I planned and planned and saved money over and over…and I didn’t get to go. So, I got this crazy idea in the last 3 months until my trip that I can use my tax refund. It was $375…which was enough for 3 days. I took the Greyhound bus..which was a mistake. It took two days (to and from) on the bus to get there..which stunk. I could NOT sleep through the whole thing. Until I got there..and I was wide awake. Anyway, my first bus on the way to Flagstaff (AZ) to transfer to another one was one time..until the 2nd bus..which was an hour late. Pretty much screwed up the schedule.
Day One – July 10: I got to Toronto at 7am instead of 6am. That was fine with me, I didn’t want to be there that early. I thought I was going to have to sleep somewhere until a bank opened. I got caught up in the moment. I was SOOO happy when I arrived. The only bad thing was that my bag was soooo heavy. It was hard to haul around. So, I went to the Sheraton Centre Hotel to exchange my currency and went to the hostel. I stayed at Global Village Backpackers on Spadina and King W. It was neat..except that the lockers were downstairs and the stairs were a little dangerous. Anyway, I couldn’t check in until 10am so I just went to find somewhere to have breakfast. I went north on Spadina to this little coffee shop. I had an iced coffee and a muffin. I read some of their newspapers and stuff. After that, I walked around stuff until 10am. I went back to the hostel and checked in. My room was on the 3rd floor. (Urgh, more stairs).. I went into the room and there was a spot, just for me. Except I had to convince the other girls that I couldn’t have a top spot on the bunk. So, of course, I got my way. I stayed there and looked at all my maps to figure out my day’s agenda.
I left to tour the city. I first went to Eaton Centre. The best mall I’ve been to. I went to a toy store and bought some Canada stickers and a T.O. key chain. I had lunch and spent the next two hours in the mall. I rode some of their transit. Some street cars (like better than the subway) and their subways. I got that Day Pass to ride it all. Didn’t take the buses though. Later on I went to the docks and took pictures of the islands and such. Spent a good time there. I just spend the rest of the day looking around and walked and walked and walked. That night I hung out at the hostel. I had some beer at their bar and went online. Didn’t meet no one..not really an outgoing type..so I called it a night at 11pm.
Day Two – July 11: I had a great nights sleep and woke up at 10am. Had a shower and ate breakfast at that coffee shop, again. My plans were to take pictures…lots of them. Well, two rolls, actually. I first went to that great CN Tower and enjoyed a good two hours there. I didn’t take extra film with me and had to spend $10 for another roll…darn. My fault. Anyway, I was scarce on money so I couldn’t have lunch at that 360 Rest.. I left and had plans to go to Tony’s agents office to take a pic of it and check it out. It was in a nice part of town. Around Yonge and Bloor…the best streets. I went there and the building was small. I went up there and asked if Steve Young was there..he was at lunch. I was just gonna meet him and tell him what a great actor he works with. But couldn’t. Anyway, I left and went to Alliance Atlantis..the production company for Famous Jett Jackson. I took a pic of that, too. I just walked around and took pics and enjoyed my afternoon. My feet started to hurt really badly. I’m not used to walking that much. They have lots of stairs and no other way to tour around than walk. I went to look for one of Tony’s movies, Spike of Love, and found it at a video store..to RENT!! GRR!! I wanted to buy it. Couldn’t. But I could have rented and watched it..darn. I had Subway for lunch and went back to the hostel to rest. I left again and took a ferry to Centre Island. It was raining a lot those days and it was hard to take pics and manage my way around. I went of the beaches and put my feet in the water. Kinda cold but no really. Took pics, of course. I had a good time there, too. And took a ferry back at sunset..which was perfect. It was so nice there. I went back and just walked around for a bit. I had dinner and went to the hostels bar again. I had a Cosmo and just mingled with the computer again. Called it a night, once more.
Day Three – July 12: This day was just to relax. I ran out of money quick. I only had $10 left and I couldn’t really do anything but walk and walk and walk around again. I regret not asking for more money. I had to have ravioli for dinner and drink tap water. I just rested and packed my things to leave the next day.
Day Four..Time of Leave..awww…- July 13: I dreaded this day. It was the day I had to leave. I woke up and made sure things were accounted for. I check out at 11am and went to the Greyhound terminal and put my things in a locker. I had 3 ½ hours to do whatever. I just walked down some street and enjoyed the sun. It bugged me a lot that it was sunny because I wanted to go to the beach on Ward’s Island..but it was raining all 3 days. I had Subway..hehe..for breakfast. On the last hour, I went to the City Hall to check out their Outdoor Art Exhibit. There were a lot of people there. But I didn’t see anyone familiar. I just hung out until it was time to go on the bus to go home. I got to the terminal and found my bus. I boarded and as the bus left, I started to cry. I said to myself, “I don’t wanna leave, I don’t wanna leave” I was so deeply saddened to leave. But if I had the money, I would have stayed longer. 3 days was not enough. As the bus was going towards the west out of Toronto, I promised myself that, “I’ll be back someday..you’ll see, Toronto.” I got to Detroit and problems began again. I was told that I missed one of the bus transfers and I had to leave at 11pm instead of 9pm. That was horrible and they had to re-do my tickets. Of course I came back home at night instead of earlier that day. Which saddened me. I ‘wanted’ to go home..kinda. I was like, “oh no…I’m going back to stupid boring sucky hot Phoenix, AZ..URGH!!” So, the long journey home continued until July 15 at 8pm.
Aftermath: I LOVE Toronto. It is the BEST CITY ON EARTH!! New York isn’t NOTHING compared to this great city. I love Canada and will live there someday. I plan to move to Toronto between 5-10 years. I have to find a job to get money to go to college and find a good career. Then I must work my butt off for a couple of years and save at least $50,000 to support me for three months until I find a job there. I plan to pay back my friends and family, too. I found out that apartment are around $800 a month so I must find a good one with utilities included, and has to be furnished, too. I’ll stay in a hostel until I find an apartment. Anyway, this city has really changed my feelings about everything. It was the vacation of my dreams. It wasn’t just a vacation, it was to find out if I really wanted to move there. I also felt strange to be a couple of miles away from Tony (didn’t meet him, of course) than 2,500 miles. It may get to be extremely cold in the winter, but I would rather deal with that then to deal with extremely hot summers in Phoenix. I hate Phoenix. I sometimes wonder why my grandparents moved here. It’s not a great city. It’s boring and people are rude. I love Toronto no matter what. And SARS didn’t scare me a bit. I wasn’t even thinking about it when I was there. And no, I didn’t get it. I TOLD YOU GUYS I WOULDN’T GET IT!! HAH!! It wasn’t a big problem anymore when I went there and it still isn’t. I felt comfy around Chinese people. Anyway, I just want to say that I’m not a traitor to my country, the US, I just want a different life in another country. I’ll still visit and stuff. Just not during the summer, hehehe. I LOVE Canada and plan to be a citizen someday. I make my own destiny..and it’s there living a happy life.
Picture Descriptions:
Before looking at these collages, PLEASE LET THEM LOAD!..it's worth it..get a snack or something. And right click on the link of a collage and refer to this list while looking at them.
1. From CN Tower, 2. City at night, 3. Another from CN Tower, 4. And another, 5. At night again, 6. From the Tower, 7. The CN Tower from my hostel window, 8. The city from my hostel window, 9. Boat and the Island, 10. The Island, 11. Another CN Tower pic, 12. From the docks, 13. ditto, 14. The island, 15. City from CN Tower, 16. Island from CN Tower, 17. Part of the beach on one of the islands, 18. City from CN Tower, 19. Looking down from CN Tower, 20. Small pic of CN Tower, 21. Zooming in on a part of the CN Tower, 22. The city, 23. SkyDome, 24. Air Canada Centre, 25. (I forgot what this place is called), 26. Tony Munch’s agents office, “Steve Young and Associates” are on the 2nd floor”..small building, 27. Alliance Atlantis, production office for TFJJ, 28. AA again, 29. City from the islands, 30. and again.., 31. Part of the island, 32. City from island, 33. From island again, 34. Some kind of birds from the island, 35. The city again from the island, 36. a beach, 37. Lake Ontario, 38. BCE Place..where a scene from TFJJ’s “Something to Prove” and scenes from Dracula 2000 were shot, 39. A busy day on the streets of T.O.C! 40. I attempted to take a good photo from my window at the hostel, 41. Nice little photo from Centre Island, 42. The BEST one I have of the city from the island, 43. City from a window at the hostel, 44. City Hall.
Thank you for visiting my trip to Toronto page. It was a great trip. I plan on moving there someday..and I will. *~*LaurenM*~*
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TOC Collage 1
TOC Collage 2
TOC Collage 3
TOC Collage 4
TUTMP
TFJJE
