401 Follies

Well I finally drove a significant distance on the infamous 401. Big deal, I used to commute from London to Toronto 3 times a week 15 years ago.

However, it has changed a lot. It is much, much busier and traffic jams can occur any time of day and not just during rush hour as in the early 1990's. It was the early afternoon and I made my way to the Bayview Village shopping centre, not far from my old seminary I attended in 1990-91. I passed a lot of familiar territory and became increasingly nervous as the entire westbound section of the 401 was backed up nearly the whole 30 km. I saw the accident near the Highway 10 exit (a jeep pinned under a transport) and beyond that 12 lanes of westbound traffic had ground to a halt.

My visit to the Bayview and Sheppard was nice enough, an it has changed a great deal. Going from a somewhat run-down mid-60's residential and retail community to a rather upscale part of town with luxury condo's, exclusive stores in the mall and well-dressed business-types stopping for a quick espresso in the mall (turning up their collective noses at the Starbuck$). I did the same, of course... when in Rome.

I have discovered that food is regional in Canada. Grocery stores and restaurants tend to mimic each other and can be quite different from place to place. Grocery store deli's are absolutely deli-ghtful here. More selection and better quality, with a large Italian influence here. Chinese food is another interesting situation. Sezchuan Chinese food is everywhere in the west. Every buffet will have some Sezchuan dish, but it virtually non-existent here. Egg Rolls on the other hand, are quite tasty here, filled with bean sprouts, pork and other treats, where in the west they will be filled with some bitter cabbage concoction, and sometimes they are deep fried in additional batter. Haven't had an egg roll since 1992 until last week.

The drive back was better than expected. I actually made it back in time... just in time, mind you. Maybe next time I will try the 407, a toll highway.