I am back from Toronto and things went mostly as expected and a good time was had by all, to varying degrees.

We didn’t take any pictures of the hotel room [am I the only one who likes taking pictures of sumptuous rooms?] but our beds were dreamy and we contemplated trying to sneak one of the queen sized beds past the concierge at the end of our stay.  The bathroom was lovely [which is so important when you're away from home].

The bus ride there was completely uneventful.  Since there were three of us going, one of us had to share a seat with a stranger.  I offered to do this, and a stranger promptly sat down beside me.  She was nice enough and extremely chatty [clearly was not taught to avoid talking to strangers] and she told me about her boyfriend and how he may possibly get a job in England and how he’ll find out at 5pm whether they’re moving to England or not [for the curious:  she was off to TO to visit her friend who is turning 30 and she herself turned 30 back in November].  I politely asked whether she’d be moving with him [she will] then cautioned her that he probably wouldn’t find out on Friday afternoon as they had told him because I’ve been in that situation before and potential employers never get back to you by the time they say they will:  they wait until you’ve donned black and begun the mourning process for the job that could have been, only to call you and tell you that they haven’t made a decision yet.  Vera, who was sitting directly behind me offered me some candy at some point and before my hand had even entered the bag to extract a gummy worm, my friendly neighbour asked if she could have some too.  I graciously offered Vera’s bag of candy to her.  She had a few hacking fits during the trip [unrelated to the candy] and she must have spied my stiff posture when she started hacking the first time because she assured of her health by telling me that it was “just a smoker’s cough, I’m not contagious or anything”.  She was truly friendly and I can’t help but admit that I wonder whether she’s off to England or not [she did inform me that while I was napping, her boyfriend called to let us-I feel like part of the family!-know that they wouldn't be making a decision that day.

Upon arriving in TO, we dragged our luggage down the streets of TO and to the subway [they do not have enough escalators, it was up and down and up and down and with all my luggage]. I may have overpacked [some think that "luggage" and "weekend trip" should never appear in the same sentence] but I’ll let you be the judge:

 

We found our hotel room without incident, thanks to Vera.  After bouncing on the beds and taking a couple of “yay! we’re cool adults in TO” pictures, we went off to check out H&M and find some dinner. 

 

The store had a lot of chic and affordable items but nothing in my size [this was a smaller location].  There were a lot of great, affordable accessories, of which I purchased none.  They were all very trendy accessories and I’m much more of a classic dresser [aka one step above the disadvantaged] so until I develop a style, I’ll resist frivolous purchases.  We ran across a man who impressed us with his ability to sashay: if he had had long hair he would have flipped it at us as he went by.  I think he may have been a runway model in a past life.  We walked for about half an hour down Yonge Street, with my sister declaring that we were going to see someone we know in TO this weekend.  Surprisingly, we did:  the daughter of family friends, looking very stylish [she probably buys some of her swag at H&M] and her equally stylish friend walked by.  After exchanging hugs and small talk, we continued on our trek to a dinner locale and in due course we ended up at Baton Rouge.  We have this restaurant here, but I had never eaten there.  The food was fantastic and I cannot wait to see if my local restaurant compares. 

On Saturday, we started off our day with breakfast at McDonalds.  We were particularly humoured by an elderly man who ordered a muffin.  He was asked if he wanted an egg, bacon, sausage or ham McMuffin to which he replied “I just want a muffin!”  My sister is convinced that he would have burst into tears next had they not given him a simple muffin.  To show how out of touch with McD’s I am, I kept [ok, it only happened twice] ordering a sausage McMuffin instead of a sausage and egger.  Other customers were probably wondering how a girl with my abundance of fast food eating-related curves could have no clue what she wanted from McDonald’s. 

We poked around some stores in the area, then went back to the hotel where we watched Vera primp for two hours.  I must talk about Vera who is easily one of my most high maintenance friends.  I’m shocked that she packed the smallest bag of the three of us but I’m sure that 2/3 of its contents were beauty products:  mousses, gels, creams, powders, lipglosses, bronzers.  If she didn’t have it, it hasn’t been made.  She insisted that she’s not high maintenance but the girl wore makeup to breakfast!  She wouldn’t dream of eating out in the least classy restaurant around without makeup.  We met a nice gentleman who came to pick her up and then my sister and I were on our way to the Eaton Centre.

The EC is a great mall if you are into big names but it’s basically just a big, confusing mall.  I was tired of the place after an hour but I made myself see every floor except the top floor which seemed boring.  I ended up buying a shirt from one store and since the store and the shirt are both available here I really don’t count this as a major shopping coup.  The H&M at this location was larger, but I think all the plus sized women had beat me to the place:  I could not find anything larger than a size 12 or 14 in any item that caught my eye.  I once again resisted accessories.  I did get some $10 sandals and spent some time in the biggest book store in the world.

After shopping, we met up with V and then parted again, this time for dinner with my friend Adam and his girlfriend, Cyn, who is an author.  We had dinner at an absolutely lovely establishment, where they kept the warm bread coming and the service was really to die for.  After waiting a trifle long for dinner we were offered a free dessert plate and got to sample five different desserts.  We went to Adam’s condo in the suburbs [very nicely decorated], checked out his tv [very nice; I discovered that this high definition business that people are selling their kidneys for might actually be worth it].  Cyn guided us back home and presented each of us [and the absent V] with a copy of her book.  It was a very pleasant evening.

We started Sunday with our trek to McDonald’s, where the restaurant was quite quiet.  A lot of shops don’t open until noon, and check out from the hotel was at 1pm.  I had already declared that I was not dragging my luggage through Toronto just to squeeze in more shopping so after loitering at Starbucks for an hour, we dashed into a few shops and emerged empty handed before returning to our room to pack.

Some surprises about TO:  the streets are cleaner than I expected, and nice and wide.  I think apart from the irritation of rush hour traffic on the highway, driving in TO wouldn’t be that bad.  The customer service in the restaurants was superb.  I was really pleased with this…until you receive truly exceptional customer service you don’t know what you’re putting up with.  Also, Torontonians aren’t that much more trendy than I.  Sure there are some who are 10,000 steps beyond me but there are plenty who are right around where I am.  It was very similar to this city in that way.  TO [or perhaps only the parts that I saw] didn’t fit the label of a high crime locale at all and I never felt unsafe while I was there.

We made our way to the bus station without incident and arrived home safe and sound, with promises to do this more often.  It was a lowkey yet fun time.  Next time, I’ve decided I will drag my companions to a [safe] dance club on the Friday night.  Other things I will do next time: pack less, carrying my belongings in a sports bag type bag instead of luggage, stay awake longer at night, take the subway to the far reaches of the line, just to see what’s there, go to Chinatown.  Clearly there is a lot more of TO to see.

Filed under: Adventure, Family, Friends, WurdyGurdy by jummy