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Published: October 8th 2006
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I woke up at 2am because my tooth was aching very badly. I went to brush my teeth and wash it out several times but the pain wouldn’t subside. I didn’t have any painkillers or aspirins on me so I went for an early morning walk around to find any store that would sell anything to alleviate my pain. I went back to walk up Yonge St and there was still the calmness and safeness that I hadn’t experienced in any other Northern American city at night. For once, I felt safe to be out at night by myself.
I continued walking around but I only found a coffee house called Tim Horton’s, where I bought a bottle of water as well as a hot coffee. There was a bum that was outside the store panhandling for spare change. I automatically told him I didn’t have anything but he wished me a good night. The man’s charm had worked and I told him I would spare him two dollars for being so nice.
The icy cold water to my back tooth was like a left hand jab from Mike Tyson. The pain got worse and then I had
thoughts about going home again. But I was prepared to tough it out, even if it meant eating soup for the next week.
Tiredness won over pain so I fell asleep at some random hour of the morning, only to wake up again at 9am for the day ahead. I only had today to check out Toronto, as tomorrow I’d be flying east to Fredericton for Canadian Thanksgiving at Kryssie’s house. There was a Kiwi in the bunk next to mine who had also been randomly invited to spend Thanksgiving at some random long lost family of his. It’s nice to know that although we were many kilometres away from home, people still wanted us to be a part of their family, even if it was for one night only.
My first stop was a convenience store a few doors down from the hostel, for some Aspirin. My tooth wasn’t hurting as much as it was this morning; or maybe I have increased my threshold after that icy cold water this morning. I saw the bum again outside Tim Horton’s, and I gave him a dollar. He wished me a good day and off I went towards the
Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. I wonder why every other beggar wasn’t this nice?
My friend Matt is an ice hockey fanatic and I think he would be delighted to come here. I might watch the odd game here and there but I figure I would check out a space that is devoted to a major national sport here. I recognized some familiar surnames like Gretzky and Lemieux, as well as getting to know other Hall of Famers like Bobby Orr, Patrick Roy and Gordie Howe. I get up close and personal to the Stanley Cup as well as having a go shooting pucks into the back of the net. At least I didn’t have to do it on ice, as I would totally suck!
My next stop is the CN Tower, which was built by Canadian National Railways in the 60’s and they still own the place. The wait to enter is an hour at the bottom followed by another 45 minutes to get onto the Sky Pod, which was $8 extra but wasn’t really worth it at all. I bet they went to the same business school as the greedy buffoons that run the Empire State
Building. Instead, I have a lot of fun taking photos and shooting video on a bottom level that has a glass floor. There are kids running around on the glass while their parents lie face flat down on the glass. If you don’t like heights, this place might not be for you! One kid incessantly bugs his father to show him where Niagara Falls are, the poor kid just gets a shrug of the shoulders from his father and can only beg for more.
Before I leave CN Tower, I see a sign that says that Sydney is approximately 15,000 kilometres away from Toronto. But I feel like I am back in Sydney that night as I join up with a few other people from the hostel on a Toronto Pub Crawl, hosted by one of the guys from the front desk. At the first pub, I sit down with a girl named Jackie who only got into Canada yesterday, from Brisbane. She’s going to be here for about six months doing research into public planning by doing a similar role here in Toronto. We have a chat about all things Australian and then she asks me where I
This is it!
The Stanley Cup, on display am going to go next. Tomorrow, I head off to Fredericton, New Brunswick. But tonight, I feel like I am at home.
The second pub is C’est What, with a downstairs bar and pool room in one half and then the second half a bit of a jam night with two local characters, Terence and Derek. I’m a sucker for wheat beers so I suck down a Weiss bier and sit down to watch the band with Jenny, another girl from the hostel who has come along tonight for a bit of a look. It seems that everyone I’ve met is staying here for a lot longer and I can see why. I could stay here for a week, or a month. The band plays excellent music and Terence and Derek have no problem playing between the two of them or jamming with other local musicians that want to play. We lost the rest of the group as Jenny and I chose to stay here and listen to great music. Jenny starts chatting to the band while I decide to call it a night. She gives me a hug for Thanksgiving and I head back to the hostel. On
the way there, I bump into the rest of the group who went to the third pub but didn’t really rate it. We all get some pizzas to soak up whatever alcohol we have consumed tonight and head back to the hostel. I need to be up very early tomorrow.
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