So our good buddy John was able to come visit us for his birthday. We had a blast, and managed to get in quite a few activities while he was here. Check out the pictures on facebook.
So far we are averaging about one visitor a month. First Ray, then Sarah, now John. Who wants to come visit us next? 
Cheers,
Robin
Last Night in London
Liz and I have come full circle, and are back in Toronto, where we first started our travels (boy, is Canada ever sunnier than the UK).
After close to 3 months travel, we decided to head back to Canada, just in time for winter (what are we thinking?) It feels like time to hole up for a bit, possibly doing more travelling next year. Not exactly sure what the future holds, but it may involve spending the winter in TO.
Now that we are back in Canada, and likely with regular internet access, we will be posting up pictures and such.
It has been an awesome adventure, we are bursting with stories and memories, but it is time to start a new chapter. Also, I think I may die if I don’t paint some miniatures soon.
Robin
Howdy all! Liz and I have been on a world wind tour of Toronto this last week, and now that we have taken a few days for some down-time, it is high-time to post another entry. As usual, we love to see your comments, so please keep ‘em coming!
We purchased a City Pass at the start of the week, which gives you access to six Toronto tourist destinations for about half the regular admission price. A good deal, and even though they are touristy places, most have been a lot of fun, and served as a great excuse to travel to that part of Toronto and check out the feel of the area, along with seeing the attraction itself.
I have posted our pictures from the last week up on facebook. A couple of highlight pictures follow:
You can view the whole gallery here.
You can view the whole gallery here.
So far Toronto has been all that I hoped for in a big eastern city, I could see myself coming back here for a longer stay. However, at this point Liz and I are starting to feel the pull of other cities again, and I think we will probably head somewhere else in a few days, likely Montreal, although we aren’t 100% on that yet. So many great cities to choose from!
In Liz’s previous post, she mentioned walking home in one of Toronto’s fall rain showers. I had my little EeePC laptop in my backpack the whole walk home, and when we got back, it was quite wet. I let it dry out, but now it won’t turn on at all, so it must have shorted out and fried at some point. Not a major issue, but a good reminder that electronics, and laptops in particular, don’t mix well with water.
Robin
Galoshes In Style
Updated Sept 12: pictures have now been posted to facebook.
What I have learned is that no person should be caught without an umbrella in Toronto come early September. The heavy rains would explain why galoshes have been so cunningly woven into the local fashion here. What seemed to be a citywide desperate attempt to weave something new into the urban ensemble, now makes a lot more damn sense!
Signs everywhere
Robin and I are staying at the Grange hotel near the heart of China town. It is not as charming to look at as our previous 3-day residence, however, this one comes with a kitchenette, so I can finally cook an egg the way I like it! Amen! We ventured out into the strip of seemingly endless red and yellow awnings, open vegetable markets, tea shops with barrels of pungent dried shitake mushrooms, and various blinking trinket stands, and entered “Excellent Cantonese Restaurant”. We ate a super inexpensive lunch on layer upon layer of white garbage bags that adorned every single table. The slippery surface proved difficult- yet handy when I poured jasmine tea from uselessly drippy spouts. In the middle of our meal a man came to replenish the crab tank behind us. One by one dropping them in, and no, they are not for decoration. We watched the waitress gather up teacups, dishes, and chopsticks all in the topmost layer of the garbage bag, and haul the whole thing to the kitchen. It was clever, humorous even, but not romantic.
Secret Door
We walked Queen St. with it’s excellent windows filled with tantalizing objects, and fashions that would not fit into my backpack *Pout*, and we made our way to the hockey hall of fame. I took a picture of Robin standing next to Lord Stanley’s cup. Then down to the distillery district we went. Oh fantastic!! Beautifully kept Victorian buildings and cobblestone streets all transformed into some of the coolest coffee shops and galleries anywhere. We sipped lovely coffee at Balzac’s, and watched the urbanized wildlife, including two black squirrels in the window flowerpot chittering over a dog biscuit. But my friends, the highlight was stumbling into a gorgeous little chocolate shop in the middle of this euphoric bricked-street wonderland, and finding my favorite chocolate of all time: 70% Porcelana by Domori! (All I need now is 49% Fleur de sel. Right Girls?)
da Bears
We strolled again until we found a nice patio with pub fare, gulped down a pint each, and wolfed down beer-battered fish and chips ’till that rain chased us back to China town. I should admit that it actually down poured on us the whole walk home- but I found a teapot in the kitchenette, and we’ve got Ghostbusters on the laptop, Cheers!
Check out all the pictures here.
Liz
Drink Up!
Update 2: Added pics from our trip to the Royal Ontario Museum to the gallery.
Update: pictures have now been posted to facebook.
Liz and I discussed trying a “She Says/He Says” format, where we weigh in separately and offer our unique points of view on the same topic throughout out travels. We will give it a go with Day 1 and see how it fares. Feel free to comment on this.
We have some pictures I would like to share, but they are currently sealed in an impenetrable vault on Liz’s iPhone, so it will be a day or so until we discover the secret incantation to unlock them (now posted). I have already tried ‘speak friend and enter’. No go.
Leaving Edmonton was an odd thing to experience. We went through weeks of prep, which included excusing ourselves from our jobs, countless wonderful yet bittersweet good-bye’s, and down-sizing our lives into two backpacks. And then we found ourselves sitting in an empty house, packed, and anywhere to go. It was a little surreal.
We chose Toronto for a few reasons. It was on our list of cities to explore, cheap flights were available at a moments notice, and then I stumbled across a hockey article that mentioned a celebrity hockey game occuring in Toronto the very next night. Considering how badly I will miss going to Oilers games this season, and the fact that Tim Robbins was one of the celebrity players (that’s how I knew Liz would go ), it was a must see. Thursday afternoon started with us having no plan at all, and by Friday morning we were on a plane to TO with tickets to the game. I could get very used to this way of life.
My most memorable moment of people watching was after we landed and were on the subway heading to downtown Toronto. There was a young man sitting away from us with headphones on. Fairly normal encounter, at first blush. But I noticed he was talking. Then I realized he wasn’t singing to some catchy tune, or talking on a phone, but rather was reading aloud from the bible in front of him, and to no one in particular. He recited non-stop for thirty minutes or so until we reached our stop, and had to depart. Perhaps he is still going. I wasn’t able to see the front of his hat, but the back had ‘Jesus’ embroidered into it. Hardcore.
The last thing I want to leave you with is a kudos to the VP of Beer Operations at the Air Canada Centre. Not only do they serve Rickard’s Red on tap (beats the pants off of the soapy Canadian draft beer at the Oilers games), but they serve it in cups with lids that have these ingenious mouth spouts and flaps to provide both enjoyable imbibing and spill-free cheering when a goal is scored. Genious.
In short, Toronto = great, and this trip = very good idea indeed.
Robin
Hotel Selby
We flew to Toronto, early and in very good spirits, but these days the “safer” it gets to travel by plane, so too does it become incrementally more painful. Remember peanuts and Shirley Temples? No longer my friends. Now, you can buy soggy little sandwiches in crinkling cellophane packages for $6 a pop, crummy snacks all wheat/nut free too salty or too sweet to make up for the lack of flavor, and even the movies are pay-per-view. I am saddened that the romance has been X-ray’d away.
Atmosphere brakes between the slits in the wing, and finally the ground is visible again.
We were surprised at the wind winding through the airport (although, I guess I shouldn’t have been.) One thing I always love about traveling to new cities is the change in foliage. And they really weren’t kidding about scores of maple leaves! I cannot wait until the green seeps out! The secrets of the Toronto train began to reveal themselves, and Robin and I felt our independence returning. One thing that I cannot seem to get over is that the trains in Toronto smell EXACTLY like those in New York City! I never would have thought that that scent would be so nostalgic- but now I want to go there with Robin more than ever. Were staying the weekend at a rickety converted mansion- all brick and lovely molding. The elevator reminds me of NY too- room for two people at the most, and a cinching metal lattice for peace of mind.
We ventured to the Air Canada center to watch the Festival Cup: an all-star hockey game to raise funds for Children’s right to play sports. Being that I’m not an enormous hockey fan, the highlight for me was seeing Tim Robbins right up close and in person. It was surreal and fantastic!
Missing you all- and surprisingly the dry air.
With more adventures to come…
Liz