G20, Part 1
On Saturday, Kari and I planned to go to the Distillery District of Toronto to just wander around. I had another motive that Kari was not aware of...
We were wary of the fact that the G20 was going on... but we felt that that district was east of any troubles. Mostly, this was correct, but we passed by several parked (and manned) Ministry of Transport trucks, and two dozen OPP cruisers. Every overpass had an OPP spotter or two on it, and as we struck Toronto proper... there were 8 to 20 officers in yellow vests at every off ramp.
There was no doubt, the city of Toronto was under martial law.
We got to the exit that we wanted, and we were thankful that there was not a concrete baracade in front of it (it was JUST east as to where trouble would have been...). We found a spot and started to shop in the district. The district is a collection of 19th century manufacturing buildings that have been turned into high class shopping. The roads have no cars, and the paving is brick. It is an awesome spot for a shoot.
While wandering between the buildings, we came to a building that held the offices of about 50 artisans. I had done my research, and had decided upon an artist for Kari's engagement ring. We walked in... and he was busy with another client... we wandered... saw interesting booths... came back... and he was not busy.
He acknowleded us as having been in his office and browsing his office space. We chatted for a bit as to what we were looking for, and I mentioned her allergy to nickel, which reduced our choice of metal of the band.
I got a really good vibe off of him. I liked his examples, and he led me through the options of building a ring like what I was looking for. Seriously, he decomposed my year-long trek for a ring to just 20 minutes.
After talking to Leif (the jeweler) and Kari, we came to the decision of an ornate band of platinum with a heavy bracket for a sapphire. Kari and I had discussed as to what this ring would look like... and we both liked blue stones.
I had talked to a few jewelers before then... and this guy struck me as the real deal. I placed the order for the sapphire ring then and there. It was to be a leaf patterened paltinum band with an oval sapphire in the middle.
I asked for it, and I do not hesitate for a second my choice. :)
We were wary of the fact that the G20 was going on... but we felt that that district was east of any troubles. Mostly, this was correct, but we passed by several parked (and manned) Ministry of Transport trucks, and two dozen OPP cruisers. Every overpass had an OPP spotter or two on it, and as we struck Toronto proper... there were 8 to 20 officers in yellow vests at every off ramp.
There was no doubt, the city of Toronto was under martial law.
We got to the exit that we wanted, and we were thankful that there was not a concrete baracade in front of it (it was JUST east as to where trouble would have been...). We found a spot and started to shop in the district. The district is a collection of 19th century manufacturing buildings that have been turned into high class shopping. The roads have no cars, and the paving is brick. It is an awesome spot for a shoot.
While wandering between the buildings, we came to a building that held the offices of about 50 artisans. I had done my research, and had decided upon an artist for Kari's engagement ring. We walked in... and he was busy with another client... we wandered... saw interesting booths... came back... and he was not busy.
He acknowleded us as having been in his office and browsing his office space. We chatted for a bit as to what we were looking for, and I mentioned her allergy to nickel, which reduced our choice of metal of the band.
I got a really good vibe off of him. I liked his examples, and he led me through the options of building a ring like what I was looking for. Seriously, he decomposed my year-long trek for a ring to just 20 minutes.
After talking to Leif (the jeweler) and Kari, we came to the decision of an ornate band of platinum with a heavy bracket for a sapphire. Kari and I had discussed as to what this ring would look like... and we both liked blue stones.
I had talked to a few jewelers before then... and this guy struck me as the real deal. I placed the order for the sapphire ring then and there. It was to be a leaf patterened paltinum band with an oval sapphire in the middle.
I asked for it, and I do not hesitate for a second my choice. :)