Looking back at my time in Toronto, it really was a quiet little trip. There were a couple of days where I went adventuring into central Toronto, but mostly it was spent at Frenda’s place, using the internet and hanging out with Sophie the Wonderdog. And really, I have to say, that suited me down to the ground. I knew that Cuba would involve a lot of activity so it was kind of like the calm before the storm!
Saturday 24th March – I set my alarm for 11am, but ended up sleeping until 12:30… still trying to get my body clock into order after jetlag and unusual hours in Vegas! Frenda and Adrian were out most of the day, so I just pottered around the house. It was nice seeing bilingual products again – the maple breakfast cereal had French on one side of the box and English on the other. Flip it over – one minute you’re in Quebec, then flip again and you’re in Ontario… Quebec, Ontario, Quebec, Ontario…! Dinner with Frenda and Adrian.
Sunday 25th March – I managed to get my ass out of bed at 10, had more cereal for brekkie, and tootled again while Frenda and Adrian went out. When Adrian came back home, he and I took Sophie for a nice long walk down to the lakeshore and back. I saw my first squirrels of the trip! That’s when I knew for sure that I was in the northern hemisphere! The view from the cliff on the edge of the lake was just beautiful, and the lake’s so big that you can’t see the other side. Right on the lakeshore there was an ugly monstrosity of a house for sale, complete with a massive, hideous statue of a fisherman outside. I was just wondering which people in their right minds would want to live in a giant eyesore like that, all grey brick and ugly facade, when an ugly monstrosity of a car pulled up and a bunch of ugly monstrous people got out of it to look at the house. Sigh. There’s no accounting for taste! On the walk back home, we bumped into – and chatted to – a few people from the neighbourhood; all of them had a pronounced Canadian accent, which was surprising. I don’t often come across Canadian accents that strong! They seemed like lovely people, and all of them had dogs and cats running around the place.
After getting back from the walk, Frenda, Adrian and I all got ready, and they very kindly took me out for dinner in Toronto for my birthday, along with Jason and Julia (their son and his fiancee). The celebration was a day early, of course, but it worked out better that way because they all had to work on the Monday and I really wanted to celebrate it with all of them. We went to a place in Chinatown called ‘A Taste of China’, and the food was mind-blowingly good. There was deep-fried tofu, chilli chicken with crispy noodles, lobster with garlic and an amazing selection of greens (my favourite is always the snow pea shoots, which always seem more crispy than some of the alternatives). Yum! After dinner, we said our goodbyes to Jason and Julia, and started the long drive back to Burlington. What a lovely evening. After we got back, we all went to bed, but of course I couldn’t sleep so I HAD to watch a couple of episodes of the Walking Dead Season 2… my new addiction!!! Fantastic television, totally riveting… it was hard to stop watching and go back to bed!
Monday 26th March – My birthday! Having already had my celebration in Brissie before I left, and the dinner out the night before, I was happy to have a quiet day while Frenda and Adrian went to work. When Frenda came home, she made a beautiful salmon dish with ginger and onions, and after chatting for a while we all went to bed… and I indulged in more Walking Dead! 😉
Tuesday 27th March – more of the same as above. Quiet pottering with Sophie.
I’ll tell you all about my last two days in Toronto another time. Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Tara.
Born in Hong Kong and raised all over the world, I've been tootling around for 33 years now. A Spanish friend of mine once said that "the smallest pot has the finest marmalade"... I have to agree with her! I'm small but I can still make 6-foot Brazilian bodybuilders cry if the need arises. And I never need to whinge about legroom on a plane!
little tara 
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