Eastern Canada Trip 2014 Day 1 Tuesday June 10 Brentwood Bay to Toronto

UPDATED: February 10, 2021

This is the 1st of a series of posts dealing with my fourth 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”. After I booked the trip I unexpectedly had to move and was staying at a friend’s place at the time of the trip, so I was already pretty tired before the trip back.

Got about 6 hours' sleep. Pretty good for a long trip.

But the main reason I'm doing a morning report is I forgot to do my usual good-bye to  departed stores. So:

A moment of silence for Queen Video (on College St), Book City (on Bloor St), the Chapters I got the Eastern Canada (with Ottawa) map book last year, and World's Biggest Bookstore.

Also, since I may not make it to Seattle this year: all remaining US Blockbusters I've been to (except the one in Sandy, OR which licensed the name but wasn't owned by Blockbuster) and Broadway Video.

[NOW: The above was written in the morning. The rest was written in the evening. I definitely didn’t make it to Seattle in 2014 though I stopped briefly in SeaTac en route to and from California.]

I got up a bit before 5 and petted the dog at the place I've been staying with good-bye. I noticed the pants I wanted to wear had a tear and quickly switched to jeans. The husband of the friend I'm staying with drove me to the airport where I checked in and grabbed breakfast at Tim Horton's.  The male flight attendant on the flight to Toronto (actually Mississauga) was a bit of a comedian. My impression is that the length of a flight doesn't determine if a given Westjet flight will have comedy but rather it's left to the individual flight attendants. I spilled some water during the flight but that helped me wash some grime off a camera battery.  Clouds for a little over half the flight.

[NOW: The friends I was staying at are Dana and Carl and their dog is Rosie. The airport above is Victoria International Airport in North Saanich.]

I arrived at Pearson international Airport in Mississauga where I grabbed some lunch at Tim Horton’s en route to baggage claim. This definitely helped with my energy for the rest of the day. Rest of transportation this day Toronto Transit. I took the 192 Rocket bus to Kipling Station in Etobicoke (west end of Toronto) where I took a Bloor-Danforth Line train to Donlands Station.

[NOW: The Bloor-Danforth Line is officially the 2 Line but I tend to think of the subway lines by their traditional names. The 192 Rocket is now the 900 Airport Express]

You check in to The Only Backpackers Inn through a coffee shop. Not crazy about the hostel: have to take shoes off outside your room, beds very crammed, people seem to be able to smoke out on the upper floor deck and the smoke drifts in (maybe it's just the barbecue). Breakfast apparently not until 9 but apparently some arrangement can be made.

[NOW: I never did manage to make an arrangement though I did finally grab the breakfast on the last day of the trip.]

I walked east along Danforth to Comics & More, then west to Circus Books & Music), Re: Reading (I skipped a Greek book and movie store that I knew from before discourages non-Greek customers), Book City, and Mike's Music (bought a Rocky Horror Picture Show blu-ray).  At Broadview Station I bought a week pass and then rode a 505 Streetcar to Yonge-Dundas Square.

 

[NOW: The Greek place, Greek City is now closed.]

I visited Silver Snail Comics, Sunrise Records (bought some DVDs including two Mystery Science Theatre 3000/MST3K sets and a blu-ray), and Edward St's BMV books (more DVD’s including two more MST3K sets); I then photographed the former World's Biggest Bookstore. I had KFC at the food court at Toronto Eaton Centre; a bit early if you factor in time zones but I wanted to make my body adjust to the new time zone plus get the Tuesday special.

 

[NOW: That Sunrise Records is now closed.]

I took a 501 streetcar along Queen St to Queen Video (bought DVDs), another 501 streetcar to Neurotica, walked along Queen some more to Eyesore Cinema (bought more movies including one on professional pillow fighting). I then took a 511 streetcar north to Bloor St where I visited Sonic Boom Records in the Honest Ed's complex, bought a couple pairs of pants and hopefully barely carry-on suitcase at Honest Ed's itself (the store still has a lot of its bad puns signs left despite selling some off), visited Suspect Video in same complex.  Heading east along Bloor I visited another Queen Video (bought Red 2 on blu-ray) and BMV Books.  I passed the University of Toronto and then took the Bloor-Danforth train from Bay Station back to the hostel by way of Donlands Station.

[NOW: Both Queen Videos, Honest Ed's, and Suspect Video are now closed. Eyesore Cinema and Sonic Boom Records have moved. I watched a bit of the pillow fighting documentary; no indication of irony in it. I believe I left that specific suitcase in Toronto with my friend Aidan when I did the Montreal and  Niagara Falls sidetrips.]