Now, despite it looking so ethreal and beautiful from up here, in my warm cosy apartment, far removed on the 17th floor, I am actually not looking forward leaving the house today. Apart from Sofia's gymnastics class, I have to go and do some grocery shopping. A 45 min walk away. I am so done with the winter - where the hell is Spring?!? This time last year it was bright and sunny, and often we didn't even need our coats on. Overall winter has been much greyer and colder and wetter and snowier and longer and everything worse than last year. Not having a car makes even a trip to the shop to get bread and milk, at best, a 45 min round trip, or at worst completely impossible as I can't get the pushchair through the snow.
And, as much as I think it's a crying shame that in the UK the High Street is now so homogenised and lacking in small businesses and variety, I (on occasion during this particularly long winter) actually miss being able to pop into Sainsbury's to pick up some school uniform bits, something for the house and a bottle of wine, all whilst doing the weekly shop. Here, for a start you cannot buy alcohol from anywhere other than the Beer Store (beer only as the name says!), or the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario - go figure). Now there are supermarkets, but the quality is not great for much more than pantry stuff. So off I trudge, in one direction for the butchers (1 hr round trip if you please), another for the bakery, deli, greengrocers and health food store, another if I want to get cleaning supplies from the $ store, and another for the LCBO. In the summer I love this. I love that every street has it's own kind of feel and atmosphere. But days like we've been having this week, I really miss our car. And yes, Sainsbury's!
Anyway, great news is, WE ARE COMING HOME TO ENGLAND FOR A VISIT IN MAY!!!!!!
And via Paris too if you please :-) More details to follow.....
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