It’s a late July afternoon and I’m home from a week in the great country of Canada. I went with a friend to Toronto, Kingston, and Montreal for a week to hang out and just have some fun. I went into the drip having no plans and no clue (as usual) and it ended up being pretty fun.
The first day I drove to Toronto by myself and promptly got SO lost in the city because AAA.com’s maps don’t tell you the exact exit to take. They just say things like “take exit.” So I ended up circling skydome for like an hour until I found a spot to get directions from the hotel, then another hour was spent being lost in the city and trying to find parking. Toronto reminds me of any big city in the North East, attractions pretty much spaced out and hard on the feet when you have to walk. It was much like an American city, and if anyone gets on Moopie’s case for being one of those “weird Canadians” because she’s from there then they have a lot to learn and deserve to be bopped. Toronto is a nice city and as close to the U.S. as you’ll get in Canada. Except they have WEIRD potato chips (Ketchup??? Yikes!).
I picked up my friend at the airport and we had a nice Chinese meal for dinner and saw a little of the city. I asked her to do the driving because I don’t think she has the patience to deal with my slow and methodical driving skills. Let alone my well, I don’t have navigation skills, I don’t get out much so I’m sure I have a million tickets from Canadian spycams from me doing something messed up when I was driving coming my way one of these days. 🙂 She drives as fast as she walks, which is quite a bit faster than what I’m used to.
Saturday we met Stef from Leoville early and had a good breakfast. Unfortunately our parking meter was broken so we ended up with a ticket. I’ll have to write them because no matter how much we put in, it would only give us 28 minutes on the clock. After that we met up with Rachel from the official Megan Morrone fan site and her mom at the mall. Then her mom let Rachel hang out with us at the mall for the rest of the afternoon. We ended up having a dinner at a good deli near Rachel’s house and then hanging out in Rachel’s basement playing pool. Even though my friend’s back was bugging her, she took it like a trooper and played like a pro, hustling the table and amazing everyone.
Toronto was very very humid and I have to get new glasses that don’t make me sweat when I stop walking. Long story but lol, after a week of experimenting I’m under the impression that my glasses are the devil. 🙂 But that was a digression.
Sunday was a day in Toronto where my friend and I went our separate ways. I have a couple of diary entries from my PDA to share in this little wrap up and here’s the first one:
I am sitting in the Nathan Philips square in downtown Toronto, waiting for Mrs. Burstein to finish at her spa. Her back was killing her so she got an appointment for a massage and a Jacuzzi. I am supposed to be at a bookstore but my feet were killing me so I found this square and am staying put for another hour or so.
I am to the far left of a stage where a concert with Spanish dancers is going on. I don’t know what type of dancing they are doing but it looks cool.
Actually I am too busy typing to actually pay attention. I am typing on my visor btw. I will transfer this over when I get home.
Also btw, I tried to walk to the recycling bin a second ago and I am in a lot of pain. My feet hurt and badly. They are all blistered and yucky.
I think the concert is wrapping up. I am getting kind of hungry. Have my shoes off and I am going to just relax here. I should probably go to the bookstore but I am in too much pain. I really had not planned on walking so much today, dammit.
Anyway I am wrapping up at the plaza. Little girls are dancing on the stage now. They are pretty silly. The adults were on earlier.
Twenty minutes until I have to be back on elm street. I better start walking.
4:37 PM
After that we had a nice dinner at a steakhouse and I had filet Mignon for the first time in my life. It was very tender and delicious. I’ll have to do that again.
Monday was the crazy day. The cleaning lady barged into the room well before we were ready to go so we had to pack up and leave on the fly and we went to the Hildebrant Estates winery in Niagara on the Lake for lunch. She tried the wine tasting room, I’m a non-drinker so I didn’t but we did have an incredible lunch at the cafe there. I suggest looking it up if you’re in the area.
From there we went to the falls and didn’t stay long. It was waaaaay too touristy. I’m sure you could do the tourist thing and spend the day there but neither of us was in the mood. We got into town, got some pictures at the falls, and got the heck out and on the road where we ran into the thunderstorms from hell on the way to Kingston. We also stopped at walmart where I got the boots from hell since my feet were so painful from walking in my Tennis Shoes. Not a good idea, but hey, everything is a learning experience.
Kingston was okay. It’s a little spec on the map, famous for it’s Thousand Island Tours. We didn’t take them but I’m sure they’re lovely. Had a 2 room suite to ourselves and the acoustics in my room were incredible. So much so that I kept her up all night because she could hear all of my movements in my room from hers since I was on a squeaky fold out hideabed. Also had a great Thai meal for dinner (another first for me), and did a lot of thinking about dropping weight and getting into shape (like I’ve been trying to do), while I had some time alone. I was surprised how beautiful people were in both Montreal and Toronto. They’re NOT like American cities in that regards and I, being the out of shape computer nerd (who got a sunburn driving up on his big giant head), felt so out of place and isolated. But that’s a story for another time. I’m switching to water and holding down the soda for a while.
Back on track, Tuesday was our drive to Montreal in RECORD and I do mean RECORD time. We went out for dinner at a crepes place and walked around old Montreal for most of the night. It was touristy but not too bad. Lots to see and I got my brother in law a giant skull mug at a medieval shop while Laura tried on dresses. She looked fantastic and will make her future boyfriends very happy if she buys that sort of clothing (well let alone any clothing, that’s one thing you got to get used to — the girl can dress and look great for any situation).
Here’s my diary entry from the next morning:
7 24 829am
Still very early yet and Mrs Burstein is in the shower. I am lying in bed recovering from crapes, a story I am not sharing.
We are in a bed and breakfast in Montreal. Tomorrow we cannot park on the street so it will be interesting to see what we can come up with.
Toronto is so different. There are parking spots everywhere. Here it is an afterthought. No big gaudy parking lots. Everything is condensed. Which is better for my blistered feet, but not for my car.
The bed and breakfast is nice. We are sharing a room. She sleeps on the big bed, I on the futon. Not a lot of extra space but it is quaint.
It is actually kind of nice to hear someone moving around in their sleep. Makes being alone in the big room not so scary.
Anyway, she is almost done getting ready. So I should wrap up.
843am
We spent most of the day split up and on our own at a giant mall in downtown Montreal and here’s my diary entry from the mall:
114pm
Called home and got some things done. Got french phrase book and am trying to get some stuff done today like getting myself a map of the city and a french phrase book.
Got myself a water, of all things. I’ve been drinking it a lot since I have been here. It is so not me. None of this trip is me.
Heading down to le radio shack.
Talk soon.
120
Sadly, I didn’t really have time to get into the French phrase book. In Montreal people speak both (especially vendors), so if you look at them blankly, they end up switching. I was so tired by this part of the week I could barely comprehend anything let alone trying to butcher French by speaking it. Out of respect to the language (and being so darn lazy), I didn’t try. I was also down because I was trying a lot of new things and just was kind of out of it. I missed home and I was in a lot of pain from walking around. I don’t go anywhere when I’m home. Work and Home are the same thing so all this walking was good yet it wasn’t that great until my body gets used to it. I have the blisters to prove that.
We went out for a fondue dinner (another first for me), and spent part of the late night in a bar in the heart of Montreal. It was okay, though we were both dead after getting in so late.
So here’s my diary entry from the next morning:
843 725
very early yet, Mrs Burstein is moving in her sleep, deciding if she should get up. w are going to miss breakfast but that is okay. this place sucks for breakfast.
we have to move the car in forty five minutes, and move it around for an hour apparently. not all day like the host had said.
had fondue last night and that was okay. we had slow service and a crazy waiter. but that seems to be the theme of the city.
today the plan is to do the botanical gardens. not sure what else because i am my usual pattern of brain dead.
so with that, i am off to see the world.
We ended up seeing 2/3rds of the Botanical Gardens and the entire insectarium and ecopod in downtown Montreal. That was a nice part of the trip. Being in the Gardens felt like we were well outside of the city and it was worth the trip if you’re ever in Montreal.
We got back to the B&B and had a nap then the dilemma of a fancy dinner. Okay, I admit it, I don’t go out. The only suit I have in my closet is a sears made suit that I got for a job interview a few years back. I don’t have to dress up or wear a tie to work because, hey, I work from home. I also have no clue about styles and felt uncomfortable buying something “stylish” (besides in this backwoods area, Sears is IT when it comes to men’s clothes), so we were going to get me something nice to wear in the city. We didn’t. I didn’t have clothes to wear to a 4 or 5 star dinner, but we did end up at a 3 star place for our last real meal in the city. I had the flaming Sirloin steak with french onion soup and drank water for most of the meal. Trying to wean from the soda (though I did have 1 and a half glasses during dinner).
We spent the rest of the evening walking around the waterfront in old Montreal. That was good. We actually went to an arcade and played some racing games (she admitted to driving in real like exactly how she was in driving in San Francisco Rush 2094), then watched a little of Lord of the Rings (dubbed in French), on a giant outdoor walk-in movie theatre before going back to the B&B and turning in for bed.
Yesterday I dropped her off at the spa and I went home, not much to talk about except the cats have not let me out of their sights since I got home. It took me about 10 hours to get home with about an hour just crossing the border. I saw a lot of obscure stuff in New York on the way home, but that’s the boring part of the story that I won’t bore you with. 🙂
Overall, IMODO, our best nights were with Rachel and Stef and Rachel’s family on Saturday night and the last night in Montreal. We are two very different personalities and are from two very different social classes so it was great that we did get along so well and we didn’t drive each other *too* crazy on the trip. It’s been a day and I do miss her a lot. That’s normal. For all the ups and downs, I’ve met a lot of people from the Internet over the years, but I’ve never spent this much time one on one with someone and it was a good experience and a good time.
Out of this trip I’m working on a lot of things. As soon as I can do it, I’m getting religiously into working out . I didn’t think I was THIS big until I saw Stef’s first batch of pictures and well, I’ll be working out as much as I can. I’m also trying to mix up what I eat as much as I can here. I got used to going out to dinner. I’m going to work on my navigation skills. But to my credit, we had horrible directions. To my discredit, I do suck as a navigator. I’m not good at high pressure situations and while she got used to it, I felt so bad about it.
Anyway, wrapping up by saying I had a wonderful time and I’d do it again. I wish we could have taken Stef and Rachel with us to Montreal because I think they would have had a blast as well. I want to thank Laura for a wonderful week, also want to thank Rachel’s parents for being great to us last week, and for Stef and Rachel for putting up with our crazy antics on Saturday (singing AC/DC was fun, though we horrified them lol). With that, I’m out of here.
Take care,
k9