Toronto

My train from the prairies approached Toronto during the early evening. It was one last chance to have a meal in the coffee shop car on the train. I was seated next to young lady from British Columbia who was doing some traveling on the East coast for bit. She was interesting to chat to but also somewhat mysterious. She had her book with her, and I glanced at the title. “The Ethical Slut” - a guide to limitless sexual possibilities. I was tempted to inquire about her book but chickened out and didn't bring it up.

After dinner I returned to my seat and to some more savory thoughts.

For example:

As we passed through the first of the small towns I noticed some kids run out and wave to the thrice-weekly train and reflected upon the fact that it was one of my favourite things about coming through these out-of-the-way places. Very cute.

I observed the residential architecture as the train started to come through the vast sprawling greater Toronto suburbs. It was the first time in quite a while that I'd seen BRICK houses. North American houses are mainly multi storied board houses, and the lack of seeing bricks around was starting to make me feel homesick. Seeing some brick townhouses made me feel more at home, but interestingly it reminded me more of London and not Melbourne.

At Toronto's Union Station I changed to the subway which got me closer to my hostel. As I came up to ground level and looked around at the high rise city buildings lighting up the night sky above streets of restaurants, bars and cafes, I breathed in the welcome warm air and sighed in breath of satisfaction – I immediately knew I liked this place.

I walked through the “entertainment district” past some more restaurants and nightclubs to my back street hostel. I was essentially following the German girl I'd met on the train from Edmonton. She said she'd lived previously at the hostel for several months, so I figured it was a good place to stay.

It was a good assumption. The Canadiana Backpackers Lodge is one of the friendliest hostels I've ever stayed at, and with a great atmosphere to match the vibe of the city.

Canadians are surprised when I tell them, based on my limited experience, that I like Toronto better than Vancouver. Yes, Vancouver is a prettier city, but Toronto has an exciting, lively vibe. Maybe it's just the big city person in me talking. And don't get me wrong, Toronto has it's big city down sides as well. One thing I noticed was a lot of violence. On my very first night in my dorm room there was a guy who had gone out to a bar, and had apparently without provocation been smashed over the back of the head with a glass bottle. Supposedly in retaliation to an accidental nudge. I saw other examples of aggression and willful damage, but maybe that's just what you get when you stay a weekend in the heart of a big city's entertainment area. It would probably be no different to a Saturday night in front of Melbourne's CQ.

I managed to make the most out of my nights in Toronto by going out a fair bit. On ANZAC Day a bunch of Aussies and Kiwis (and an assortment of other miscellaneous nationalities) went out to celebrate in a pub that was showing some AFL. I checked out various other local bars and even experienced my first gay nightclub. Don't worry, Canada hasn't turned me, I was chaperoning a lady who had promised her gay friend she would go out in the gay village with him.

I spent my days mainly just walking around and taking the city in. My only real tourist attraction was the must-see CN Tower. I've visited a few famous towers in my time, from Rialto and Eureka back home to The Eiffel in Paris and Empire State in New York City. But Toronto's version takes the cake in terms of height.

As the glass lift blasted off up the tower I found myself holding on to the edge of the lift rather tight, and was amused by the fact that everyone in the rather crowded lift avoided standing on the see-through glass panel on the floor.

The view from the top of the tower showed what a big city Toronto really is. As far as you could see, it was houses, blocks of flats and factories, but amongst a sea of spring green trees. I hadn't noticed it till then, but Toronto was well into spring, where as back in Alberta and Manitoba all I saw was depressingly bare branches.

After 4 nights in Toronto I didn't feel like leaving yet, but it is time to experience a different Canada again. So I packed my backpack. As travel time passes I seem to collect more stuff and the backpack gets harder to pack. I've had to master the art of strapping things to the outside of my backpack instead trying to force everything inside. I bet I look like quite the site walking down the street or standing on the subway with my small backpack on my chest, main backpack on my back, with various jackets and objects dangling off.

I got to the train station in time for the 11:30 train to Montreal but it was fully booked; with the next one after 3. So with almost 4 hours to kill I went and hung out in a cool shopping centre downtown. That's when I remembered I didn't have directions to the Montreal hostel so I popped into the Apple Shop to use their wireless internet (thanks for the tip Em!) on my iPod Touch. In the store at the same time was an Aussie girl I met in the restaurant car on the train between Vancouver and Edmonton. I went to say hello. Her aunt (predictably) commented “small world” as to the story, but it really is. The small world experiences are starting to not even surprise me. So far I've met Melburnians I know at Whistler, and in Alberta I met a girl who was a student of my chiropractor friend in Melbourne.

I'm writing this from my seat on the train to Montreal. The train is modern and fast, even with a power plug for my laptop; a far jump from the 1950's train experience I had for the 4 days across the main part of the continent. In three hours I should be disembarking in Quebec's biggest city. It is also Canada's 2nd biggest city and the 2nd largest city in the world after Paris for French-speakers. Should be fun.