walking in the city

First nice weekend of the year and woke up Saturday morning needing to walk. Well, needed breakfast, caught Julie in time and off we went to IKEA for 99cent breakfast. OPening a restaurant sure keeps her busy, but it's fun to do little errands every now and then. Picked up a couple copies of the journal on the way, had a preview on bacon, good article, I think it made her day. 2 bucks later and some savvy navigation, I was dropped off on 118 and strolled my way home.
Restless, I called up MM to meet downtown. deciding it was nice enough to walk it, three blocks down 101 st and I knew I should have at least brought my mitts. it was warm, sure, but lakes had formed all along the sidewalks and the trot was a soggy trot filled with jumps and splashes. Once I passed 111 ave, there were people again and the sidewalks seemed drier. it was an ugly walk, one of the ugliest I've taken in the city along a path I have only ever driven. the sidewalks were crumbling and littered, but those on it were serious pedestrians. news of the james macdonald bridge closing off its sidewalk wasn't surprising. walkers are expected to navigate through trash and uneven barely paved streets that bleed into 6 lane traffic intersections.
getting into the core, I thought about stopping at snap, but I didn't know if MM was waiting. she needed to read and I had to stop by the Free for All at AGA. Meeting up at l'espresso, it was closed, but I found a scrawled note on the door outside and soon saw her walking back across churchill square. can't believe you found the note. can't believe I found it either. strolling through the Free for All, this was the most aptly titled show of the year. Decade. too much, will get back to it at some point. overload of senses. and not in a good way.
heading back up north, we wanted coffee, good coffee, so triamici it was. saw the new cover of city palate with our friend ted illustrating. went back south to the italian bakery for cheese sandwiches and olives. back to the valley for an impromptu dinner party with those heading west for rumblefest on granville island. stopped at the mzd salon on the way back. filled to capacity tonight. again. only stayed briefly. always seems so sleepy in there. riding back with Nutts, early night, a full day though.