Day 234: Italian Day

We headed to Italian Day on Commercial Drive this afternoon. We met some friends in front of Marcello's at 1:30pm. I knew it would be a zoo if we drove close to Commercial Drive. We ended up parking on Victoria and 1st Ave. Italian Day was held today from 11 am to 8pm on Commercial Drive from Venables to about E 6th Ave. Commercial Drive was blocked off to cars and buses. We walked towards 6th ave to see what was going on. There were some restaurants that extended their patio onto the sidewalk. There were many booths selling Italian sausage on a bun. There were some restaurants playing music and even had DJ's. We stopped at a Thai restaurant. They sold some of their items for a discounted rate because it was smaller portions. While we were sitting having a snack, we felt some rain drops. It started to sprinkle then as we walked further it started to pour.

The rain didn't stop us. We continued to walk to see the entertainment and all the people. There were three stages where there were various performances. We partially saw some dancers and some opera singers. It was Italian Day and we should've had some kinda of Italian food. There was also pasta for $5 a plate and spaghetti and meatballs for $10 a plate. We ended up having some Thai food and some Japanese food. My cousin and another friend had donairs. Another friend wanted to get her Italian coffee. We were going to get some Italian sausage on a bun but every stand had a line up. We didn't want to stand in line in the rain. But we did stand in line for some free cake. Because it was pouring rain by about 2:30ish, most stands packed up and outdoor patios were taken in. There was this one stand with a really long line and we didn't know what it was for. We walked to the front to see what they were serving. They had two large bbq's running; one for fish and the other for chicken. The fish was a small whole fish. I'm not sure if they were serving on a bun or served with pasta or rice. The pieces of chicken was chicken thighs. The food looked really delicious but we didn't want to stand in line in the rain for it.

Overall I enjoyed Italian Day today. It was a good excuse to get out to enjoy Commercial Drive. There were so many people. It was a good day to be people watching. Even Bill Vanderzalm was there. He was there to get people signing the Fight HST petition.