Cross Canada Cross Country, no Wireless….what hell is this??? Cross Mel

So losing track of days, dates I’m ok with but days…like for example, right now, I couldn’t tell you what day it is.  It also doesn’t help my watch is broken…

I’m on the train from Toronto to Vancouver and have just left Toronto, considering I’m going to be on this train for over 3 days, I’m feeling already the retro 70’s chair covers and smell is not impressing me, but it’s not about the interior of this thing is it?  It’s about the view, the experience and those amazing/interesting people you meet.  This is a once in a lifetime trip not only because it’s going to be an amazing experience but also because I think this is something you would only do once, then from then on it would be flights only me thinks…..

But I digress (I have always wanted to say that…)

So yesterday was pretty interesting I had breakfast at Over Easy as recommended by the Toronto guidebook.  The food was very yummy, slightly pricey but worth it for the freshly squeezed juice, massive pot of coffee and bagels with egg, bacon and roasted cubey potato things….

The waitress messed up my order and when I asked her what had happened to the rest of my order she said it was my fault as I should have reminded her what I wanted

….as I politely smiled and left the required 20% tip (god how English have I become??) and said “sure you’re probably right, my fault”….. I was thinking “so you want me to remind you to do your job properly” and here I was going for the traditional version of restaurant dining, where one places the order then the waitress brings what is asked for.  Sorry ex-waitress can’t knock it out of me.  All that said, if you go to Toronto you must go here for brekkie as least once, the food is really good and the choice on the menu is huge!  To be fair to the waitress she might have been having an off day which is hard when you have to deal with the public very different from working in an office where you can occasionally get away with being a complete bitch. (not a word Panda)

So after a huge fried breakfast what better way to work it off than have a nap in the University of Toronto grounds.  I loved walking through here the buildings are so beautiful all covered in climbing plants and the weather has been incredible, like British Summer (but without the rain).

Then it was on to Kensington Markets, which I have to say would be one of my top highlights of Toronto.  Poles apart from London Kensington it’s more like Camden with a touch of Greenwich if you need a comparison.  The markets sell everything from clothes to music to food to jewellery.  They are mostly on the ground floor of these multi level houses that are all brightly coloured with random pieces of artwork or murals on/near them.

I loved it here the energy was incredible, with the sun shining and all these interesting folk walking around.  I got a proposal from Moses (reggae music shop owner) who said I looked like marriage material, personally I blame the child bearing hips. I also met this incredible world traveller Carlos from South America who owned one of the shops on Kensington Avenue.

  

So I sat in the sunshine talking to Carlos for a few hours trying to put the world to rights while I waited for the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) to have its ‘free time’ between 6 and half 8.

So saying goodbye to Carlos, it was off to the AGO to walk around and see what they have to offer the tourist types. 

They have some lovely stuff but after the MOMA in NY I’m thinking I’m a bit spoilt and the security here is intense, they need to lighten up a tad me thinks.  I got some great pics from the staircase here ----->

of the Design Museum and the Toronto skyline.  Then it was Japanese for a healthy dinner, just feeling so unhealthy of late….so much fried food on offer, then off home.

After chatting online till super late, I suddenly realised that I had my days out of whack and I was actually leaving today/tonight….had a bit of a freak out cause for some reason I thought I had another day……

Today was pretty chilled out, after packing my backpack I pootled off to Cabbage Town the apparent old Irish district of Toronto (hmmm kind of waste of time)  I realised if I wanted to see really old houses and roads and stuff I could go back to London to be fair…unless I turned down the wrong street and missed the most amazing historical thing by like metres…which would be funny.  I then got the tram/cable car thingy right down to the other end of College Road and found myself in little Italy stopped in at Dragon Lady Comics…got me a couple of comic books.  This place is interesting besides comics they have back issues of Time Magazines and old Mad comics and books…brilliant!  Then I read my comics in the university grounds and chilled out.

On what was probably the hottest day in Toronto I strapped on my 15kg (but feels like double) backpack and got myself to Union Station to get on the train where I find myself now.  

The purser (not sure of her job title) is (lets call her 'C - lady')and she is bloody intimidating to say the least.  

When she was explaining how if there was a train crash I should break the window with these hammers, put a blanket across the bottom of the frame to crawl out and that I shouldn’t run away but help my fellow passengers….blah blah blah… I looked away for a fraction of a second, slightly bored… (well help others…seriously??? Do I look like a freaking martyr?) She said “can you understand me, understand what I’m saying?”  Of course with my tiredness and hunger it took all my energy reserves to hold my eyebrow down and not say “yes I can sweetheart but maybe you should use smaller words”.  To add excitement to the whole train experience a guy called Mario pissed up, 'apparently' spewed all over the toilets and train carriage, well C-lady was all over his intoxicated ass like a moose on …..well another moose….he nearly got kicked off (they actually started reversing the train back to Toronto) but they gave him a second chance…ahhh bless, she does have a heart.  I’m also very lucky to be surrounded in my seat by what seem like lovely people and so far I met a guy called Tyler who issitting behind me and seems to love to sleep…

Oh yeah there is no freaking wireless….so you guys will get nothing for 4 days or so then you going to get like a veritable flurry of blogs, a blog flurry…sounds kind of gross doesn’t it.  So by the time I hit Vancouver after three days on this train wishing that some creature out of the Twilight Zone would peak through my window and derail the train (just to make things interesting) alongside being completely off the grid, going dark, incommunicado (homage to Mark)…..I’m sensing weird blogs with lots of random Mel thoughts….warning spoiler alert!!!!