Shiny shoes to first steps
Two day weekends have become rare for Suleman. He works in retail banking which means that most Saturdays he is at work and gets a week day off instead. It’s not a problem for me as I stay at home anyway or im a stay-at-home-MOM as the canadians like to call it. Plus having him at home on a weekday feels extra special.
Well last Saturday was one of those once a month Saturdays off. The weather hasn’t been great lately but I didn’t want to just stay at home, even though the idea of a ‘24’ marathon was quite appealing! There are a couple of places which I have yet to visit in Toronto, places like Casaloma and The Bata Shoe Museum. After a quick google search I found some buy-one-ticket-get-the-other-free coupons for the museum, and so it was decided, a trip to Bata!
Saturdays are also the only day of the week when my local early years centre runs playgroups exclusively for daddy’s. So off Suleman and Zahrah went, while I took a leisurely bath and took my time getting dressed. I prepped Zahrahs lunch then went to meet S and Z at the playgroup, and from there we headed downtown. The Museum is only about 40 minutes away so we were there pretty quick. We entered the exhibiton and following the lady at the desks advice, started from the lower level, working our way up to the top.
Now I always thought ‘bata’ was an Indian brand of footwear. Everyone I know owns a pair of Bata champals. However I discovered that the museum was founded by a Swiss lady named Sonja Bata, wife of Thomas J Bata of The Bata Shoe Company. She began collecting shoes, and eventually was able to open a museum. There were hundreds of shoes on show, everything from what the Canadian natives wore hundreds of years ago, to the more recent celebraty donated shoes from the Juno awards. My favourite exhib was ‘heels, hemlines and high spirits’, a look at shoes from the 1920’s. The exhib room showcased some beautiful sparkly shoes, very similar to a couple of sandals I own!
I was pretty surprised that S didnt get bored in the first five minutes, infact he was quite interested and kept telling me to read stuff he had found. Zahrah had a good time chewing the guidebook and was just generally happy at being outside. After a quick shop around the gift store we left the museum. Just at that moment the heavens decided to open and by the time we reached the mall at Younge subway station we were drenched! I was also pretty hungry by this time, so we decided to sit down for some poutine. Poutine is a gorgeous canadian dish of chips, gravy and cheese curds. The curds melt when the hot gravy is poured over them, and it just tastes divine! Zahrah munched down her lunch of white rice and mixed veges, and a couple of gravy covered chips too; I dont even wat to think about the salt content she was enjoying!
Next stop was The Bay, which is Canada’s equivilant to Debenhams or John Lewis. I headed straight over to the MAC concession stand and started to hint that my mascara was nearly finished and my liquid liner drying out. S grinned at me saying he didnt need any more hints and bought me some beautiful MAC makeup. I ADORE MAC. Their quality is really good and well worth the few extra $$$. I’d also like to point out that the MAC technakohl eyeliner is the only eyeliner I have ever owned which A. does not smudge and B. stays on the whole day!
We got home that evening to a marathon of 24 after all. Suleman is Jack Bauer obsessed, and is intent on getting me hooked too. I have to admit though, it is reeeally addictive! Zahrah too was happy to be home, back to talking with her toys and banging on the coffee table scaring us into thinking the glass would cave in any second. I think the trip to The Bata Shoe Musuem really inspired her because to our utter delight, she took her first two steps! Yaay Zahrah! x
