Oh Canada! Monday - Small town life

Monday








I love how green everything is here. Even Jeanette's garden is like a forest. She lives across the street from Fairy Lake, above which you can see the spires of downtown.

Today we went to the local mall and ate lunch at Zeller's. My paternal grandmother worked at Zeller's for most of her life and as a result was cursed forever by the inability to talk about anything beyond the price of peas.

The company was founded in 1931 by Walter P. Zeller as "stores for thrifty Canadians". The chain began with the purchase of the fourteen Canadian locations of American retailer Schulte-United, all of which are in southeastern Ontario. Almost immediately, Zellers began an aggressive expansion strategy, and within 25 years operated sixty stores, and employed 3000 people.

Today, Zellers operates stores from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, to Victoria, British Columbia, and employs over 35,000 people. Almost every Zellers location features a pharmacy and an in-store restaurant, the 1950s themed Zellers Family Diner.

Multi-level stores are gradually being equipped with a new, state-of-the-art shopping cart system known as the "Cartveyor", which is designed to transport carts between floors next to a standard escalator.-Wikipedia

I ate this. Actually I poked it with a stick. I won't go into detail.





You can buy anything you want at Zeller's



Apparently, even something nice for your grave.





I wandered around the mall, and after perusing the bookstore I found a Laura Secord chocolate shop.



The women working the counter were playing a strange game of good chocolatier/bad chocolatier. The first lady smiled and tried to be helpful, rushing to get a bag as I ordered a cardamom truffle. The second lady looked up from stocking shelves to interject in a warning tone, "It tastes like cinnamon.” Ummm, OK. I ordered one each of the more adventurous flavors. The second woman looked up again and admonished, “They cost A DOLLAR each.” Umm, OK, lady.



I asked Nice Chocolatier if they had a guide booklet so I would know what the flavors were later. Nope. No guide. So I asked if I could photograph the cases so I would remember the flavors. After getting permission from Good Chocolatier, Bad Chocolatier yelled at me for taking these pictures, “They don’t like it." Maybe they don't publish a guide or like photographs taken because Recchiutti might notice that they totally ripped off their style.



Down a few shops. I had a better experience with Purdy's, a popular chocolate company out of Vancouver. The lady at the counter was friendly, and all the customers chatted with each other. The whimsical little hedgehogs are rich with chocolate and hazelnut. In true Canadian fashion, they had maple leaf chocolates and ice wine truffles.





Opa, a pretty good franchise, had a stall at the food court. I needed sustinence, having just pushed my sliders and gravy around the plate. I ordered up a fava bean gyro, which was similar to falafel.





At dusk I went for a walk around the lake. I saw some adorable Canadian goslings by the side of the road. They are everywhere. Naturally.







I also fell in love with the old Crosley Shelvador refrigerator in my aunt's garage. Its door handle opens with a plunger mechanism, like a hypodermic needle.