Thanks to a tip from our local informant we left Ashern, armed with a map enabling us to locate a shopping mall, cinema complex, food superstore, football stadium and other signs of life.   As in the previous week, we arrived at around 2pm and headed straight for the food-court.  The mall is quite large but it didn’t take us too long to find it and settle on Greek for lunch.

The Greek take-away place didn’t have much of a queue as typically in Canada the well known fast-food joints get most of the custom.  I never understand why people will queue up for KFC or Tim Hortons when they could get a plate full of Spicy chicken, rice and potatoes/fries in half the time or a pizza and pasta deal or sushi…

In this case we opted for OPA! with its friendly service and choice of Souvlaki and other Greek specialities.  Mum was tempted by fries so missed out on a set menu, paying slightly more as they won’t replace the set potatoes with fries.  I got lucky choosing Menu 1, complete with Greek salad, rice, spiced potatoes, pork Souvlaki, Pita and Tzaziki sauce: Pretty good value and very tasty.

After what felt like a very brief wander around the mall and a pretty good Zellers deal on bedding (which I imagine will also look good in my ‘appartement Parisien’) we left at around 4pm in search of an RBC, the food superstore and a Starbucks (more for the WIFI than the food!).

But, before Starbucks we found Le Chateau Outlet store.  An hour was easily spent (along with my money) scouring the rails for great bargains.  I love Le Chateau but usually not its prices.  A bit of retail therapy lifted my mood in the form of a crochet lace top, suede jacket and long summer dress – 3 items for less than the usual price of one.

Anyway, after the shopping spree we headed for Starbucks… or two as it turned out.  We purchased our drinks and a not-so-great chocolate brownie in one but had to go to another to use the WIFI.  One hour of internet surfing later and our trip was deemed a success.  Same time next week!