A Day Spent Getting my Art Fix! In the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) and a Posh Italian Meal with Friends in Vaughn

Friday, September 6, 2024

Toronto, Canada

A Day Spent Getting my Art Fix! In the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) and a Posh Italian Meal with Friends in Vaughn

Today was another fantastic day in Toronto, Canada. A lot of folks ask me what I miss about living in India. This trip made me realize what I do miss: I miss driving; I miss enjoying Sunday Mass especially the good sermons we used to get from the Jesuit professor-priests at my parish in Fairfield, Connecticut; I miss the drama of the changing of the seasons; I miss having easy access to interior decorating supplies the way I can find so easily in Michael’s, Home Goods. Marshalls or TJ Maxx. But, over and above all these, I miss access to world-class Art (especially the Old Masters). So, on a day like this, when we had nothing really planned until the evening, it was my day to get my Art Fix—to feast my eyes (indeed, all my senses) on the art collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario (known simply as the AGO).

Journey from Whitby to Toronto:

So, our day began in my cousin Lancy’s home in Whitby, where we had spent one night, and where we became aware that while we were having a lazy lie-in downstairs in our basement apartment, Lancy and his wife, Ilene, had woken up at the crack of dawn and were hard at work making paanpaleys for us. These are typically Manglorean rice crepes that are eaten usually for breakfast. To accompany them, they had ground coconut chutney. You can just imagine what a terrific breakfast we had.

After breakfast, Lancy took us all around his home and showed us his brilliant handiwork. He is a DIY Ace and his home is filled with the things he has made himself—e.g. an entire set of oak furniture; a large wall clock that looks like a leather wrist-watch complete with strap and buckle, the steps and the patio leading to their back garden. His craftsmanship is most impressive. But soon, it was time for us to pack up and say goodbye to them and their warmth and hospitality. When we realized that it would take them over an hour to drop us by car to Toronto (where we were headed to spend the day), we told them that if they dropped us at the nearest GO (commuter train) station, we could take the train in and save them the journey back and forth. They were actually quite pleased that we offered to find our own way into the city.

So that was what they did. After a lovely 20 minute drive through some of the sweetest, prettiest suburban hamlets, we arrived at Whitby train station. There, we obtained tickets from the vending machine, through the assistance of a staff member, and ten minutes later, we were on our way. It was a very pleasant ride, for the most part, skirting the banks of Lake Ontario. We also had wifi on the double-decker train. Everything was exceedingly civilized and a real pleasure to travel. As this is the first time that we do not have our car in Toronto, we are discovering local commuter possibilities and we are very impressed by them. About 45 minutes later, we were entering the city, as the first high-rise buildings came into view. About five minutes later, we pulled into Central Station, I had used the wifi on the train to find out how we could get from Central Station to the AGO (which was our first stop) and discovered that we could use the subway very easily.

So, at Central Station, we left the commuter train platforms behind us and followed directions to the subway. At the subway stop, I asked the ticket dispenser for directions and he very clearly told me where to go, which subway train to take and at which stop we were to alight. We bought our tickets and followed his instructions. In less than ten minutes, we were at West Dundas Station and following my GPS, we easily arrived at the AGO, having walked through the city for a couple of blocks. There, I was given a free ticket through my Met ID card while Llew had to purchase one to get in ($30).

Exploring the AGO:

For the next few hours, we were fully enthralled by the art collection contained within this world-class museum and art gallery. We started off at the European Art collection and discovered it to be small, but significant. Almost every canvas was by an Old Master. And so, we saw works by Rembrandt, Tintoretto, Renoir, ⁠Anthony van Dyke, ⁠Rubens, ⁠George de la Tour, Bernini, Carpeau, Gainsborough, Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Simeon-Chardin, Degas, ⁠Van Gogh, William Waterhouse, ⁠Lyall, as well as indigenous Canadian artists such as ⁠Belacourt, ⁠Kent Monkhouse ⁠and Norval Morrisseau. It was just glorious!

Lunch with our Friend, Samita:

As I knew we would be in Toronto today, I had gotten in touch with my friend, Dr, Samita Nandy, who lives between Canada, India and Portugal. We had first met more than 15 years ago at a conference when we had both presented papers in Lisbon, Portugal. Our friendship has thrived and survived and now that she lives for part of the year in Bombay, we meet quite often in India too. She was delighted to meet us in Toronto and readily agreed to come to the AGO so that we could have lunch together.

And so we sat at a pizzeria, just outside the AGO, at a place called ‘Pizzaiola’ where we ordered and shared a large pepperoni pizza and washed it down with cold Cokes. Samita was great company and as we told her all about Chriselle’s wedding and our travels, the lunch hour passed by, our pizza was consumed, she was ready to move on and we were ready to return to the museum.

Another Round of Museum Delights:

Back inside the museum, we were rested enough to begin our second round of artistic delights. We took a guided tour with a docent named Lynne who gave us a detailed walk-through in a special exhibition entitled, ‘Moments in Modernism”. It was a wonderful chance for us to see the work of leading lights such as ⁠Andy Warhol, ⁠Mark Rothko and ⁠Chuck Close. Of course, I took many photographs and found myself in heaven, surrounded by such great art.

Then, when we’d had our share of wonderful musing in a terrific museum, we were ready to hit the road again, reverse our journey and take the subway directly back to the last stop--Vaughn Metro Park, from where we took an Uber to return to Sylvia’s home in Woodbridge—the Uber journey took about 20 minutes and cost us about $20.

Yes, both Llew and I were quite tired by our eventful day and were quite happy to get a cuppa, some rest, our showers and some TV before we were ready for our evening’s appointment.

Dinner with Close Friends in Vaughn:

I was definitely looking forward to dinner this evening, For one thing, it is such a long time since I have met our friends, Edwin and Christine, that I was really eager to catch up with them. Secondly, I am very fond of them, really enjoy their company and find them to be very stimulating in their outlook and interests Thirdly, I always fondly recall the wonderful time we’d had when they lived in Dubai, at least 35 years ago, when they had been the epitome of hospitality to Llew and me. This evening too, they were treating us to dinner and had chosen a place close to us—so that we did not have to deal with public transport to get to them.

Accordingly, Edwin and Christine arrived at Sylvia’s place. We did not lose much time over pleasantries, but got going pretty soon in their car. They had chosen an Italian place called ‘Nacosto’ in Vaughn and since Italian is my favorite cuisine in the whole world, I was simply delighted. We shared a bottle of Cabernet at the table (I had a margarita in the interest of avoiding my sulphuric allergy) and had ⁠Roasted Artichoke Hearts for an appetizer. Needless to say, these were simply delectable and set the tone very well for the rest of our meal which was simply joyous. We decided to order a whole lot of Mains and share them—this way we’d have a kind of Tasting Menu and everyone could tuck into something they liked. And so we ate Gnocchi with Bolognese, ⁠Pappardelle pasta with Pork Cheeks Ragu, ⁠Linguine with Seafood (clams, mussels, shrimp, lobster), Tagliatelle with Mushroom Sauce—all divine. For dessert, we shared ⁠Tiramisu (served rather dramatically with a lit sparkler in it) and Donuts with Salted Caramel, Chocolate Sauce and Lemon Curd. I have often sat back at the end of these meals and wondered, How will I ever go back to eating normal meals again?????

Throughout the meal, we chatted, as we always do, about old times, their kids, Sylvia and our kids, Chriselle’s wedding, etc. There is never a dearth of topics to tackle and the conversation was avid and interesting. But, sadly, at the end of the day (literally!), we had to get home and we were driven back to Sylvia’s. There, we said our long goodbyes and called it a night after what had been a truly splendid day for me.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.