fredericks: (Cox loves this icon)
fredericks ([personal profile] fredericks) wrote2010-01-11 10:37 pm

Canada!

I got on the train at Penn Station at 7am and arrived in Toronto around 7:30 this evening. The ride itself was pretty smooth and uneventful, and as I stupidly forgot to exchange money prior to my departure and every exchange place was closed when I got here I ended up walking from Union Station to my hotel (yes, it's not the wisest move to trek out of a travel depot with a shit ton of luggage when one looks like a tourist, but I moved at a brisk pace and there were folks about so there). Grand plans to do some preliminary sightseeing this evening were abandoned when I got to the room and realized how exhausted I was, so all I've done this evening is eat dinner (a piece of v.v. noteworthy salmon with veggies), wash up, and fight sleep. Everything's novel and neat at the moment: the accents! the signs in two languages! the use of the Queen's English! the metric system! the accents! I've engaged random folks in conversation to hear them speak. I'm an adult, all evidence to the contrary. It's just so shiny right now!

Tomorrow I meet up with [livejournal.com profile] darker_one and we decide what touristy things we'll engage in over the course of the next couple of days. At the moment - vacation LOVE. :)
ext_248695: Cartoon version of Dee from Battlestar Galactica (Default)

[identity profile] sometimesdee.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, Toronto is a great city. Have fun!

[identity profile] fredericks.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks, I will. :)
Very nice icon, btw. *grin*

[identity profile] pr-spin-girl.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
How fun, I hope you have a great time!

[identity profile] fredericks.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks, will do! Stay warm!

[identity profile] mersipan.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Enjoy! Take pictures :D

[identity profile] fredericks.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I will indeed take pictures. I'm totally lame and left my camera in today, but I will be toting it around tomorrow.

[identity profile] captainschlumpy.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a long train ride! but at least you can read, sleep, and move around. I will get to Canada eventually! Have tons of fun and stay warm, we'll have to exchange not only gifts but travel stories when we both get back to NY!

[identity profile] fredericks.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
The seating was quite comfortable. The only bad part about the ride was really the lack of clean bathrooms. It was the first time I took Amtrak where the toilets were *horrendous*: unsanitary, filthy floors, odiferous. I would have held my water if I didn't think my bladder would have exploded. I hope things improve for the ride back home. :(

And yes, we totally have to meet up soon. Send some of that San Diego warmth back east, eh?

[identity profile] emily-goddess.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
My high school trip to Virginia (from Maine) was the first time I'd ever had someone refuse a nickel because it was Canadian. VT has quite a few bilingual and mi/km signs, with more appearing since the Canadian dollar topped ours and people started coming down from Montreal to shop. I still haven't fully grokked that Canada is a foreign country.

[identity profile] fredericks.livejournal.com 2010-01-12 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I spent a good amount of time shaking my head over the fact that the Canadian dollar is worth more than ours. Remember when the value of the looney was a running joke? oh those many years ago. Ha, joke's on us.

I keep forgetting I'm in a foreign place. Until I start looking at the funny money. Or hear people speak.