This is the second of a series of posts dealing with my third
trip to Eastern Canada. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports. Also,
I’ve added additional thoughts with the hindsight of a year later or to add
further clarification. These are
indicated by “NOW”.
Having only had about three hours sleep before getting
here, my first day here I only got a little over two. Partly it was distracting
that some women in the room apparently prepared to go to a party with a theme
of not being fully dressed (at least that's my theory), but it was humid and
the hostel may be in the loudest intersection in Toronto: streetcar, sirens,
honking, loud motors, loud talking below my room. I was finally starting to sleep okay and
then my alarm went off telling me it was time to start the day.
[NOW: The hostel, Global Village Backpackers, is now closed.]
[NOW: The hostel, Global Village Backpackers, is now closed.]
I walked to Union GO Station (all transportation today GO
Transit). Lots of construction there. The anatomically correct nude guy statue,
gone last year, was back this year. I bought a daypass covering Peterborough,
took the Lakeshore East train to Oshawa GO Station, then took the 88 bus to
Peterborough Bus Terminal. Got the front
right top of the doubeldecker bus. An older guy beside me chatted with me a
bit, which helped with fighting sleep.
[NOW: The statue is called Monument to Multiculturalism]
Peterborough was really cold, winter cold even. I walked to Peterborough Square where I
grabbed breakfast at McDonald's. I tried to get my receipt but the server
snatched it away too quickly. I also got
some DVDs and a blu-ray set (Girls Season 2) at Disc Depot there. I visited
Moondance, Jeff's Cards & Comics (not on my list, not yet open), Bluestreak
Records; a store on my list beside it was gone. Switching from King to Water
St. I passed a couple book stores on my list not yet open (Scholars West, Thea’s),
visited Books n' Things, Dixon Books, A couple of books stores were gone
apparently, but one was once in Peterborough Square, which has no full
directory that I could find. I got some DVDs at Chumleighs (not on the list);
bought some DVDs; very happy dealer; he told me the cold snap was an anomaly. I
visited Mark Jokinen Books and Knotanew Books (latter not on my list). I walked
along Milleniunm Park past the river whose name escapes me at the moment and
I'm too sleepy to look it up. Was going to cross to the island but again, too
cold.
[NOW: Disc Depot, Moondance, Books 'N Things, and Dixon's are now closed. Jeff's is now Grey Guardian Games. The river is Otonabee River.]
Was hoping to take an earlier bus out of Peterborough but
service is bi-hourly so after getting some schedules at Peterborough Bus
Terminal so I returned to McDonald’s at Peterborough Square and had the worst
bacon cheeseburgers I'd every tasted.; this time I didn't let the woman take
away the receipt. At the terminal I took
a returning 88 bus (this time not at front but still on top) to Newcastle Carpool
Stop. There I took a 90 bus, making it to the front seat around Bowmanville,
which encompassed most of the ride.
I got off just before Oshawa Centre Mall (in Oshawa of
course) and got DVDs at Deja Vu Discs (a pain to type in Word because it auto-corrects to the phrase, not the way the store spells it; the phrase has
accents and a lowercase “v”). I visited Worlds Collide Comics. Comic Alley was
gone from its old location but I remembered seeing it on the 90 bus so tracked
down its new locations. There I confirmed that two video stores I'd never been
to (one in Oshawa one in Whitby) were long gone, saving me a walk. It was cool
and overcast out so I cut out a couple places I was lukewarm about. I walked to
Star Records which I didn't care for the DVD collection of, but en route I
found the Canadian Automobile Museum and paid the $5 to get in. Not huge but two
floors; lots of vintage cars. After the
museum I went to Oshawa GO Terminal. I was going to go to Whitby but realized
that I didn't want to be weighed down by comics at Comic Addition (If there
were even any cheap ones there) and there was nothing else to see. So I saw
another 90 bus across the street so I took it back to Oshawa GO Station and
returned to Toronto. En route transit police checked everyone's ticket. A young woman new to Ontario's paid card
system (PRESTO) made errors and while not fined did get a formal warning. She
was quite distraught and upset at her friend for not giving her the heads up
that she had to tap the card at the end of a trip and not just the start. The
train ride was otherwise comfy and I fought sleep often.
[NOW: Star Records is now closed.]
I dropped off stuff at the hostel; Toronto was also getting
pretty cold, though not quite as cold as Peterborough. Heading north along
Spadina I saw that TheatreBooks had moved to a new location and visited it. I
ate dinner at Hero Burgers. I little pricey but needed their better quality
burgers after those cheeseburgers earlier.
I walked to Yonge-Dundas Square. I think the same performers who I
thought were professional quality last year were playing this time; if not the
music and quality were comparable. Near the square I visited Future Shop, the
new Silver Snail Comics location, HMV, the southernmost Yonge branch of Sunrise
Records (there are three on Yonge I believe), then the BMV from yesterday. I
fought sleep a little more waiting for the terminal to free up but now can turn
in early and catch up; normally wouldn't turn in this early but hey, lots of
days left this trip for evening walks in Toronto!
[NOW: TheatreBooks, that Hero Burgers, Future Shop, HMV, and the three Sunrise Records on Yonge are now closed.]
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