someone with Canadian pacifist leanings, I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy this memoir about being a U.S. military wife. However, I did learn a lot about being in the army and American involvement in Afghanistan. 

I started Life Sentence