Searching for an interesting weekend getaway, I have been studying a map of Ontario, looking for places that are just an hour or two outside of Toronto. One place that jumped out at me was Brantford, a community of around 90,000 residents about 110 kilometres west of Toronto
So a few weeks ago I contacted Brantford Tourism to find out more about this city and they sent me an entire information package about the local attractions and activities. On October 9, 2009 I set off with a friend on a two-day first-hand discovery of Brantford to see for myself what this city has to offer.
Finally around 2:30 pm we arrived in Brantford and stopped off at the modern tourism information office, just off Highway 403. We were meeting Melissa Stephens, our local tourism expert, who was going to show us around her home town. On this rainy afternoon we made a stop at the Glenhyrst Gallery of Brant, a public, non-profit art gallery housed in a striking historic mansion surrounded by extensive manicured grounds that house a sculpture garden.
Karen Bell, the gallerys educational coordinator, showed us around the property which was featuring an exhibition by local artist David Hind. This artist uses reclaimed material such as coloured aluminum siding to create oversized canvases using coloured aluminum pieces that are cut out and pasted or riveted onto canvas. Also on display were several unique pieces of furniture made of reclaimed wood.
The physical facilities of the gallery are stunning. The gallery is housed in a 1920s mansion built for Edmund Cockshutt, a wealthy local entrepreneur of the early 20th century. A stunning entrance area with delicately carved wooden doors and bevelled glass welcomes the visitor, and other interesting features of the property include wooden panelling, original fireplaces and an airy conservatory that now houses the gift shop. Glenhyrsts art rental program makes original Canadian art accessible to a larger audience at affordable prices.
With our tour of the Glenhyrst Art Gallery complete, we were ready for dinner and Melissa took us to Café Andreou, a fine dining restaurant located in a gorgeous historic mansion on West Street. The cuisine at Café Andreou is traditional Italian and features a wide variety of appetizers, pastas, meat dishes and seafood. We started our meal with fresh bread accompanied by a delicious olive tapenade. From here I ordered the salad special. Chris, the owner, also recommended that we try arancini, Sicilian rice balls as well as porchetta, slow roasted pork belly that takes about four to five hours to roast. The porchetta just melted in my mouth. My main dish were home-made gnocchi in a rose tomato sauce while my friend had a tender rack of lamb about he was still raving as the evening went on.
We did not have time for a dessert since we had planned to see a performance of Driving Miss Daisy at the historic Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts. The performers skillfully recreated the touching friendship between Hoak and Miss Daisy, and at the end of the play the audience was clapping enthusiastically and surrounding the actors who had joined the crowd.
Opened in 1919, the original Temple Theatre was converted to a cinema in 1929, and renamed as the Capitol Theatre, it was part of the Famous Players movie theatre chain until 1986 when the City of Brantford purchased it and turned it back to a performing arts theatre. Extensive renovations were completed over a period of four years that brought the theatre back to its original glory. Today the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts is one of Brantfords jewels and a winner of the 2009 Shining Stars Tourism Award. For us it was the perfect place to spend an evening.
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