Relaxing in Toronto

I had no luggage. I had no internet. But I had all the colourful money I needed, so I wandered. The campus is still beautiful

with plenty of things to take pictures of

and I thought this one was kind of funny

I went to the original Kensington market -- I love Calgary's neighbourhood of the same name so this automatically left a positive impression --

I met with a friend from the hostel and we found some Canada day celebrations (yes, it was July 1st!)

Oh, and doesn't this look like a Minecraft sky?

We went to the art gallery

which was cool

and I now know how the trams work. Hint: confusingly.

The hostel had a beautiful view of downtown and the fireworks (didn't bring my good camera though)

Some of this was spread out over the next day too, since I had an evening flight. I met another friend for lunch and rented a bike, flying along College St and Bay up to Bloor (where there was a bookstore...). It was sunny, and no one honked at me or tried to run me over (hullo Amsterdam), and it was fantastic.

My luggage was delivered to me right as I was going to leave. Yay.

I left myself (I thought) enough time for my flight, but everything went wrong (starting with, your reservation doesn't seem to exist, I think computers just don't like your name. Sorry.). So later I was standing in the security line which was moving incredibly slowly, and I could see I was going to miss my plane. I waited until fifteen minutes before departure then I asked the person in front of me, do you mind if I go ahead, and then the next person and the next etc (yay Canadians!). With some assistance I saw the next available security officer, who asked exactly one question -- "So what are studying?" -- and I ran to the gate. It was still boarding. In my rush I had miscalculated my remaining time, and I had an additional five or six minutes.

So I made my flight, and I absolutely needed to skip the line to do so, but I spent most of the flight feeling guilty about those five minutes (since I had told everyone my flight was in 15). Even though the outcome would have been the same if I had gone through that process five minutes later. Sigh. The guilt. I'm Canadian too, you see.

They did waive my checked baggage fee though! Because they didn't have change. (Well, really because they wanted a coffee break, but sshhh.)

As we began our descent, the sun began setting in an absurdly perfect red.

It was a sailor's dream. And when we landed:

It felt like a good ending for my trip. And hello, New York City...

finis

Thanks for reading about my travels, I hope they were entertaining! When I got home, I watched the Bourne Identity again, and now I recognize many (in Paris, most) of the filming locations. What more can you ask for?

I really enjoyed writing, and I may continue a blog on other topics. Let me know if you would be interested in reading that. Until the next time.

~~ dwk.