Roncy

Well, we've been out of the hotel and in our new suburb for a week. So much normal life has already occurred, particularly school kicking off, that it feels like longer. In a good way.

We are officially "Roncesvall-ians" now. We really love our neighborhood. It's a little big funky, a little bit suburban and a little bit grungy. Just the way we like it. Officially Roncesvalles is a Polish village. And you can certainly tell. Probably 60% of the local businesses on the strip are Polish, though a few years ago that figure would have been more like 90%. The area is slowly being taken over by families. But they're not always your typical suburban families, there are lots of stay at home dads, people who run music companies for kids, artists and performers. And generally the people who run the local businesses live in the area, if not above their shops. That breeds loyalty and general good will. I think Halloween will be a blast.

picture from here

picture from here

The businesses are quite an interesting mix. It's amazing that one village can sustain about 4 fresh fruit and veg stores, and there are soooo many places dedicated to pets! You can buy some groovy doggy biscuits, then take your pup for some grooming before dropping him/her off with a sitter. There's a couple of vets as well.

The bookstores are of the rare books and socially aware variety, though I still managed to pick up Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook yesterday. There are some lovely bakeries and cafes and the yet-to-be explored coffee houses. Once we've escaped the Ikea gridlock we'll do some tasting, probably next weekend.

Oh, and I haven't mentioned the not-for-profit, community-run local cinema!

picture from here

The area houses three public schools and one Catholic (on our street), so that gives an indication of how many families are around. There's a cute toy store called Scooter Girl, a candy store and a chocolate store (haven't dared pass that threshold yet). So, all in all, I am able to have a pretty interesting wander most days which is good as I rarely have the car. But that's the point of living in Toronto. Walking!

At the end of our street is a lovely park and playground, called Sorauren Park, which has a farmers market every Monday evening. Look forward to checking that out tomorrow night. And only a few blocks away is the awesome High Park playground I mentioned a few posts back.

Here are my pics of one of the local murals...

That's all for now, I have a date with an allen key...