The trip's done, and I'm home again! Had a good time, despite how hot it was. I wrote down the interesting stuff that happened in it, and I'll put it here, so have a read through.
DAY 1 (Boy howdy has this been the longest day of my life)
I'm currently in our hotel room writing this, which will be the case for all future days but the last. I'll be at home for that one!
Had to get up at 5:30 to get to the airport 2 hours early. My dad says it's a stupid idea to NOT go that early, and surprisingly we didn't actually have to wait long aside from security.
Something interesting happened before we even got to the airport at all though: We saw a sign that had (presumably) had its letters rearranged to say "ILL CLEAN OR SPANK ASS FOR FREE".
We happened across a childhood friend of mine when we were going through airport security, apparently he works there! We haven't talked since we were in grade 5, but he somehow recognized me immediately, while I needed to check his nametag. Thankfully he has a pretty unique first name. We didn't talk much there, but it was still cool to see him doing so well.
A bit after getting on the plane, it occurred to me that if I were/could ride Cirrus I'd already be in Toronto by then. Eh, what can you do.
The flight itself was thankfully uneventful, aside from some screeching babies before takeoff and after landing (Yes, not while flying). My dad (Who requested I refer to him as "Hero" in this) was a goof during the flight, and at one point intentionally reflected sunlight in my eyes with his phone. Sounds bad, but teasing each other like that is normal for us, we've always done it.
After landing, we stored our suitcases at BagsAway (If you've never heard of it (Like me before this)... Use your imagination) and took a train (My first!) and a bus to the Toronto Zoo (Very creative name). We had a little trouble with the train, but it worked out.
Now's the best time to mention, I am NOT used to the kind of temperatures this place has. Let me tell you, I was starting to feel like Nox as the day went on, needing to avoid sunlight. Had I not had this neat neck fan the whole time, which we got specifically for this trip, we probably would've had to cut the zoo trip short.
Not a whole lot stood out about the animals themselves, it was what you'd expect of a zoo. It was a little lacking in animals for some enclosures though, quite a few had only one. Learned some neat stuff though, like that caribou and reindeer are apparently the same thing (They had one that was in The Santa Clause!). My favorite thing though, basilisks (those lizards that can run on water) can apparently hold their breath about 10 minutes. Those of you that thought breath holds like that were unrealistic for lizards, take THAT!
Walked around the zoo for about 5 hours, and my GOD were my legs getting tired. So, had to leave without seeing everything, but it would've gotten pretty bad if I'd forced myself, especially since that fan was out of battery. Kept a map of the place, but otherwise no souvenirs.
After another bus trip and train trip (without issue this time), we got our suitcases back and started making our way to the hotel. What followed was the longest 15 minute walk of my life, as my legs and feet got really sore and I of course got really hot again. If you've ever played through MGS4, think the microwave hallway, it felt sort of like that.
And, right now. My feet still hurt, I almost got blisters on them, my legs might be sunburnt, and I've never been more glad to hang out in bed. My mom said this'll likely be the busiest day. Here's hoping that's true, and that I won't be sore tomorrow too.
PS: Both times I used public bathrooms today, the stall doors wouldn't lock. Literally never even seen that ONCE before today.
DAY 2
Still sore, but no sunburns at least. My back is also sore for some reason, maybe from carrying stuff a good portion of the previous day. Didn't sleep too well either, my dad snores pretty loud and the room's a bit too warm for me to sleep comfortably even with the AC maxed out.
After we got breakfast down in the lobby, we hung out in the room for a while before heading out to take a subway trip (First time again!) to Casa Loma. That is an ACTUAL CASTLE. It was made a little over a century ago, and apparently the original owners were pretty great people: On-site bedrooms and bathrooms specifically for staff (rare at the time), and really generous in general. Maybe a bit TOO generous, they nearly went bankrupt not even a decade into living there and had to sell off the place and a ton of stuff in it. Also, apparently it had about a quarter of Toronto's total phones when it was finished (A sign said it was 50 of 200), 3 secret passages (1's still undiscovered!), and I saw that the place's toilets had had their lids bolted shut (Environmental storytelling)
Once it was sold, it was eventually converted into a hotel for a while, before being made into the museum it is now. It's actually still a pretty important place, quite a few movies have had scenes inside or near it. In the 40s, one of its towers (which I went into) was also used for research into detecting submarines!
Wandering around in the castle with a lot of people around reminded me of when I was in school. Just like there, oblivious idiots kept blocking doorways and halls as they talked to each other.
Briefly saw something pretty neat on a TV screen there: There was a little animation of a cute greenish blue seahorse guy with a top hat, suit, and cane. I believe he waved and was starting to go somewhere, but the screen cut to a different video before I could see anything more. If anyone recognizes what I'm talking about, let me know.
We had our first major change of plans today though: We were originally going to do an escape room while we were there, but I had been too hot for too long and wouldn't have been able to handle the full hour. Plus, my legs were hurting too badly for it. We only walked about 60% the amount we did yesterday, but I was still just really sore from that. Kept a map of the castle though, and also bought a cute little dragon plush! I'll likely be drawing him at some point.
We're back fairly early today, it's 6PM right now, but I doubt much more of interest is going to happen today. Tomorrow will likely have even less walking. Hopefully this soreness will go away at some point, it would SUCK if I had to go through airport security like this.
PS: If you like cicadas, this is the place to be. In areas that are at all rural, their buzzing is literally almost constant.
DAY 3
At this point, I'm only going to mention if my legs AREN'T sore. Surely one of these days will start or end like that.
Today was the highlight of the trip so far! We took a streetcar (First time again!) to the only Medieval Times in Canada! VERY highly recommend it if you're near one of the 10 that exist, despite the enormous price; ~78$ per person! Though that includes food and seeing the show. We got the first level of VIP, getting us front row seats and some banners to wave around while cheering, though I do wish we hadn't been in front of people that were WAY too into the show, they kept screaming and chanting. We kept two of the three banners, the other got chicken on it. For food, in addition to the chicken, we got tomato soup, toasted bread, a baked potato, and a bit of corn on a small cob. I think we were supposed to get dessert too, but we didn't. Our server said it was okay to call her wench, which my dad did, as I expected.
As for the show itself, the plot was that it was a tournament of knights trying to impress the king and queen for a reason I don't remember. While we didn't get to choose which one we were supposed to cheer for, we got the blue knight, and blue's my favorite color for obvious reasons, so it worked out. The people running it seemed pretty intent on showing off their horses; almost every part that didn't involve any of the knights was based around dressage, which sometimes went on a bit long.
The actual fights were pretty clearly choreographed, but they were really cool regardless (Other than the jousting, which seemed pointless), they literally had sparks coming off their weapons at times. It's hard to imagine needing to remember such long strings of actions... Anyway, the fights went until surrender each time, since canon-wise nobody was supposed to die. But, after the black and white knight won against the blue knight (I was genuinely a little salty about that), just before the blue knight would've walked off, the black and white knight "killed" them and shortly after announced his intent to overthrow the king and queen, before being forced out of the arena by several soldiers (Even the king had a crossbow aimed at him I think, I was on the opposite side of the room and I'm a little nearsighted). It ended with an ally of the blue knight, the red and yellow knight, dueling the black and white knight and "killing" him. It was a hell of a fight, by far the longest, it was awesome.
Kept the blue paper crown I was given to denote what team I was on, my dad got a mug that has a skull design built in, and I also got myself a neat little overpriced (27$) hourglass that looks like a screaming guy, with the sand container being in his mouth. If you've played Elder Scrolls 4 or 5, imagine the wabbajack's open bit at the top as holding an hourglass, you won't be far off. Some other stuff there was hilariously expensive, I saw fake suits of armor going for 6,000$!
After we left, we went to the CN Tower, and of course went to the top. I didn't expect much, and yeah, it wasn't TOO interesting, especially since it's supposed to slowly rotate and I don't think it was. But MAN, that height... I don't know if most people know how big 1,100 feet really is. Didn't do the thing where you walk outside because I'm not insane, but I stepped onto a glass floor where you can see straight to the ground after I took a moment to remind myself that it wouldn't be there if it wasn't safe. If I can do that, you can do that thing you've been putting off because you're nervous. Didn't get a souvenir from this one.
Tomorrow's going to be a pretty big day too, it's got the thing we came here for in the first place!
PS: We can hear the cars below us SHOCKINGLY well up here. We're on the 9th floor!
DAY 4
Doing part of this early today, I'm a little bored. Also wrote micro story 6-5.
So, my legs themselves are basically fine, but my feet feel awful when I walk, especially the bottom middle parts. It's gonna SUCK if those aren't better by tomorrow. My back on day 2, by the way, was because of how I was laying when playing my Switch.
Today's my mom's birthday! As of right now we haven't done anything in regards to that, but I imagine we will later. (11pm update: We didn't. Weird.)
The first thing of the day was heading off to a boat tour that I believe came with the plane tickets that got us here. Learned a bit about Toronto in the process, apparently there's some other pretty significant things here, like the longest street in the world and the inspiration for having Superman's disguised self work at a news place (One of his creators worked at the "Toronto Star").
Sitting in the hotel room right now, just saw an ad on the TV where a vet thinks a "cat" is dying, then someone comes in and picks it up, revealing it's a hat, which they put on. I wish more ads were actually interesting like that, I feel like they'd even work better that way.
Police sirens outside keep starting, cutting off, and restarting, as if they're pausing and unpausing. It's been happening multiple times every day, and there's no way there's that much going on, it's really annoying.
At 6pm, I got some ibuprofen in me and we headed to the Scotiabank Arena for the main event: A show by Ricky Gervais! He was as funny as ever, and while I originally intended to include one of the jokes in this, late into the show he specifically requested that people not put the jokes online. So, go watch it on Netflix. Just know that that joke involves a Rubik's Cube.
That show was recorded, so there's the off chance you'll be able to see me in the audience! If you're going to look for me, firstly, weird. Secondly, section 306, row 10, seat 2. Good luck.
On the way back to the room, I saw a limo for the first time. It was pretty neat to actually see one in reality. We stopped at McDonalds for some food, where a guy complimented my shirt (It was a picture of a stickman pushing another stickman off a cliff with the caption "Some people just need a pat on the back") and another guy filled a bottle he'd brought in with soda, drank it, threw out the bottle, and left without paying. Gotta respect the hustle.
Tomorrow's the last day, and I'll be home at the end of it! In theory, at least. I better be.
PS: The shower curtain here SUCKS. It keeps slowly sliding open, and while there's magnets at the bottom that are supposed to prevent that, they don't work at all.
DAY 5
Not home yet, currently waiting at the airport (3:20pm, leaving in 2 hours). My feet still hurt, but it turns out it wasn't really an issue this time!
We stored our suitcases at BagsAway again, then headed off to the Ripley's Aquarium. It was pretty neat! Word of advice, try to go on a less busy day, the people there were insanely annoying and random kids kept yelling and crying.
About halfway through, there was a pretty huge tank that had the biggest variety of fish in the place. A ton of "generic" ones, a bunch of sharks, and a couple turtles and rays too (One of the rays kept swimming in circles for some reason). It seemed pretty chill despite the sharks and the name ("Dangerous Lagoon"), nothing there seemed at all worried about the sharks. I bet my characters would like hanging out in there for a while. There was a glass ceiling above us so we could see stuff swimming overhead, and we didn't have to walk since we were on one of those cool moving walkways.
Despite the place being themed around fish, there was a room dedicated to non-aquatic reptiles that a lot of styles of dragons are based on. The crowding was at its worst there, but it was still pretty neat. For some reason, one of the enclosures that didn't have animals had a plush of the light fury, no clue why. At some point after that section, came across a tank with an electric eel that's the same species as Conduit! Made sure to get a picture, of course.
After a section based on jellyfish (Hate them...), there was a bit about water purification with what I think was a little game that simulates the process of it. There were a lot of wheels to turn, and kids were constantly turning them the wrong way. Like, I genuinely don't think I saw a single one do it right. Didn't really matter though, I think that game thing only really works for slower days.
Lastly, just before the end, there was an open-top pool with de-barbed stingrays we were allowed to touch! And don't worry, they had to actively choose to come over and be touched, we weren't bothering them. After a while of waiting, I managed to touch just a little of the fin of one, but it was still cool.
For souvenirs, we all each got a little figure of some kind of aquatic animal. Mine's a turtle.
Once we left, we got some food at Union Station, grabbed our suitcases, and headed off to the airport where we are now. Somehow, I seem to have a better idea of where to go than my parents, who have both flown a lot more than me. Getting through security was way faster this time, despite us having to get things out for the scanner. We didn't have to do that when we first left, they had better machines. This airport is bigger than that one, in a bigger city, so I don't get why their tech isn't as good as back home... Maybe because they'd need more of it here?
Alright, I'm home! Currently writing this in my kitchen. It was another fairly uneventful flight, just with another baby screaming at the same times and some neanderthal behind us chewing gum with their mouth open the whole time. It felt AMAZING to get out into the night air, I've missed it not being hot outside. We got our car back and had an easy trip home.
Not a whole lot left to really say now, just my final opinion on the trip. Weighing all the good against the bad, I think I enjoyed myself overall. We just need to pick somewhere less hot next time.
PS: Saw a lot of homeless people in Toronto, never really seen people like that before. Also saw a pretty equal amount of anti-homeless benches, which are new to me too. I wish people weren't so messed up like that.
