Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/739845
DREAMSCAPES FALL/ WINTER 2016 54 E ven if we're not looking to buy something, time spent browsing through shops, vendors' kiosks and market stalls away from home is an illumi- nating window into local culture. During such times we are likely to find a mean- ingful souvenir, the value of which is not measured only by cost, but also by circumstance. Take the story, for example, of a now- favourite ski jacket that had to be purchased in Arizona when the visitor found out there are, indeed, February snowstorms in the higher elevations of the sun-baked state. Or how about those theatre ticket stubs, now treasured because they were purchased in Covent Garden for My Fair Lady, the very London neighbourhood where the story is based? Or from Israel, the simplest menorah brought back home will always have a deeper meaning, similar to those one- dollar candles from Bethlehem. A different kind of emotion may also spring up, such as the utter thrill that comes from bargain hunting for luxuries and essentials on a shop-'til-you-drop excursion. Everything one brings back, after all, is a chosen souvenir. Destination shopping trips, you may have noticed, are not in short supply. Mega-mall entertainment complexes are now a world- wide phenomenon, indeed with the prototype West Edmonton Mall (wem.ca) originating here in Canada, followed a decade later in Minnesota by Mall of America (mallofamerica.com). Here are a few other North American dazzlers worthy of your time: OTTAWA Sales Tax: 13% Explore: CF RIDEAU CENTRE Just a few minutes' walk from the Parlia- ment Buildings, the Cadillac Fairview- managed Rideau Centre is finishing up a glamorous redevelopment and expansion to now include a four-level experience with new quartz flooring, enhanced lighting, glass guardrails as well as a movie theatre, hotel, rooftop garden and an indoor parking garage. Its exclusive lineup of 180 retailers now includes the arrival of Nord- strom. Right next door, the ByWard Market is one of Canada's largest open-air city- centre bazaars with an abundance of lifestyle items. cfshops.com/rideau-centre.html TORONTO Sales Tax: 13% Explore: YORKDALE SHOPPING CENTRE Just 30 minutes by subway (or highway) from any downtown location, Yorkdale's interior makeover features a soaring 18- metre-high glass atrium with so many oversized, eye-popping accents, the entire decor lifts the spirits with one step inside. TRAVEL SLEUTH >> BY JANE STOKES DS TOP: Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Mall of America ABOVE: Yorkdale, Toronto. Yorkdale Shopping Centre OPPOSITE BOTTOM LEFT: Tysons in McLean, Virginia. © TimeLine Media, LLC OPPOSITE TOP RIGHT: Aventura Mall, Miami. Aventura Mall SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP