A long time.

It had been a long time since I've wandered along Ponsonby Road. I realized recently that such a serious lapse needed to be rectified, and promptly.  Accordingly, when a day with cooperative weather happened along, I jumped aboard bus 134, anticipating as I took my seat, the upcoming reunion with my old friend.    

Today's post will show you some shots from our reunion.  I enjoyed seeing it again, although I actually covered only a small portion of it.  In intend to return soon and expand my hike to include places that I missed this first time back.  

As always, you are invited to come along. I think my old friend has acquired a few more wrinkles since I last visited it.  A bread store we loved has disappeared, but a different one, located a few blocks away from the lost one will assure that I can bring Jeanne back a treat.  Those things are bound to happen with time.  I also visited a very interesting grocery that has survived the stresses that Covid brought to the world, and that has always provided me with some sort of never-before-tried delicacy. 

Here we are, just off the bus.  I wonder how Pollen Street got its name?  

There are quite a few Vietnamese takeaway places springing up all over the city, and I notice that they seem to like innovative names.  Another one I know of over on Carlton Gore Road is called, Hello, Mister.  The sign for Eat mi, which you see third from the top on the signpost, while possibly a little rude, does get its message across with a minimum of fuss.  

I enjoy looking at the signs as much as I like looking at the surroundings. 

Hmm, no wonder I like this area.  Feels welcoming. 

I'll look up from the street for a moment and show you where we are in relation to downtown Auckland.  The Sky Tower is 1.6 km., or 1 mile from us.  (thanks, Google Maps) 

It did happen to be Tuesday that I took this picture.  

Here's the grocery I referred to earlier. 

They've got a great selection of cheese from all over here.  I'll show you what I chose later.

I bought another little treat. Pasta sauce with Italian truffles and Pecorino Romano cheese.   

I've shown you Western Park in detail before, so I won't repeat the pictures here.  You may recall though that it boasts a number of replicas of old Auckland buildings that rise from the ground at odd angles.  

This restaurant is right next to the bus stop.  I'm relaxed and pleased with my adventure. I'm anxious now to return home and show Jeanne what I found.  

Home again:

Our old favorite, the Bread and Butter shop may be gone, but a new store, Daily Bread, provided me with this dense, heavily seeded sour dough style loaf.  Eaten fresh, with Spanish Manchego or Danish Bleu cheese it is perfect.  When we toasted slices for breakfast the next morning and slathered on butter, it was even better.  The sunflower and pumpkin seeds that dotted its surface took on an additional toasty-ness and forced us to prolong breakfast with second slices. 

I tried one of their French baguettes too as you see and Jeanne thought it was even better than those I usually get from our favorite French place over in Newmarket.  I wondered if Daily Bread might have used a small percentage of whole wheat flour in their dough?  

I've come to the end of my pictures for this week. 

There is a bookstore I enjoyed exploring once in the past, and there is a German pretzel bakery that I'd like to see again as well. Another trip to Ponsonby Road is a certainty

so don't be surprised when you see my report on it. I just wish I could bring home a big bag of pretzels and pass them out to all of you.      -djf