Toronto, Ukrainian Art, Index Magic, Destination Restaurants & More: Endnotes 25 March

Toronto, Ukrainian Art, Index Magic, Destination Restaurants & More: Endnotes 25 March

Friday, 25 March, 2022

Every Friday, we celebrate the weekend — and all the reading and relaxing and daydreaming time ahead — with Melissa's favorite book- and travel-related links of the week. Why work when you can read fun stuff?!

This post is part of our Endnotes series.

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These cheery storefronts on Queen Street in Toronto are just the kinds of places we’re delighted to find while rambling around a new-to-us city. It’s an opportunity to pretend to be a local for just a little while — and books (and food) are our favorite way to do that. Acadia Books, established in 1931 (!), buys and sells antiquarian, out-of-print, and used books. The shop is packed to the rafters with more than 10,000 books, maps, and prints. And, perhaps more importantly, bookshop cats Frodo and Pippen are in residence. Two doors down, the Seaton Butchers is a one-stop shop for all your protein needs, and the windows are a showcase of charming, hand-painted signs. This kind of signage is a disappearing art; here’s a documentary and Insta all about it. (Between Acadia and Seaton is this gem of a space that would make a lovely SSoP HQ.)

 

Here at SSoP HQ, we’re trying to stay informed about what’s happening in Ukraine while not falling into a pit of despair. So we’re reading a mix of news and Ukrainian art, then contributing to organizations that are helping Ukrainians. If that’s your approach, too, here are some links for you:

illustration of tanks climbing up a flower stem
'Parasites' by Tania Yakunova
  • If you want to help Ukrainians: World Central Kitchen is feeding refugees at the borders and has partnered with restaurants inside Ukraine to get hot meals to anyone in need. You can donate to support the effort here. Poland’s Universal Reading Foundation is raising funds to put Ukrainian-language books into the hands of Ukrainian children uprooted by the Russian invasion; click here to donate.

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May your week be all soothing images and gilded edges.

Top image courtesy of Ayman Hallak/Unsplash.

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