Day 1 - Air Canada

Tue, 07/23/18

Let's get started. Awake, packed, and shoes laced up. I will find out if I have thought of everything at the latest in Canada.

After a short early morning sprint, I catch the train from home to Luzern, where I meet my travel companion Andi.

We reach Zurich without any problems and can check in at Air Canada in just a few minutes. Interestingly, both seats on our ticket are labeled GTE. What kind of seats are those? When we arrive at the gate, we realize it is a variable seat allocation. As expected, we are 10 rows apart.

When we arrive at our seats, my neighbors are already there. Small detail: the Indian colleague, let's call him Radschif, is about 2m tall and accordingly seat-heavy... what a start to the 8h flight. The departure is punctual and without any major problems. Fortunately, the Sandman has already caught up with me after a few minutes.

About an hour later, I am awakened by Radschif signaling that there will be food soon. Waving, he orders multiple menus and countless whiskey colas in broken English phrases. Not to mention that the staff already knows row 52 seat C very well. Well, luckily there is a personal onboard entertainment with a screen. Funny enough, there are always 2 people on my screen. It seems like Radschif can't operate the touchscreen. I wonder how the movie is for him without sound.

Time goes by. Shortly before landing, we have to fill out the mandatory entry form. Everything is clear except for Radschif. I am happy to explain the English form to him and desperately try to find synonyms and paraphrases for all the positions. He keeps stumbling at the last question and doesn't have an answer. Question: how many days will you stay in Canada? Finally, I find out that he lives in Canada and is returning home. The Indian Canadian who can't speak English... ;-)

After some waiting time, we receive our suitcases. With the friendly assistance of the train conductors, we take the train from Toronto Airport to downtown at Toronto Union Station, from where we walk through the city to the hostel with our suitcases within 20 minutes. Author's note: It is about 27 degrees Celsius and humid as a sauna ;-) We end the first day in the land of maple with a shower and a Canadian stew.