Goodbye Toronto!

I was really looking forward to finally leaving Toronto. I checked out of my accommodation at Moss Park around 11 am and walked towards the train station with my backpack sandwich. It's always funny to see how many people look at you with surprise, disbelief, or almost pity when you're so heavily loaded. A solo traveler, fully loaded woman, oh my! And yes, I'm still having fun.

Since the train doesn't depart until 10 pm in the evening, I checked in my big backpack early. I wanted to spend the day in the city and headed towards the exit of the train station building.

And then the phone rang.

In an email, it said that the train was delayed. That's nothing new, and we were already informed about the possibility of a delay when booking. Still, an eleven-hour delay was a little shocking. The departure time on Saturday at 10:00 pm was rescheduled to Sunday at 9:00 am. Great, where do I stay tonight, at the train station?

Passenger trains are rather rare in Canada. The railway network in Canada is owned by an American company that transports goods from A to B. These company-owned trains have priority, and since the track is often single-track, the passenger train just has to wait.

Upon inquiry at the VIA RAIL Business Lounge, I was assured a voucher for a hotel. I received it in the evening. One night in a quite expensive hotel, including a $15 meal voucher and shuttle to the hotel.

After waiting for the shuttle bus for 40 minutes, I decided to walk the nearly 30 minutes to the hotel. I didn't have big luggage with me anyway.

The $15 was just enough for a bowl of soup and a beer. Treat yourself! When I was filling soup into my bowl at the buffet, an old lady came and said she would also like some soup. I gave her my bowl and took a new one. Later it turned out that she was also a train traveler named Bernise. I had a conversation with her a few days later, and she gave me a silk scarf as a farewell gift, so that I would remember her and Canada. So the journey had already somehow begun.