Documentaries, Toronto,and Niagara Falls

Exodus!

I was awoken at 9:30am by people filming a documentary. These people were separate from the previous documentary I was filmed in; there were more people and more crew. It was chaos! The two french girls and Tania were all packing to leave around ten to go to Quebec City (I would have gone if I hadn't ended up visiting Chris) and Marco had to go to work... All of us were packing and running around, so there was lots to film! I was trying to eat as much of my food as I could, so I wouldn't have to carry it everywhere. The chaos was short lived though - soon enough everyone was gone. I was pretty much done packing, but I had to shove the food in my bag still.

I ended up being the only one there, which was nice. I rested. Shai came over and gave me the book he was exchanging for my Hitchiker's Guides. It's called "Three Cups of Tea". Should be interesting :)

I took off with the backpack to meet my ride for 2pm. I got there ten minutes early, so thankfully she showed up on time. There was another person coming too, so we all put our stuff in the trunk and took off.

I had a hard time remembering their names because they were both odd and both started with M. The driver was a little asian girl, a student at McGill, and the fellow passenger was a young guy from france I think. He had lived in Vancouver so there was lots of conversation there. The girl knew her movies, so between talking to the two of them and sleeping the 5 1/2 hour car ride went by really quickly!

I arrived in Toronto around 8 ish? Took the subway into town, and found the hotel. Chris had gotten lost so he was running behind, but I only had to wait ten minutes in the lobby before they showed up so I could drop off my bag. We got ready fast and went out exploring!

Toronto gets such a bad rap - I really don't understand it. I mean, even the aussie guy I was staying with for the first week in Montreal was ragging on Toronto when he came back from his weekend there. He claimed it was too business oriented (as if any big city isn't) and it was too "hip hop". I saw way more neon leggings and hoodies yes, but it didn't bother me... the first thing I thought when I got there was "this kind of reminds me of New York". It has big billboards. It has lots of people. There are hot dog stnads all over, and people are still walking on the streets at night.

It was also WAY warmer than Montreal for some reason. I was happy aobut this!

Chris, Megan and I wandered looking for a patio and beer, since it was so nice out. I was wearing a t shirt at night outside for the first time since New Orleans. The streets were clean, people were out, and we wandered down until we saw a patio with space.

Turns out we found the perfect place! It was under a record store, beside a head shop, there was local art all over the walls, and it had a really good live band. It was a small place too, so we tried some Amsterdam beer, and ended up trying a lot of it.

There were some very silly VERY drunk photos taken of this night but they are on meg's camera predominantly so I still have to get them. I have one of us hugging this sketchy tree art thing...




Meg is from Detroit and had never had drunken-poutine before! Although skeptical while not drinking, she converted once trying it with me. Chris maintains his oppositional stance and I think he is crazy.

Things got a bit hazy at this point, but from what I was told the next day, we missed our turn to walk back to the hotel and just kept walking down the street for a long time, so we took a cab from wherever we were.

I woke up with a killer hangover. I had not slept long enough because of stupid check out time... I wanted to sleep in the car but that would be silly without eating first.

So we checked out, dropped my bag in the trunk, and went out to a place called Fran's for breakfast.

I was too hung over to eat right away, and still felt like lying down. The lovely part abut traveling is it makes you so much less self conscious in public situations. I lay down on the bench side, and I didn't really care if it looked weird. I ended up falling asleep on the bench after I ordered... until the food came haha. I nibbled, and it helped as much as it could.

Unfortunately, Fran's had very bright lighting, some trippy mirror panels, music, light purple 50's style decor, and a screaming child to deal with. Don't get me wrong, the place was awesome (had lots of awards for best late night dining) but it would be better at 4am. Like when people go to Denny's (they had 24 breakfast). Almost everyone around us seemed to be a gay man too, including all the waiters. Ours was dancing to Micheal Jackson while checking up on us haha!

We all needed to get out of there. Once I was outside, with a little food in me, I was much better.

We walked around, looked in a few stores, walked some more.






I ate more of my leftovers, but it was getting soggy and I wanted to heat it up before eating it again. When we all got hungry again, we went up to a restaurant right at the main square, but up a ton of levels so we had this crazy view! It was rad - again we got to enjoy sunshine and warm weather :)




I was trying to decide what to do about afterward though. The drive back to Detroit was about 5 hours apparently. I had suggested us seeing Niagara Falls at some point, but it was not going to make sense for us to drive all the way back to Detroit, then go all the way back to Niagara. It would be best to see it... now?

This was an on the spot decision: If I was going to Niagara all of a sudden, it would not be optimal to go back to Detroit after... it would make more sense to go to New York after, perhaps the day after.

We came back to the hotel where we had left the car in parking, grabbed my laptop, and came up to use the internet to see if this would work. If I could find somewhere to stay for the night in Niagara, and a bus/train that left from there, then it was a go.

I found a hostel that said they had availability so I wrote down the address and phone number etc, then looked up buses and it turns out it is incredibly easy to get to New York by bus from the buffalo region. Megabus even had a stop in Niagara Falls (the only other Canadian stop they have is Toronto I think, so it was pretty crazy when I saw the option).

It was a go then!

It doesn't take long to get there - only about an hour and a half... we got there while there was still daylight, but it looked like it might get dark soon. It was perfect timing: we got hot drinks, saw the falls, walked along, and it got dark. We went inside a building to warm up and figure out where this hostel was in relation to where we were...










The lights came on when we were outside again! It was spectacular!















I was so happy we got to see the falls :) It was such a spontaneous journey so I think the results were felt a little deeper. There was no time to build up what the falls would be like, so there was only appreciation :)
I had some fun with my camera haha



By now it was getting late, and Chris and Meg still had to drive back to Windsor/Detroit. We found the hostel so easily, but no one answered the door at first. I was thinking "oh crap I didn't think about check in times, there might be no reception on duty so I might be locked out and sol!" Chris called, but there was no answer in there. Someone opened the door though, and at first I thought it was the owner. Turns out it was a guest, just an older guest, but he said the owner was out at the casino and he's pretty laid back so I should be fine. I met a couple aussies, and a couple from ireland/soemwhere else. Carl (another aussie) was a staffer, and confirmed they had room, and that it should be fine, people might be going out whenever Patrick gets back...

Patrick didn't get back by midnight and by then for some reason I was getting sleepy. I decided it was time to sleep, so that's what I did.

My first full day in Niagara was beautiful. There was a little breakfast deal in the morning, and after getting ready I went down and met Patrick. I had been warned that I would need half an hour trying to get out the door because he is chatty, so I was curious.

It took well over half an hour to get out the door.

We talked for ages, then he decided to come with me to walk down to the waterfall. The maid of the mist was not open yet, which was too bad, but the boat was in the water ready to go soon!















I was really lucky that I was with Patrick, because he was a walking encyclopedia on the place. He knew all sorts of stuff about the history, how the waterfall was made (not erosion), all sorts of stuff. He recommended a couple books once the conversation got a little more philisophcal. Eventually all the walking made food the next thing on the itinerary. He showed me an all you can eat chinese buffet in the casino with a nice view of things. After that we walked back to the hostel, since he was supposed to be working haha.

I decided on a bus to NYC. I thought the next afternoon sounded good - got me into town after Elliot would be off work - so that was that. I packed up a bit, and then picked out what I wanted to do now that it was my last day.

A lot of the attractions in Niagara are very cheesy. There was Rilpey's believe it or not, Guinnes Book of Records, or the giant wheel thing to see the city and the falls. The rest (and there was a lot) didn't appeal to me. It was still nice out though, so I opted for the giant wheel. They had a coupon at the hostel, and Patrick and Carl ended up wanting to come with me on the wheel, so we all left.

The wheel was cool. I don't know what else to say about that. My photos from it are crappy sorry.
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Post wheel was cheap food from somewhere you would never guess: the keg. I had not been to one in a long time, but I was informed that they split meals for free, so you could go get a steak dinner for 25 bucks, but they would bring each of you a plate with full sides on each, and each a salad before. So you pay half the price, but all that's missing is half a steak. I could barely finish mine as it was.

We drank a bit in there too, the hockey games were on so we watched some of that.

Niagara is very chill, but still very entertaining :)

Parc Lafontaine and 24hr Poutine

Wednesday turned out to be a beautiful day as well!! It was sunny and warmer than usual, so I packed up my book and computer and went to check out a park I'd heard of but never been to: Park Lafontaine.

It was busy! There were people all over the grass... and there was a rocky area where water would normally be in the summer, with a few huge rocks that would have been sticking out.





There was a girl curled up writing on one of them, and it looked pretty inviting. The dark rock would heat up and would be extra warm to lay on - so I curled up on a different rock and proceeded to go between reading and sleeping. It was extremely peaceful :)

Eventually I was feeling the urge to get something to eat or drink. There was a cafe across the street where you could also rent bikes called Maison des Cyclists. I went there and had a beer with some chocolate covered almonds. The latter melted really fast in the sunshine, so I was eating very messily. I managed to read some more while there though, which proved to be a good idea because:

I finished it! All five or more books in the Hitchiker's Guide! They were so good - but I was definitely getting a smaller book next round, so it would be easier to lug around.

I left this place feeling satisfied, but the beer didn't quite do the trick. While walking back, I encountered a fair trade organic type coffee shop with internet. I hopped in, used my computer, drank a hot chocolate (which did do the trick then), and left once it closed.

Now the almonds were insufficient... I came home and made food, while making plans to meet Rob (the person I am exchanging music lessons for massage with) and go for drinks.

Remember how I said pitchers of beer can be tricky? Well. We went to a billiard bar at first (didn't end up playing pool though haha), then over to another called biftech which was a college bar on St. Laurant. It was good times, till the bar closed so we decided on drunk poutine!

There was a place on Rachel St. right near the park I was at earlier. It had been recommended to me soooooo many times, but I always had ended up opting for closer joints, or the people I was with would not want to walk there. Rob suggested it and I realized I had to see it before I left!

It was excellent poutine - they were 24hrs and had tons of choices! I had one called "Elvis poutine" lol.

I got home with a stomach full of food and water, so I woke up the next day just fine.
Today was my appointment to get my ears washed. I biked down and ended up getting there half an hour early, and then waitied for another 40 minutes or so. This was more like how I remembered the doctor's back home.

At first they were concerned my wax was not going to come out very easily, but a nurse came in and showed the student doctor how to do it and everything worked fine. They got a couple chunks out and it was completely painless! It felt kinda cool getting hot water squirted into your ear. Cool fact: if you irrigate someone's ears with cool water (below the body temperature), it will make the person so dizzy they will feel like throwing up. It messes with your sensors. They kept asking if I ever felt dizzy, but I was fine!

I walked out with new ears, but it was already fiveish from all the waiting.

Now I need to explain something that had been going on since yesterday or so. I talked to Chris, who was originally planning to do a road trip to Montreal to come visit, but too much had happened to his car. I was looking at getting to Detroit, but it was pretty far and it wasn't exactly on the way to New York... But then he mentioned that we could meet up in Toronto - well that sounded very possible. There were rideshares going to Toronto almost every day! It was cheap, and easy. I had over six choices for getting to Toronto for Friday, so I started calling.

I found a McGill student that was driving at 2pm, and that seemed like the perfect time... plus she was female and that seemed like a bonus as well. I arranged my ride, which finalized my very spontanious trip to Toronto and Detroit (I was going to go back with him the next day).

So when I got home, it was time to organize all my stuff, and start packing my bag. Montreal had been my longest stay, so I was in a fuller state of unpacking than usual. I ended up slowly packing for a lot of the evening. I watched a french Canadian movie wit the French girls and Tania while doing so, until Shai came to visit and I sat on the couch taking a break. He agreed to swap books with me!

With all the excitement and sudden imminent departure, my body was shutting itself down. I was exhausted, and ended up falling asleep fairly early and quickly.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

More Tam Tams and Broken Bike Locks

woohoo I am in a park in Dublin trying to catch up on this! I spent a lot of today so far trying to get my stupid krzr unlocked - ohhh the rage - but that enraging story will come later. Just had to spit out that I am so not pleased with the idiots trying to get my phone unlocked.

Easter Monday was so much warmer than Sunday!

I was heading out for a little bike ride, when I ran into Alex coming into the apartment. He asked if I was going to sell earrings in the park, and I said I thought that was Sundays.

He told me people would be there today too since it's a holiday and it's warm out and such - so I thought hey why not see if anyone is there..




There were indeed people playing drums there! Probably about the same turnout. This time I put my earrings out on their crappy piece of fabric and sat there reading my book enjoying the sun. Some almost-homeless looking hippie old guy came over and sat and talked. He gave me a small shoulder massage for about ten mintues. When he realized all I was going to do was thank him and continue to read, he went to get food. Another guy came over but barely spoke English to he sabotaged that one hahaha. Then this other guy came and he was much more chill, mentioned that he had brought a slack line and could maybe teach me how to do it!

I wanted to learn, but in my crappy little spot where you could barely tell I had anything in front of me, no one had noticed that I was selling stuff, and noone had stopped yet even to look. So I wanted to stay there a little longer to see what would happen.

He disappeared.

Then a Mexican dude came by and ended up putting his bike on mine, and pulling out a mini set up of jewelery himself! He made crazy huge stuff, mostly for males from what it looked like. He had a perfect cheech and chong accent, and was smoking weed the whole time too lol. He showed me some cool pieces and told me their story - where the stones came from, the style of the art (maya, indian, etc) and inspiration etc. It was actually pretty interesting and I was glad he plunked himself down there.

After a while though, I got colddddd. Not nearly as bad as last time, but still cold enought to want to leave. I went back to the house, thawed, ate, and went to the fair trade coffee shop pi to enjoy the sunlight/change of scenery now that I was wearing pants instead of a skirt. I had been in the house a fair bit the past few days, it was nice to be out all day!

I ended up getting carried away with the time, so the next thing I knew it was evening and it was time to meet up with Shai again. Of course, once you intend to leave somewhere everyone starts chatting!

The guy that was sitting across from me had lived in Western Canada, and we were talking about places when I heard a "East Van represent!!!" coming from behind me! I was surprised to hear that, so I turned around and started talking to her.

This girl, I had noticed before) was very much like a commercial driver. She had the hat with feathers, feather earrings, suspenders, wearing dark earth tones, short dark hair, no makeup, and wore a fox tail attached to her rear (poor fox I didn't like to look at that too much). I should have known. Well, we talked for a while too, and she told me to come back and she will give me free coffee! By then I was pretty late and went to the bike...

The stupid bike lock WOULD NOT OPEN. It was always sticky, Tania couldn't even open it when she went to use the bike, but this was stuck in between open and shut, and the number dial would not even move more that 5 numbers total. I didn't know what to do, so I called Marco. He told me to yank on it, but I had already done that! I had to leave it - at least it was not going to get stolen cause the lock was so messed.

I made it back and promptly went out again. This time Shai took me to a funky little place that looked closed from the outside, but inside was really nifty. Good music, good beer. We sat on a couch and talked about traveling. It was pleasant :) I learned lots about Japan, and I told him about some of the places I'd been. We seemed to be on the same page about a lot of things.

the next day was sunny and warm (for Montreal anyways) so I walked down to see if the bike was still there. It was. The lock was still stuck, and even after two big dudes pulled on the thing for me, it refused to move!

I went into the coffee shop looking for wd40 or something, so he gave me some "3 in 1 oil" stuff.Of course, withing two seconds of it hitting the lock, the thing worked perfectly smooth. I was so relieved - that problem solved itself fast! I could then take the bike on the day's mission: the cemetary and the oratory.

I had no map, and a vague idea of where the thing was... so I biked the wrong way at first. After a couple blocks, I asked someone and turned myself around... I went up a hill and found a really beautful residential area around the park! I was not sure about if I was going the rigth way, but I turned a corner eventually and saw a Jewish Cemetery.

I found one! The gate was closed though, they weren't letting visitors in. There was something strange about this place though...

One of the graves had been dug up!



I took a picture of it - still have to edit a million photos though. EDIT: here they are!


So I continued down the road knowing if I follow this little one, I will find the BIG one. I did, and it was bloody huge!



I wandered... but it was so big, the map showed there were tons of parts, and a couple exits...I didn't know which direction the Oratory was in though, so I wasn't sure which exit to head towards. Ah, lost in the cemetery.








I was walking the bike for a bit to gather more energy, when a random person walked by. We talked, and he apparently hung out in this cemetery a lot, so he knew it inside and out. Today he was searching out a grave. I though searching for a name might be fun! I decided to help him find his grave.



We searched, talked, and kept looking. We knew the area it might be in, but it was massive and not really labelled at all. After a while we realized it was going to be impossible without more information... so he decided to help me get to where I was going!




There were two cemeteries on this valley, one was Mont Royal, the other Cote de Nieges. The first one was the prodestant, the second catholic. To get to the oratory, I had to go through the second one, but it was separated by a fence. Charles showed me this small little door in the fence in a really strange spot (I never would have found this thing or known where to go without this guy) to get to the other side.



He ended up joining me through the entire other cemetary as well. We came out through two old houses to a huge field. It had a view of the city on the other side, but it was big enough that you could barely hear traffic - it was quiet, very calming.




I decided it was time to sit under the solitary giant tree and eat the food I'd packed in my bag. he joined me and ate some peanuts. I could see the roof of the oratory from the field, but he still walked me to the place, drew me a map of how to bike back to my house withing 20 minutes (mostly downhill too yay! I was so happy).

I headed into the oratory stoked that today was turning out to be a classical solo-traveler-random-perfection type days where you just constantly end up talking to strangers or looking at cool things.

The oratory was huge as well... and there was a real human heart in a jar. I tried to take so many pictures!

























By the time I was done with the oratory, it was starting to get that evening sun. I started to bike back. I was not paying attention though, because I went well past where I was supposed to turn, and had to weave my way back, look at the map, and then I finally found my way to the mountain. Even with the detour, the trip was not too long :)



I got home all sweaty and happy. I showered and ate dinner, then two women from France showed up! They didn't speak much English, so we were mostly making conversation with enthusiastic hand motions.

Going to the sheesha lounge was debated, and postponed. Renaud was possibly going out, and same with Rob, but both ended up staying in and so did I. I did computer stuff while watching the French girls play mario 3 the first time.

Slowly but surely I am catching up! Off to hula hoop!