Toronto, New York, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia and New York Again!

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I've just spent most of the last 4 months in Toronto, in fact for more than 3 of those months I never even left Toronto's downtown. I was trying my best to save money and hibernate from the approaching winter.

Like most largest cites in any country, Toronto has a bad reputation amongst most Canadians. Its known for being too big, and having bad traffic, and rude citizens, and although some of these factors can definately be counted as true, its not as bad as people make out. In fact my biggest problem with Toronto rather than Vancouver is that it had no real access to the outdoors, there are no big parks in the downtown, and the lake shore is mainly taken up with industrial and ugly buildings. On the plus side though, Toronto is a big city, and the downtown is huge, so there are plenty of services, shops, pubs, and entertainment. Also it has lots of little neighbourhoods around the downtown.

I had 2 jobs whilst I was there, the first was just for two weeks cleaning some offices, and the second was sorting mail and the like for an insurance company.

The second job was very handily located, less than five minutes walk from my hostel for most of the time I was there, for a few weeks I lived at another hostel in Chinatown that was a whole 10 minutes walk from work, and do you know for most of those few weeks in Chinatown, I was late for work by, well 5 minutes.

For the first two months I lived at a hostel called Backpackers on Dundas. It was a very small but well located hostel right in the middle of the downtown. The atmosphere was much more like hostels in Australia or New Zealand, filled with young travellers who wanted to party most of the time.

In the first few months I had a few friends from other parts of Canada come and visit. Both Rene and Ayase from Vancouver came, Rene just for a week as he was on his way back to the Netherlands, and Ayase came in early october and is still there now in January.

In the middle of october it was Canadian Thanksgiving, which they celebrate earlier than the US. It seems like a strange celebration as the US thanksgiving is to do with the pilgrims arriving in Massechusettes, and hence part of their history, where as the Canadian one seems to have no link to history and is just for giving thanks for their country. Although most Canadians didnt even seem sure why they celebrated it, and just thought everyone celebrates thanksgiving, and were surprised we dont in the UK. So for thanksgiving we decided to have a turkey dinner on the sunday, only part of that plan went to peices, because well we didnt go to buy the Turkey until sunday morning and found out that they were all frozen so we couldnt buy it, and had to settle for 3 chickens instead.

Apart from that little hick-up the meal went well, and we all managed to eat a good amount. We even had yorkshire puddings, but as we didnt have a muffin tray they were ghost shaped as we bought a one dollar set of 24 ghost shaped foil cookie holders. It was the best we could find rushing round all the shops on sunday afternoon!

Also in the first few months I managed to get to see a game in each of Toronto's main sports, Baseball, Basketball, and Ice Hockey. Early on I went to a Baseball match at the huge Rogers Stadium, as the season was drawing to a close in september. The game was OK, and by halfway through I understood how it was played. The atmosphere was very sedate, but it everyone around seemed friendly, and the whole game was just very laid back. They were playing Seattle, and you'll be glad to hear won too, although it was a close thing.

A few weeks later some of us went to watch a Raptors pre-season game (Basketball) at the Air Canada Centre. Home of both the Raptors, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the hockey team. The game was OK, but there was a distinct lack of atmosphere in the stadium, and they actually had people employed to get the crowd excited, by throwing free t-shirts into sections of the crowd if they were making enough noise. As with most basketball, early on the game was slow and boring, but by the end it became quite exciting.

Then at the end of november, Ayase and I went to see the Maple Leafs play Ice Hockey. These were by the far the most expensive tickets and the game we went to see was the only one that had these second cheapest seats available. Normally all the tickets being sold out. They played Buffalo Sabres which is a kind of local derby, as Buffalo is just two hours away, across the border. Our seats were standing at the very back, but in the third period we spied two seats that had been empty the whole game and went and sat there.

The game was as always with hockey, really exciting, but poor old Toronto managed to not score one goal and the game ended 3 - 0. Unlike the basketball the crowd were pretty loud and there was a good atmosphere in the stadium, after all this is ice hockey and this Canada.

At the end of october as winter started to draw in, and seriously winter started to draw in as early as october, we had a big celebration for Halloween, which was combined with Ayase's 21st birthday, which was on the same day. Everyone in the hostel got costumes, and there was vodka jelly to be drunk, and then after a few drinks at home that led to the common room coffee table final collapsing on its rickety legs, we went out.

The week directly after Halloween, Ayase and I moved to a new hostel in Chinatown as we could get a room for less than the dormitory beds in Backpackers on Dundas. The place was a bit like a cleaner version of Grand Trunk in Vancouver. The day we moved in, we arrived at the place to find only an old chinese lady was there, who spoke absolutely no english. So Ayase atempted to communicate by writing Kanji, which is a japanese variation of the chinese writing system. And as the writing system expresses meaning rather than sound, many of the characters overlap even though the two langauges are as different as English is from them. This didnt work though as the old woman had no idea what she'd written, so then I dug out my chinese phrasebook, to try and communicate, but this didnt work either. So in the end just as we were giving up, someone arrived who did speak english and we managed to sort out getting our room and moving in.

The old lady in the chinatown hostel seemed very nice even though she spoke absolutely no english at all, not even simple words, but she was always trying to communicate. Ive noticed over the last year or so that chinese people are just like the english when it comes to people not speaking their langauge, some part of them cant beleive you cant understand them, so they just speak slower and louder.

One day Ayase and I decided to make japanese dumplings for dinner, from scratch. First we had to make the filling, then put the filling in the cases which was interesting, my ones looked so hopeless compared to hers. Then when it came to frying them she admitted that she had never cooked them before, her dad always did it. So she started frying them and then almost immediately the fire alarm went off! I went upstairs to the main floor to see if we could turn it off, but only the old woman was there and she was trying to signel for me to turn it off. She was pointing at the control box and shouting in chinese. I didnt understand her at all, I think she had no idea how to turn it off and hopefully I did, but I couldnt work it out, so in the end she had to call some of the other people that worked there, and get them to come back.

We stayed in the Chinatown hostel for 6 weeks into december and then decided to move back to Backpackers on Dundas just before christmas so we could spend christmas there, as there were several things being organised, like a big dinner and a secret santa, etc.

I had a good christmas at Dundas, I had a few days off work. I also made some mince pies a few days before christmas, it took two attempts but they turned out OK in the end. On christmas day we spent most of the day cooking. Two of the guys made everyone breakfast except they were so hungover that it took ages and seemed like a real chore. Then after that we had to put the turkey and hams in the oven for dinner. We all ate our meal at 4 ish and had a few new arrivals join us at the last minute. As because its normally cheap to book flights for chirstmas day a few people had just flown in then. After dinner we were supposed to play board gamnes which we bought, which we managed but kinda half heartedly as everyone was so tired after the night before and the day of cooking.

The leftovers from dinner lasted for the next couple of days, we even had sit down meals with them both days. The day after boxing day a few of us made a Jamie Oliver turkey and leek pie with the leftovers too.

After christmas for New year Ayase and I went to New York. We had a good time, but it started with a nightmare bus journey....

First we left Toronto an hour late, as there were so many people there to get on buses bound for NY. The queue we got snaked around the bus station and out onto the street. Then, at the border it took two hours as there were so many buses trying to go through.

Then just two hours outside New York, we stopped for breakfast at a service station with a Burger King, and one of the airlines on the bus froze, and we were stuck there for 3 hours until a maintenance truck could come and fix the problem. Then finally already 6 hours late, we were caught in a 2 hour jam trying to get into the Lincoln Tunnel which crosses under the Hudson river from New Jersey into New York City. The last jam was so close we could see Manhatten across the river, and once we came out of the tunnel, we were immediately in the bus terminal. So instead of arriving 7:30 am we arrived 3:30pm and missed our whole first day there really.

Once we got off the bus and out of the bus station it was mental on the street, I suppose as its between christmas and New Year its one of the busiest times to be in New York. It was getting late so we headed straight for the hotel, but the subway station near the bus terminal had huge queues so we pushed our way up the street to another station, and bought a ticket each. Once we got down to the platform there was a train waiting, I jumped on, but Ayase decided she wanted to take a picture of the train. So I'm on the train which is about to leave and shes on the platform, I shout at her to get on which she eventually does, just in time to get her backpack caught in the closing doors. I'm then trying to pull her bag through, but shes just laughing and she told me later, assuming the doors will just open again, which they dont. I managed to pull it through though after a couple of attempts, and we both laugh, a little out of embaressment of everyone on the packed train watching the proceedings.

After one change we arrived at our stop in Brooklyn, and walked down to the street to our hotel. The hotel was in a neighbourhood that at first glance looked rough, but after a few days I could see it wasnt really. It didnt help that the main street was under the train tracks, so the whole street is in shadow and dark. The train tracks following along the street with stations up stairs above the street level. The route to our hotel was good too with the train coming out of the tunnels on the manhatten side and crossing the East river on a bridge with views of all the skyscrapers and the other East River bridges.

The hotel was an interesting style, the rooms were basicly small wooden partitoned cells in one giant room. The partitons didnt even go up to the ceiling so each room was covered with netting. My room had a CD and a pair of old trousers on the netting above me. There were lots of local people living there long term it seemed, but they did seem friendly enough. It didnt really matter the quality of the place though as we were out all day every day and only slept there.

After checking in we went back to Midtown and had a wander around looking at the Empire state building, and Times Square, which were both so busy, the Empire State building queue went round the block. After an hour or two of walking in the cold we decamped to a pub for a beer.

The next day we woke up to snow, and I decided that if we were gonna be outside for a long time I should wear double trousers, which worked really well. I think Ayase wore even more than we, maybe 3 or 4 layers of trousers, although at least hers were like long john legging things. My under layer were tracksuit bottoms so didnt fit that well with my jeans over the top, but they kept me warm. The weather forecast was pretty bad for our time there so we decided the first day we should get the outside sight seeing done, whilst it was only light snow. So we headed for Lower Manhatten which is less shops and indoor things, and more sights and the financial district.

We went down to the tip of Manhatten and had a pretzel each for breakfast as Ayase thought it was very New Yorky. We took the Staten Island ferry across the harbour to see views of the statue of liberty, which Ayase forgot was in NY. Then after that we walked to Wall street, and the World Trade Center site, which is now being built on, and finally to South street Seaport and had a late lunch in a restaurant overlooking the east river and Brooklyn bridge.

After that we took the subway up to Midtown and went to see the New Years Eve ball raised over times square at 6. The place was already mad, and we were about 10 streets away from the square even at that time. After seeing the ball raise we got a subway to Greenwhich Village and went to a few pubs before heading back to Time Square for 11. On our way back I really needed the toilet, so asked a cop where a public toilet was, and his first suggestion was to go in the street, but he would give me a ticket. After that he suggested a Starbucks seriously though, which was closed, but we found a mall eventually. For midnight we were about 12 streets back from Times Square, so not much further than at 6, and we were near a big screen so could see everything reasonably well, at nidnight, and could even see the actual ball drop in the distance.

After New Year we went to another pub down in chelsea, which I'd been to before the last time I came to New York. It was like a proper locals pub and everyone was in a good mood. On the way to the pub I tried to take a picture of a New York cop who, following the new year celebrations was leaning against the wall smoking a ciggerette and texting someone, but he moved before I got the chance. It was a really good image, but I couldnt quite get it.

On the way home when we were changing trains onto the J M and Z line we walked down to the platform to find it full of people. After 5 minutes a guy came onto the platform and asked someone near us how long they'd been waiting, they said about an hour. The guy then shouted to the whole pltaform that he thought the train was running on a sunday service and if so it didnt stop at this station and we'd have to get a train to another station on this line and get on there. So everyone got up and headed off. Thats one of the confusing things about the new york subeway hardly any platforms have displays telling you when the next train is due so if you dont know you could be stood there for ages.

The next day as it was clear we decided to go up the Rockerfeller centre to see the city and do some shopping. Ayase needed some shoes, because she had only brought high heeled boots of all things with her, and her legs were dying after all the walking. I asked her why she only brought those shoes and it was because back in Toronto, at the hostel the other girls said she should definately take her new boots as they looked good, so she ONLY took them and no other shoes. She said she thought they werent very practical but went along with what they all said, not thinking they meant, those boots and some practical shoes!

So she bought some new shoes and we bought some souvenirs, then went up the Rockerfeller centre at dusk to see the views in daylight and night. After that we got a subway to Chinatown for dinner, and found a really good place which wasnt too expensive, in fact it was so cheap that we bought two dishes each and were so stuffed after dinner we could barely move. We walked up to Little Italy which Ayase really loved, as it was all decked out in CHristmas decorations and there was a big church decorated too.

After that we went home and had an earlyish night as we had a busy final day planned and were meeting Koichi a Japanese Canadian guy who was at our hostel in Toronto over christmas. He now lives in Japan and his parents are Japanese, but he grew up in Toronto until he was 15, so he speaks both languages fluently with the relevent accents and everything.

On the final day we got up later than planned, and had to rush to meet Koichi outside St Patricks Cathedral. We walked up to Central Park and then attempted to go to the American Museam of Natural history, but the queue was huge so we gave up and went for coffee (hot chocolate for me) at an expensive cafe. After that we wandered through some shops and went to a local pub for a beer. At 6 Koichi had to leave to meet a friend so we went for dinner at a big american restaurant that some guys in the pub recommended. Ayase wanted to have, in her words, a big fat American supersize steak. She didnt quite get that, but the place was kinda that kind of place.

After food we wandered through Time Square again, I think we went through there at least once every day, and then got the subway to Soho to look at the cast iron building fronts. This was because Ayase was fascinated with buildings that look like Grand Trunk in Vancouver, and Soho is basicly lots of fancy versions of grand trunk that had been painted and kept well. When we got there, she was more interested in the shops though. Lots of expensive designer boutiques, all closed though thankfully.

After that we went back through Little Italy and had a drink in a bar with a happy hour and went home.

We got on the train at Canel Street, and followed signs down to the platform for our line. We were waiting for a while and a few trains past us but they were never the right number. So I asked someone and he said the platform was down some stairs and pointed at a sign. Sure enough there was a sign miles down the platform pointing us down some more stairs. We walked down them and saw another sign directing us to a third platform which was finally the right one. Confusing or what?!

The next day we got the bus back and it was on time and we were only half hour late at the most. At the border Ayase asked if she could come back into the country as a tourist so she had until March to leave, but the immigration guy refused saying as she still had two months left on her work visa he wasnt going to change her status in Canada. He was also worried about my work visa as it will expire in under two weeks but I explained that I was working up until the 13th then leaving the country that night.

When we got back to Toronto the snow had hit really hard, the place was finaly blanketed in it. Although we'd had light snow before, only one time did it properly settle and that lasted only a day, but this lasted a week.

My last week and a half in Toronto was very hectic, I was working right up to the day I left, plus I had things to sort out and people to meet up with before I left. I also planned to go up the CN tower, but never managed it.

Then on the 13th Jan I finished work and got an evening bus out of Toronto to Boston. It was a 12 hour overnight journey. I planned to stay in Boston for a week, the first few days couchsurfing at someones house and then the last 3 days staying in the only hostel, which luckily was round the corner from this guys house.

The guy I stayed with was a musician, and web designer. He had a lot of work on in the day time so I kept myself out of his way sightseeing, and then a couple of evenings we went out.

Boston is an old city for north america so all the streets are actually narrow and crooked a little like home. The downtown was actually really small for a city of its size, but all the surrouning neighbourhoods were full of shops and entertainment so there was lots to do. Also there were loads of historic sights around the city. Old houses, and churches etc, and for some reason almost every public clock in the city had either stopped or was on the wrong time. The whole time I was there it kept confusing me.

The first day I just had a quick walk around. In the evening, Jeff my host was going to Cambridge across the river to watch a friends band so I went along too. The band were actually quite good they did live Hip-hop and RnB covers. Like a conventianal bag they had drums and a base guiter and lead and keyboards, but they played the kind of music that doesnt normally use live instruments.

The next day I walked the freedom trail which is a two mile walk past many of Bostons historic sights, and another day went to the MIT Museam which was actually really good. In particular they had an exhibition on robots and AI, which was good. Plus a strange art exhibition of a guy that makes mechanical art, little moving abstract scenes or peices of machinery. One particular peice was a tiny plastic chair attached to a rod which bounced back and forth across a moving platform, which had a little plastic cat on it. It was esentially hitting the cat and flying in the air and landing on the ground, boucing then back onto the cat again.

After a few days staying at Jeffs I moved into the hostel, but we said we'd visit the Sam Adams brewery together one of the other days I was there. The hostel in Boston was typical HI, big and unfriendly, although I did meet some nice people whilst I was there. One night a few of us went to watch the Boston Celtics play Dallas in a basketball match. The game was good and Boston were ahead for most of the game but towards the end of the 3rd quatrer dallas went ahead and then never gave up their lead.

On my last day in the city I went to the Sam Adams brewery with Jeff, which was amazing as it only cost a 2 dollar donation so technically it was free. I wanted to go particulary as its one of my favourite mainstream american beers. That evening a few of us went to a comedy club. Which was surprisingly good although some of the different comics were a bit hit and miss.

After Boston I was getting a train to Philadelphia, the train only took 5 hours and it seemed that suburbia never stopped on the whole journey. One city or town merged into the next.

In Philadelphia I was couchsurfing too, staying at a Jamaican guys flat near to the downtown. In fact so near that I only took the subway once in Philadelphia, where as In Boston I took the subway all the time, that and I had a week pass there.

Philadelphia is quite different to Boston, definately much bigger and the city is one huge grid as usual. It also felt quite rough, the subway looked a little dodgy, and the general streets seemed quite dirty. However it has loads of history, and had an immense amount of things to do, which surprised me as its not really that on the tourist radar.

My first day there I visited the independance park, which had an aray of free atractions including the liberty bell, a video on the decleration of independance, and even a tour of indepedance hall where the early meetings were took before the revelotion and the decleration itself was signed. Plus Congress hall next door which was the US's first parliment before it was moved to Washington DC.

The second day I walked around the more modern part of downtown. Also I got in contact with a distant cousin who lives in New Jersey. She had been speaking to my mum for the first time in many years recently and she found out I was in the area, and invited me to her family's house for the day.

So the next day I got picked up in Philadelphia by her husband and I went to their house for lunch. It was really nice to see them although I had actually never met them before, but I have met both her sister and mother many times in the past.

After lunch they took me to a local bus stop, where I could get a bus into New York for my last few days in North America.

In New York I stayed in a new hostel in the east village. It was pretty squashed and there was almost no common area whatsoever, but the location was good and I wanted to have a quiet few days before flying off to South America.

Whilst in New York, I wandered around the city a lot. One day I went to a bar to watch the AFC American Football championship as the local team the New York Jets were playing.

On the wednesday I finally flew out of North America south to Colombia. My flight had a stop over in Atlanta, but was surprisingly quick. Two hours to Atlanta, and then 4 and a half to Bogota. When we landed in Bogota we took ages to get off the plane as we had to wait for a bus to take us from the plane to the terminal.

When I finally walked out of the plane onto the tarmac I was greeted by a circus. Everywhere there were people doing various things to the plane. All the usual stuff but it just seemed particularly chaotic with more people than usual involved.

Once in the terminal I went through customs and immigration and got my bag then headed outside to get a taxi. Outside the scene was equally as chaotic as by the plane. I went to the taxi window and with a combination of pointing and improvisation ordered my taxi.

The taxi ride was typical of a less developed country the driver screamed through the streets honking his horn and cutting people up. Ouside it was night so I couldnt see too much of the city, but there were lots of people hanging out on the streets.

After 20 minutes we careened round a corner and into the old part of town with narrow streets. 5 mninutes after that he pulled up outside my hostel. I'd finally arrived in Colombia and the next leg of my journey.

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