Canada,  North America,  Travel

Toronto (1)

April 20, 2023 /

I have a few good friends in Canada. They happened to be staying near their parents’ house in Toronto in mid-to-late April, but they were expected to move to another place later, so a few days ago I decided to drive to Toronto while they were definitely there. meet them. I used to feel that Toronto, Canada was a bit far away, but since I drove across the United States and moved to Chicago in February, I feel that it is not difficult to drive a long distance alone. I checked the map and found that the drive from Chicago to Toronto is only more than 800 kilometers, and I can definitely drive there in a day. So I decided to leave for Toronto early on Tuesday morning. In fact, these friends will only be free to see me next week, so I will play by myself this week. There was a sofa owner who said he could receive me for a week, but three or four days before I left, his father suddenly became very ill. Can't accommodate me anymore. When I looked for the sofa owner again, it was estimated that the time was a bit too close, and I sent seven or eight applications, but none of them could accept me. But another friend in Toronto who I met in Beijing four years ago said that I can live in his house, because he lives alone in one bedroom and one living room, and there is no extra bed or sofa. Anyway, I was going by car, so I brought my own air mattress and sleeping bag to make a bed on the floor.

I left Chicago early on Tuesday morning and drove about six hours from Detroit to Canada. First pay an entry bridge fee, and then enter the country. The immigration officer greeted me directly in French. His English accent was a bit heavy, and sometimes it was a bit difficult to understand when he asked me questions. Fortunately, he didn't ask too many questions. After crossing the border, I found that the Canadian mobile phone network card I bought online could not be connected, and there was no network. I saw a Canadian tourism office next to me, and I planned to take a look and use the wireless network by the way. But seeing that the tourism office was closed, a note was posted at the door saying that it would not open until May. So I went to Tim Horton's, a famous chain coffee shop in Canada next door, to use the wireless network. After re-reading the instruction manual of the network card of the electronic mobile phone, I found that I did not enable roaming. After opening it, I finally connected to the Internet. You can contact your friends in Toronto to inform you about the arrival time.

After crossing the border, the upper limit of the expressway is 100㎞, and the unit has to be adapted. There was no scenery on the way to Toronto. When we arrived in Toronto, we happened to catch up with the traffic jam during the rush hour. Coupled with the icy rain, the road conditions were even worse. When driving in the city center, I am really afraid of being hit by a car. Fortunately, I finally arrived at my friend's house safely. I didn't expect my friend's house to live in a high-rise high-end apartment building in a prosperous downtown area, and there are free visitor parking spaces that can be parked for two weeks. After I arrived, after I left my backpack and sleeping bag at his house, we took the subway to Koreatown to eat Korean food. This Korean restaurant is very authentic. My friends come here often and I know the proprietress very well. After walking all the way back after eating, the streets near his house are full of Asian restaurants, especially Chinese restaurants with milk tea shops everywhere, and you can also see various Chinese food outside services and board games and other entertainment venues, and follow back to China Same. After eating and returning to his house, the night view from the balcony is really beautiful!

The next morning, I went to the gym on the top floor of his house, where the floor-to-ceiling windows can see the panoramic view of the city center and even the lake. A friend is going to work, and I go out alone after exercising. Today is a rare day, although the temperature is not high, but as long as there is no rain and the sun is fine. The buildings in the city center are very beautiful, all the way to the St. Lawrence Market local market.

Everything is sold in the big market, much like some local markets I have been to in Spain. There are two floors inside, selling everything. In addition to vegetables, fruits, meat, etc., there are also small shops selling various local and international delicacies, which are dazzling, and it feels that eating out in Canada is generally much cheaper than in the United States. I walked around for two hours, so many choices, I wanted to try everything, but it was hard to decide what to eat. Finally, I decided to try the Canadian local specialty peameal bacon sandwich. After buying it, I sat on the public table in the middle of the market and ate it. I chatted with the people at the same table next to me. They were locals. They told me that peameal bacon is also called Canadian bacon, which is a local specialty. He also recommended some other delicious shops here, and told me that I can rent a bicycle to ride along Lake Ontario.

After eating, I continued to walk on the street. From this morning until now, a few passers-by would say that they liked my hairstyle, which made me quite happy. Walking to the shore of Lake Ontario, although it was quite cold outside, I saw many locals running and cycling along the way, and they had a very healthy lifestyle. There are some small parks by the lake, which are very pleasant. The city is also very diverse. People of all ethnicities can be seen on the streets of the city, but most of them are Asian.

After that, we went to graffiti alley, the streets in this area are full of graffiti and large murals, very artistic. Next to Graffiti Alley is China Town. On the sofa guest software, I will go to China Town and Kensington Market with an Indian who lives here. There is everything here in Chinatown, and it feels no different from domestic ones.

After walking all the way back, I passed an international food street, which was full of food trucks. My friend ordered some Indian snacks to eat together. He came to Canada from India for the first time in December last year. He was sent by the company to work here for two years. He also works remotely online. It has been winter since he came here four months ago, it was extremely cold, he hardly ever went out, and he didn't have many friends. He watched a travel video in January and only joined when he learned about the software Couchsurf. I was the first person he met on this software. During the chat, he mentioned that I would go to Montreal and Quebec City for three days the next day, and he asked me if he could go with me. I said no problem, anyway, it would be boring to drive alone for so long, but I will live at my cousin's house, and he has to find a place to live by himself. He wanted to try to find the owner of the sofa there, but because the application was for the next day and the time was too close, he might not be able to find it. Moreover, he is a newcomer on Coucher, and he doesn't have a single comment, so I wrote him a comment to improve his application success rate. But no one responded overnight to host him, so he booked an Airbnb and we decided to leave for Montreal the next morning.

In the evening, because I have to take classes all night, I don’t have time to go out to eat, so my friend ordered takeaway. The Hunan rice noodles and fried pork are super spicy, but they are delicious.

peameal bacon sandwich
pecan tart
pav bhaji
pani puri
nanaimo bar

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