Friday was a PA day (no school) so my girl and I decided to spend the day together doing something a little bit different.
There’s a neighbourhood in Toronto’s west end where a coveted tea shop is located. My girl has been asking for weeks that we go there so she can buy her favorite tea flavour: ginger sparkle.

But first we had to stop at the mobile phone place to get my smartphone looked at. The first stop was at a sister store of the main one, and the sales girl didn’t seem very interested in helping me out.
“What is wrong with the phone?” she asked me. I told her it had done some update and ever since then I was no longer connected to the network whenever I left home.
“Oh you have to call and talk to IT”, she said.
Ugh. 😉
No offense to those of you who work in IT, you guys and gals are heroes with all your knowhow, but I really didn’t want to spend half an hour talking to some guy in India who speaks in code… 🙂
So I said thanks, took my phone, and my daughter and I walk down the street to the other place, the main store.
The guy who fixed my previous phone a couple of years ago was there, and he immediately knew that it was my APN that was erased by the update. I told him what the sales girl said and he said “oh, I can fix that for you here right now, no worries” so I made a date to marry him as soon as he was done. ❤
Long story short, and a few tests done by my daughter with her phone (she sent a few pictures to check downloading and transmitting issues), and everything was working again. Plus, it was free of charge. We have our family plan with that provider. 🙂
Sadly, the guy didn’t want to run off to elope with me, so my girl and I thanked him and left. Of course by then I needed to find a rest room so we had to walk aaaalllll the way to McDonalds to use the facilities, and stop off at the post office for a stamp, but eventually we were on our way to Roncesvalles Avenue.
Toronto has many rules when it comes to driving in these densely populated neighbourhoods and is governed by many one-way streets that almost always take you in the opposite direction where you want to go.
But I know the area well enough and after reading all the signs with all the rules about when you can park and whether or not you need a permit and how long the free street parking is allowed before the parking enforcement comes along and gives you a ticket, we found a spot to park near a school. 🙄
The area where our tea shop was located is culturally known as the centre of the Polish community in Toronto. Many polish businesses, especially delis, butcher shops and bakeries, used to make up the bulk of the retail along there. Sadly, the Polish mom-and-pop shops started to close down as the elderly owners began to retire from working.
It’s been a while since I’ve walked along that road though, and I was pleasantly surprised that there aren’t as many closed shops as there were when my first born was still a baby, going back more than a decade. The area has revitalized, which was wonderful to see, and I took some photos for those of you who are interested in witnessing some local culture from my little corner of this big, metropolitan Canadian city.
Note, Toronto is a city of neighbourhoods. This one has a village feel to it, similar to the one I live in, closer to the lake. Let me know if you agree.











The next date she and I have (besides all her rink activity) is a One of a Kind craft show. That’ll be in two weeks.
Until then…I’ll probably resume regular blogging. 🙂
Nice !
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I loved Toronto when I visited in May. I want to go back there and yes there certainly is that village feel in areas of it especially when they are found after taking a wrong turn.
Toronto a lovely city.
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Aw, that’s nice! Toronto’s Beaches are lovely too, Kensigton, the Kingsway and may others… 🙂
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That tea looks yummy! I used to work in the Roncesvalles area; always something to do around there!
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I didn’t realize Toronto had such a large Polish population. Being that those are my peeps, I think a visit is in order one of these days!
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roncesvalles,_Toronto
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I really need to go to Canada . Love the pics. sounds like a fun day with your daughter.
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Great pics. Such a cute neighbourhood. I’d love to visit one day. 🙂
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It looks surprisingly like the town I live – although it’s changing here slowly. The town is becoming more affluent, and forcing all the independent shops out – replaced by offices, coffee shops, boutiques for elderly women, and fake sport shops full of branded clothing that costs six or seven times as much as it should. There are four Michelin starred restaurants within a mile of each other – and you can’t get a seat at any of them (not that we could afford to anyway). It’s madness.
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There are neighbourhoods here in the west end that cater to the upper crust. I like the ones that are more mixed, serving a diverse socioeconomic population myself. 🙂
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I see pictures like this and am convinced I live in the most boring area possible.
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That is a pretty area. You live in a venue with outdoors and lots of cool places to visit. I would always be walking.
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People need to pay more attention to the seasons and mother nature
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Yes. True.
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As writers, we most certainly do 🦉🦉🤨
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My parents met in Australia…weird to think the seasons are opposite to North America. 🙂
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Hemispheres… north and south poles. We are not the centre of the universe. Life most certainly works… We get a lot of Canadians traveling through here. You guys are the biggest mining industry in the world I think, followed by us. Hence we are each the most important middle powers to the US
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🙂
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Looks like an interesting city. I would like to see a place that gets properly cold.
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Ha.
December to March is a good bet for Toronto most years. This year winter has arrived a little earlier.
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Supposed to be summer here in Melbourne but very wintery. Bizarre weather
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Awesome
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It really was. 🙂
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Wow. It looks great where you live.
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Maybe the Pope and Doctor used to be a bar? Nutella pizza sounds amazing! At midnight while watching a movie, but not for dinner. All in all, it sounds like a lovely day with your girlchild.
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It does look like a nice neighbourhood but Nutella Pizza… That’s. Just. Wrong.
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Yup. Lol.
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I love little mini main streets such as these. Some of the best places to shop. I’m a little too far away to visit yours though 😦
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🙂
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Great post on one of Toronto’s nicest little communities. I grew up not far in “The Village of Parkdale” … until I was 12 then hiked it up to Etobicoke. I miss the Polishness of it, but it’s still there nestled on the small strip. Only peeve today is it being called, “Ronci”, by the Hipsteratti. Ed’s Real Scoop may have the best ice cream in the city. Have you tried Defina for pizza? 🙂
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I saw Defina, will have to go next time.
My kids pediatrician is in that area so may not be long before we head back.
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That neighborhood is so cute! FYI, the recent update screwed up my friends phone too…
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