Guess what! I’m blogging from the Greyhound, on my way to Toronto! I was going to blog from the coach station too, but it felt a little dodgy to get out the Macbook! The coach stop in Montreal and some of the stops in-between have looked so American, as though they are sets for all those 70’s movies and diner-shots i’ve seen from England! Even down to the white and red tiled floor and the plastic benches! Depressingly however, the food was also authentic.
Regardless, the experience of traveling across Canada by bus was well worth doing, despite the hassle. We’ve passed absolutely gorgeous countryside, ranging from autumnal forests to reed swamps, and of course, the open lakes. The colours here are incredibly vibrant, but certainly different to the tones of England – far more golden and yellow-green, rather than the rich emerald tones i’m used to. Ended up sitting next to a lovely (but ridiculously chatty) older lady on the coach out, who delighted in recounting her entire life story, her daughter’s life story and telling me that she was a great-grandparent. This was charming the first time, sweet on the second and incredibly tedious by the sixth. Unfortunately, in a bus journey of 8 hours, there were not only 6 recounts. She did, however, have much to say about the countryside around Montreal and managed to fill me in on the history of Canada thusfar. Lovely as this all was, luckily, she vacated at Kingston.
The next lady is absolutely lovely, and a current doctoral student in Bio-Chem at UofT, coming from Iran. We swapped details and plan to meet for coffee next week sometime, perhaps during “Frosh”. I’m anticipating some of Freshers’ Week, such as the “Bed Races” and boat ride, but dreading others, namely the “Group Cheer Practice” and “Cheer-off”. I asked a Canadian friend of mine what exactly a “Bed Race” was, and she replied with amusement, “It’s a bed. On WHEELS. Go figure.” I’m not sure I want to, but it certainly sounds fun!
Montreal was lovely, but not quite my cup of tea. I was always missing the real elements of France it was trying to copy, and often the people were (almost certainly unintentionally) frosty if fluent Quebecois was not spoken. I understand and speak some French, but not Quebecois. Many people were reluctant, even angry, when required to speak in English. Ironically, this temperament is depressingly similar to that of many Belgians, although this may be a biased opinion.
…
I just caught my first glimpse of the CN Tower with Show of Hands’s “Cousin Jack” in the background. What an amazing life! I need to be pinched.
…
Finally in Toronto! Loving it already! Just got to the little hotel i’m temporarily staying at, and already i’ve discovered a kinder and more open city than i’m used to. As soon as I ended up in the underground system (sorry, subway), I had three people within the space of 5 minutes ask me if I knew where I was going and if I needed any help. Then a bus driver took me three blocks for free, gave me several maps and gave me a wad of metro-bus transfer tickets. I love this place! This was followed by one of the best pizza’s i’ve ever eaten at a tiny pizza place in Midtown, and an imminent sleep in a lovely comfy bed. Tomorrow i’ll pop by the university, sort out money stuff and hopefully go for a dip in the university pool, which is, incidentally, free.
The Greyhound!
August 28, 2008 at 7:48 am (Comments)
Guess what! I’m blogging from the Greyhound, on my way to Toronto! I was going to blog from the coach station too, but it felt a little dodgy to get out the Macbook! The coach stop in Montreal and some of the stops in-between have looked so American, as though they are sets for all those 70’s movies and diner-shots i’ve seen from England! Even down to the white and red tiled floor and the plastic benches! Depressingly however, the food was also authentic.
Regardless, the experience of traveling across Canada by bus was well worth doing, despite the hassle. We’ve passed absolutely gorgeous countryside, ranging from autumnal forests to reed swamps, and of course, the open lakes. The colours here are incredibly vibrant, but certainly different to the tones of England – far more golden and yellow-green, rather than the rich emerald tones i’m used to. Ended up sitting next to a lovely (but ridiculously chatty) older lady on the coach out, who delighted in recounting her entire life story, her daughter’s life story and telling me that she was a great-grandparent. This was charming the first time, sweet on the second and incredibly tedious by the sixth. Unfortunately, in a bus journey of 8 hours, there were not only 6 recounts. She did, however, have much to say about the countryside around Montreal and managed to fill me in on the history of Canada thusfar. Lovely as this all was, luckily, she vacated at Kingston.
The next lady is absolutely lovely, and a current doctoral student in Bio-Chem at UofT, coming from Iran. We swapped details and plan to meet for coffee next week sometime, perhaps during “Frosh”. I’m anticipating some of Freshers’ Week, such as the “Bed Races” and boat ride, but dreading others, namely the “Group Cheer Practice” and “Cheer-off”. I asked a Canadian friend of mine what exactly a “Bed Race” was, and she replied with amusement, “It’s a bed. On WHEELS. Go figure.” I’m not sure I want to, but it certainly sounds fun!
Montreal was lovely, but not quite my cup of tea. I was always missing the real elements of France it was trying to copy, and often the people were (almost certainly unintentionally) frosty if fluent Quebecois was not spoken. I understand and speak some French, but not Quebecois. Many people were reluctant, even angry, when required to speak in English. Ironically, this temperament is depressingly similar to that of many Belgians, although this may be a biased opinion.
…
I just caught my first glimpse of the CN Tower with Show of Hands’s “Cousin Jack” in the background. What an amazing life! I need to be pinched.
…
Finally in Toronto! Loving it already! Just got to the little hotel i’m temporarily staying at, and already i’ve discovered a kinder and more open city than i’m used to. As soon as I ended up in the underground system (sorry, subway), I had three people within the space of 5 minutes ask me if I knew where I was going and if I needed any help. Then a bus driver took me three blocks for free, gave me several maps and gave me a wad of metro-bus transfer tickets. I love this place! This was followed by one of the best pizza’s i’ve ever eaten at a tiny pizza place in Midtown, and an imminent sleep in a lovely comfy bed. Tomorrow i’ll pop by the university, sort out money stuff and hopefully go for a dip in the university pool, which is, incidentally, free.