One Saturday Tim said to me, "Mel today is your day, what would you like to do?" Since I love Markets so much I knew of a Flea market that is meant to be the biggest in Toronto, so that is what I wanted to do. I looked on the net for directions there, it seemed pretty straight forward. Tim was just as eager to go so off we went. We estimated it would probably take us under an hour to get there via bus so we made sure we left with plenty of time of shopping before it closed.
So we are on the bus, waiting for our stop to come. Here the buses have that automated voice and those LED screens that tell you which stop is coming up next. The other thing to note about the buses here, is that the drivers think they are competing in some formula one for buses and if you don't hit that button quickly once your stop has been mentioned you are sure to miss it. I might just add it is hard to press the button when your holding on so tight due to the speed of the bus. I do love it being a speedway girl myself, Tim on the other hand finds it somewhat troubling, being the grandpa he is, shaking his head & tisk tisking the driver as he fly's round a corner.
Getting back to the point...our stop was not coming up when we were expecting it to. Tim asked the bus driver if he was going past our stop just in case we got on the wrong bus, he said he was so we waited patiently for it expecting it to come up any minute with our fingers poised to press the button. Well we completely misjudged the distance. An hour and a half later our stop was called. We were hopeful that this market was worth the long trip.
We walked into the market and it was like this huge shed with loads of people talking to stall assistants about their items they were interested in. In a loud booming voice obviously over a PA was a man who named himself Dr Flea. He was obviously the owner, spruking like he was Con the fruiterer. He was giving away prizes for things and Tim was eager to find this man and win something, where I was more eager to shop. We ended up deciding to start at the front of the market which was set up like the Queen Vic markets but indoor. As we reached the beginning there was a man standing in a white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck...Dr Flea!
Tim quickly wheeled over to him and told him we deserved a prize because we had come all the way from Australia. This man did not believe us at first so we showed him Roxy's coat which has Assistance Dog Australia on it. Dr Flea was so excited he wanted to get a photo and he wants to hang it on the wall of the market. He announced to everyone there over the PA who we were and what our names were, and he brought us a couple of drinks. Very nice man, Dr Flea, and Tim was a happy camper now that he had his prize.
I was so excited to get stuck into shopping because we could barter at this market. Now this brought back such fond memories for me when I was 14 years of age and holidayed in Bali with my parents. Once I learned the exchange rate and how to calculate what things cost, I picked up the concept of bartering like a good dutch girl. I was so good at this in Bali that mum and dad would make me close the transactions of every sale made. I haven't had this opportunity again until now and so I was raring to go.
We mainly found things for Tim, super cheap. Ending up buying T shirts for $3, nice dress shorts for $12. Tim was loving having all the purchases about him for the tiny price total of $50.
We also found this little stall that made fresh crisps (chips) while you wait. The astounding thing about this is the flavours, very gourmet. They were so yummy and warm still from just being made that we bought a small bag of Blue Cheese flavoured crisps.
We then decided to go to one of the local shopping malls near our place for dinner. When we arrived we went past this store that had a huge sale on so we decided to have a look. The store was Campus Clothing, a store that stocks all the university campus gear from Universities in the States. Tim spotted a number of items that he liked so we purchased new polos and hoodies to replace the clothes that are gone from the lost suitcase. We both found out most wanted Harvard sweaters, I just hope that it makes us both smarter when ever we wear them!
A very successful day of Shopping and the dutch way!
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