The desire to explore Toronto during winter weekends is to resist the temptation escaping the cold by sitting at home. After going through a list of places we could go, we decided on Downsview Park Merchants Market which is open on weekends.
Spent a nice couple of hours there. These are my discoveries in brief, in case you are thinking of going there.
Good food from the southern parts of the American continent: Other than Mexican, I don't find cuisines of food stalls serving authentic food from these southern countries such as El Salvador, Mexico and so on. There is also Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Jamaican, Italian food too but these restaurants are found everywhere in Toronto.
Antiques: There are about a dozen antique shops and the items are of a wide range, authentic, interesting, 'not damaged'. I did not ask the prices.
Vegetables and fruit: The vegetables and fruit are extremely reasonably priced and definitely worth buying. I am sure those of us, who are managing on tight budgets will get the biggest bang for our bucks, shopping there. At one end, i.e. at the entrance, the vegetables and fruit are fresh. However, as you explore all the aisles, many of these cheap vegetables and fruit are definitely mouldy, overripe and not fresh. There were medium sized avocados at 50 cents each and good pomegranates at 1$ each which is cheaper than in most shops.
A few stalls were selling medicines such as cough syrups, tablets, etc. An interesting notice by these medicines said, " FDA research has proved that medicines have their strength upto 15 years after expiry date". I did not have the courage to photograph that sign! But I fully believe in that sign and I use my medicines past their expiry date, to the dismay of my more fastidious siblings.
There was a book stall with an enormous amount of books run by a gentleman who was quite unaware of authors and books in his store. I had a pleasant fifteen minutes of browsing here. I have not browsed for ages now in an effort to avoid filling up my house. with second-hand books bought at these stores.
Needless to say, there were shops selling tons of tacky stuff too.
I had a good time. This place is worth a visit if you have nothing else to do and are not too hoity-toity.
On working days, in the same building (This market is open only on weekends) there is also a store which sells surplus goods of the Canadian government. I would like to explore that store one day. I wonder what does goods belongs to the government are in surplus and at what rate would they be selling it? Though it would be challenging for me to visit on a working day during working hours.
https://www.gcsurplus.ca/mn-eng.cfm?snc=tc. If you check this link you will see that it's not a store you simply walk into and buy stuff. It's a bit more complicated than that!
Spent a nice couple of hours there. These are my discoveries in brief, in case you are thinking of going there.
Good food from the southern parts of the American continent: Other than Mexican, I don't find cuisines of food stalls serving authentic food from these southern countries such as El Salvador, Mexico and so on. There is also Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Jamaican, Italian food too but these restaurants are found everywhere in Toronto.
Antiques: There are about a dozen antique shops and the items are of a wide range, authentic, interesting, 'not damaged'. I did not ask the prices.
Vegetables and fruit: The vegetables and fruit are extremely reasonably priced and definitely worth buying. I am sure those of us, who are managing on tight budgets will get the biggest bang for our bucks, shopping there. At one end, i.e. at the entrance, the vegetables and fruit are fresh. However, as you explore all the aisles, many of these cheap vegetables and fruit are definitely mouldy, overripe and not fresh. There were medium sized avocados at 50 cents each and good pomegranates at 1$ each which is cheaper than in most shops.
A few stalls were selling medicines such as cough syrups, tablets, etc. An interesting notice by these medicines said, " FDA research has proved that medicines have their strength upto 15 years after expiry date". I did not have the courage to photograph that sign! But I fully believe in that sign and I use my medicines past their expiry date, to the dismay of my more fastidious siblings.
There was a book stall with an enormous amount of books run by a gentleman who was quite unaware of authors and books in his store. I had a pleasant fifteen minutes of browsing here. I have not browsed for ages now in an effort to avoid filling up my house. with second-hand books bought at these stores.
Needless to say, there were shops selling tons of tacky stuff too.
I had a good time. This place is worth a visit if you have nothing else to do and are not too hoity-toity.
On working days, in the same building (This market is open only on weekends) there is also a store which sells surplus goods of the Canadian government. I would like to explore that store one day. I wonder what does goods belongs to the government are in surplus and at what rate would they be selling it? Though it would be challenging for me to visit on a working day during working hours.
https://www.gcsurplus.ca/mn-eng.cfm?snc=tc. If you check this link you will see that it's not a store you simply walk into and buy stuff. It's a bit more complicated than that!
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