Sun121220040144 Toronto, ON

Well, typically, I am having too much fun in Toronto to have written anything in here.

My departure from St John's was reasonably uneventful, and it was a chilly -17 with the windchill when I left. I caught up with most people before I took my flight, and had a lot of good food and chats, which was nice. The flight out to Toronto was delayed by winds and refuelling, but I got here safely in the end. Flying over parts of Newfoundland was amazing, the water around the coast was already in frozen waves. Pictures don't do it justice of course, because the beauty of it is in the stillness of what is usually in motion.

Helen met me at the airport which was fantastic (especially cause she carried my daypack for me). We caught up on the way back to Darren's, and then had dinner with him and random late night chats, as expected. I hung out with Helen the next day, braving the freezing rain and meandering through the PATH (underground walkway system) and finding a Krispie Kreme on the way. We met up with Michelle and went out for dinner at the Peel Pub. Since I wasn't that hungry, I decided on a "side" order of poutine (fries, cheese curds and gravy, if I haven't said so before). It turned out to be basically a platter-sized portion. I don't know what that was supposed to fit on the side of! At least Michelle knew hers would be half a chicken with rice (although it was a steroid-slurping chicken and what looked like half a bag of rice). What followed was the first of many pool games for the week (today was the first day since then that I haven't played any) and the first late night at the Global Village Backpackers, Toronto edition. I met a record number of random Brits, which was okay as long as I was beating them.

Wednesday I slept in and then went out to visit Randy in Mississauga. We had a great catch up and she showed me the ferret shelter that she has in her home. The ferrets were great and I learned a lot about their unfortunate plight at the hands of certain cruel human beings. Go visit The Ferret Aid Society to learn more. David took me out for dinner that night, but only after my tardiness as a result of the long commute from Mississauga (my fault for wanting to chat with Randy for too long).

Thursday I met up with Candice and we wandered through the Bata Shoe Museum (it was free, alright?) and had coffee. Michelle took me to a wicked Burrito place on Peter Street afterwards, and I'm only gutted it took me this many visits to find it. More hostel antics and pool followed.

Friday was cold and wet and Julie couldn't come up from Caledonia. So I stayed inside and was unproductive til Helen came by and we went downtown for dinner with Michelle. I had enough Japanese food to feed several small people and then we commenced drinking at the hostel bar. Helen's friend Will met us there and we ended up going to Joe (stupid name for a club) after several drinks, a disastrous pool loss (my bad), a desertion and a few general misunderstandings. We met Will's cousin and his friends, and then drank more and danced to bad hip-pop music til the place mysteriously cleared out at about half one. Will and Helen went home, and Michelle and I went for food with the other three boys (the boy band member and his PR team). We laughed a lot, and it was a pity to end the night. Michelle and I went back to the hostel and decided I should sleep on the couch. I was caught by the night guy, but he nicely allowed me to stay as long as I was out by 8am. I lay awake til 5.15 before I realised I might as well go home. A short cab ride and some insomnia later, and I was asleep.

I had to get up three hours later to meet Candice to go to her home town of Elora. The line for tickets at the bus station was ridiculous, so it's lucky I got there somewhat early (forcing myself to walk past the cafe with the "All Day Breakfast" sign in the window). Elora is a beautiful little town, and the constant snowfall today made it even more picturesque. I met a lot of Candice's friends, relations and acquaintances and went into a lot of cute little shops (everything a little touristy and expensive for me though). We had lunch at a cafe overlooking the river, gorge and bridge - all with a covering of snow. We went on a walk along the edge of the gorge, took some photos, and then took refuge at Candice's mom's place since it was too cold. We made hot drinks, gathered some chocolate and put in Wizard of Oz. I met Candice's mom (who is awesome) in time for her to fix me some dinner before I had to go back to Guelph for the bus. What lovely ladies they both are! The ride back went quickly since I was unconscious. I spent the rest of the evening in fits of laughter with Michelle at Tim Hortons, and even scored a hand-me-over pair of jeans on the way.

Now I'm procrastinating about getting stuff organised for the flight. I have my goodbye dinner tomorrow night and then it's bye bye Canada.

Better get going but I'm nearly home!