Yesterday I got back home to Rio de Janeiro from my 10 day trip to NY and 7 days in Toronto.
I cannot put into words how great it was. I'd been wanting to go to Canada since 2000 when I got hooked up in Our Lady Peace and Matt Good (and than Rush as well). I spent one week with my girlfriend at the HI Toronto hostel and everything was great.
Toronto is an amazing city. Living in one of Brazils main metropolis and going to Toronto after Manhattan made me think it's one "Small metropolis". It's Canada's biggest city in terms of population and still it felt like I was in a smaller city (at least smaller than Rio and NY). I was impressed with the small amount of cars in the streets and with the fact that sometimes, even around Yonge, Adelaide and Dundas, there wasn't that much people in the streets... sometimes I saw myself walking ALONE around noon. It's such a calm and layed back town.
As any other turist, I went to the CN Tower. Had some nice Stela Artois pints over at the Toronto Islands and had a blast over at the Hockey Hall Of Fame. I used to be a huge EA Sports NHL hockey fan... used to play it a lot when I had a Genesis console. Got some nice hockey souvenirs.
I also checked the old and the "new" city hall. Went by the Arts and Design college (who know I might study there someday!) and went all the way up to Casa Loma, Royal Ontario Museum and Spadina Museum as well. Since Toronto's downtown area is quite small, I found it's very walkable. Considering I had spent 10 days in Manhattan, while in Toronto my legs and knees were sore.
On the 14th I went to the Molson Amphitheatre to see Dream Theater play at the ProgNation 09, and it was also. Got the wrong train and ended up at Clarkson Station, lol, insted of Exhbition, but I managed to get to the gig on time.
Luckly, the weather was amazing while I was there. Lots of sun and heat! And about the heat! How the hell do YOU canadians deal with such hot summer?! It's funny cause in Rio we get around 35/40 degrees, but since it's a very humid city, the heat is a lot different and I managed to handle it a lot better than the 28ºC I got in Toronto! I left the city VERY tanned! How ridiculous is that? Me, a brazilian, leaving Toronto more tanned than I usually am in Brazil? Hahaha. Oh well.
One thing that also impressed me was the amount of Oriental (Japanese, Chinese) people in town! Jesus! It looks like an invasion! Sometimes it felt like I was in Japan rathar than in Toronto. Crazy stuff! I also loved the way you guys are concerned about the enviroment. Every single bin in the city has different spaces for each kind of trash. And you guys sell plastic bags instead of automaticly handing them to customers after a purchase. It seems like even in the USA that's very far from happening.
Being from a "third world country", I get very depressed when I come home. Things are a lot better in Canada than they are in Brazil. And have in mind that I've been to a few countries in Europe, so I'm used to travelling and seeing different cultures. You guys rock... really. Canadians are polite and very kind. Everytime I had to speak to a local to get information or ask for something everyone was very friendly and always answered me with a big smile in their faces.
My next stop hopefuly will be Vancouver, or maybe the french side of Canada. We'll see. I thought I'd share some pictures with you guys. I had a great time there... and am very sad that I had to return.
Oh, I could not forget to mention that going into any HMV and finding all OLP and MGB albuns was pure joy! I ended up picking up OLP's DVD (which I still didn't have), MGB's In a Coma tripe set and MGBs Beautiful Midnight. I already had those, but having original copies is a lot better =P
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
