Camping on Manitoulin Island
art
Pancakes and the AGO
Last weekend we got a city fix and bummed around Toronto for a couple of days. Somehow, I don’t have photos of dinner with Diane or her apartment, all the coffee shops we loitered in, the copper stuff I coveted in the home decor shops, the whirlwind IKEA shopping spree, or Thai take out with Carl, Anna, and the girls.
What I do have are pictures of some of my favourite things at the AGO as Wells as the gorgeous pancakes I had for Saturday brunch.
Abstract expressionist plants
Miscellaneous
Big Bay and Keppel Croft Gardens
Last weekend was too nice to stay inside and breathe brick dust. We took a couple days off of the reno project and on Sunday drove up the Bruce to see the water and visit Keppel Croft, a rural garden with folksy art and an analemma. We picnicked at a park by the bay before heading home to water the plants :)
Nod to Tom
Playing tour guide
Our buddy Mike visited for a week and in addition to trying out our charcoal grill we also went sightseeing and exploring all around the area.
The Tom Thomson
From today’s visit to the Tom Thomson Art Gallery:
Saint Bavo’s Cathedral
(DAY 7)
We had three goals to accomplish before leaving Ghent on Monday:
- see Jan van Eyke’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at Saint Bavo’s Cathedral
- visit Belfort, the Ghent Belfry
- eat at a vegetarian restaurant listed on the veggie map
Everything about Saint Bavo’s was incredible. First, I spent half an hour listening to an audio guide about the altarpiece (a few panels of which we’d seen in restoration at the Museum of Fine Arts, a five year project that began this October). I cut it short only because we did need to catch a train some time that day.
Not only are the altarpiece and the cathedral building itself awe-inspiring, so are the wall paintings, the windows, the organ, the oak and marble pulpit, the illuminated manuscripts, and the 12th century frescoes in the crypt…
Despite all the “no camera” signage, I snuck one photo of some newer stained glass:
Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent
(DAY 6)
I could have spent all day at the Museum Voor Schone Kunsten. The museum’s website has a nice showcase of its collection in English. My favourites were Hieronymous Bosch, Jules de Bruycker, and the Expressionist stuff.
Afterwards, we crossed the street and spent maybe half an hour at S.M.A.K. (the museum of contemporary art) and then headed back to the hotel for a break before dinner.
