This is the first in a series of posts covering my trip to Eastern Canada in September 2019, adapting emails originally sent to friends. I use NOW to refer to any updates since I did the trip.
Sleepy so apologies if lots of typos.
Tried to catch most. Last night got the idea to print ON and QC
McDonald's coupons, Can't use printouts directly but you can type the
number codes into the self-serve kiosks. Managed to fall asleep last
night only to be woken up at 1:30 by a text from a spammer.
[NOW: Hopefully I caught the typos before posting to this blog.]
Put
on new backpack for first time. No chest straps but small shoulder
straps so it still doesn't bounce. Walked from my place to nearby
Embassy Hotel where I caught the YYJ Airporter to the airport in North
Saanich. At first I thought |I had left by debit and credit cards at
home so was directed to the currency exchange which doesn't open until
8. Luckily I finally found them (like I said, new backpack; only just
learning the various hiding spots).
[NOW: The airport is Victoria International Airport.]
Grabbed
breakfast at Tim Horton's. A 500 mL Coke cost $2.75. I mailed out a
cheque I kept forgetting to send out and then went through security
without incident. Westjet plane to Toronto was on time. I
accidentally sat down on the wrong side of the plane. This was a relief
because on the side I sat down initially the window seat had no window.
No map screen during flight sadly. For a long period of time during the
flight we flew over clouds that weren't that fluffy on top, just flat,
so I turned off my camera occasionally rather than essentially repeat
the same shot. Clouds partly cleared around the Great Lakes, though they
didn't go away until just before landing. Over one lake a cloud
formation looked like the head of a cockatiel. I'm a bit sleep deprived
but I'm not THAT sleep deprived.
The plane
landed 19 minutes early (passing Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan shortly
before landing) but took a while upon landing to reach the terminal.
The flight attendants or at least one made a few attempts at humour
during the flight so eventually one said she hoped we were enjoying our
tour of the airport. I got off the plane at Pearson, which is actually
in Mississauga, not Toronto. Noticed my phone was still on PDT. Grabbed
lunch at Tim Horton's. The cashier refused to give me my receipt. Still,
it was wise to get lunch then as it takes a while for the luggage to
show up, a lesson learned the hard way from past trips. While waiting
for the suitcase I ate the lunch and finally figured out how to change
the time on my cell.
I took the 900 bus (what
few transit I used today were all Toronto Transit) to Kipling Station in
Toronto. Just missing one, I took the next 2 subway train to Dufferin
station and transferred to a 92C bus to Duffferin and Queen. I had to
ask directions but finally found the hostel, Parkdale Hostellerie.
[NOW: In full, the bus was the 900 Airport Express.]
After
checking in I walked back to Bloor where I had gotten that 29C bus and
walked west to Dead Dog Music. Heading east, bought an incomplete but $2
DVD screener set for $2 at Eyesore Cinema. I visited Zoinks!, then
Doug Miller Books, passing some sort of Asian outdoor event at Christie Pits
Park en route. Bought a comic trade at Doug Miller. Sad to report I
confirmed my suspicions: Bumpkin the store rabbit passed away shortly
after my 2016 visit.
Continuing
on along Bloor I passed the former site of Honest Ed's and visited
Seekers Books and BMV Books (got a couple of TV Blu-ray sets at the
latter). Got some DVDs at Bay St Video. Indigo across the street and a
few other places I checked didn't have a map book I was looking for. I
decided to cut out a number of places for time but I'll have at least
two chances to get to them later. On Yonge St., I got another Blu-ray set
at ABC Books (got a Blu-ray that completes my sets of Weeds seasons) and
used a coupon number at McDonald's. I visited the Edward
St BMV Books then Silver Snail Comics, then Yonge-Dundas Square. It's
worth noting that Bloor and Yonge have something in common with Greater
Victoria: construction.
I did a long walk west along Queen St, passing another live thing at the park by City Hall, and after a brief detour along University Ave, made my way back to the hostel. As it happened someone was holding the door open for others so I showed her my squab that proved I was staying there.
[NOW: That park is Nathan Phillips Square.]
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