Day 33: Toronto, Day 2
Nau mai,
Yesterday we played our second night in Toronto, Ontario.
It was a gorgeous day in Toronto but with that clear sky came an aggressive wind that funnelled down between the buildings and sought out any cracks in your outer layers. I began my day with a search for provisions, looking on my phone for the closest acceptable café and donning my heaviest coat and woollen hat for the journey. Kava Coffee House was only a five-minute walk away and served me a scrambled egg and avocado croissant with some spinach and maybe some other things underneath. I didn’t look inside.
I did some light tourism with my afternoon. It involved a lot of walking, and I saw a lot of streets. In particular it was good to see a few street names from back home that we know and love like Wellesley Street and Queen Street. I visited the distillery district which is east of downtown and quite close to the harbourfront. This old collection of brick buildings has been transformed into a modern dining and retail experience and as the days tick town to the premier retail event of the year this spot becomes a winter village, full of cosiness and Christmas cheer. The giant Christmas tree gets hung with baubles and the Christmas death tripod gets wrapped with holly and everyone gets a chance to take photos in this charming, picturesque location.
I would like to know how they made it snowing in this magical winter village. As soon as I entered the gate the snow began to fall from the heavens. I couldn’t see snow machines anywhere – were they tucked away on the roofs? An impressive piece of movie magic or a natural weather phenomenon?!
What the hell do all the other guys get up to during the day, Ben? You might ask. Why do you never talk about their experiences and explorations? Well, I can tell you that Jon and Liz went to a museum. I can tell you that they saw ancient pottery and that it was incredible. I can tell you that Tristan went to a very good diner and ate an unusual and delicious meal. But this meal falls outside of my purview, and it shall not be detailed in this publication.
The CN was looking magnificent on this fine Toronto day and I cursed myself for not making the journey up to the observation deck of this king of the sky needles.
I sat at the harbourfront for a time enjoying the sunshine and the airport traffic from the comfort of a public bench.
Night two at the Danforth was extremely good. If anything, the room sounded better – perhaps the extra few hundred people in the room tightened things up. This time we had the monotony of a packout to end our night, wheeling our poor equipment outside to spend the night in a freezing cold trailer as we continued the journey east across Canada.