Edmonton, Canada + Add a trip

Saturday morning at the Strathcona Farmers Market is A MUST. Open 9-2 on 82nd Ave (Whyte Ave), all year. Local produce, meats, baked goods, and local crafts.

The best shoes in Canada to be found at Gravity Pope on Whyte Ave.

Edmonton's Little Italy is centred on the Italian Centre Shop (http://www.italiancentre.ca/) across from Giovanni Caboto Park on 95th street between 107th ave and 110th ave. It's a slightly seedy area, but that gives it a bit more of a neighbourhood feel than most places in Edmonton.

There's a coffee shop attached to the Italian Centre permanently populated by little old Italian men. Nearby there are a few gelaterias and Italian restaurants, as well as a pretty little gardening and knick knack shop called Zocalo (http://www.zocalo.ca/) which has a cool long and skinny wooden table at the back of the shop where you can read the paper and get a coffee and just hang out. It's owned by a couple of old friends of mine, Ken and Miranda.