Going to Toronto and then home!

Landed in Toronto, I picked up my luggage and then got out of the building! Wow, what heat! For the first time, I felt the high summer like we know it☺️. And the humidity was almost as high as in Singapore! So overall, tropical conditions for the last stop in the largest city in Eastern Canada. First, I looked for the express bus to downtown. No signs anywhere! You expect better from the rest of Canada😉but at least there were good public transportation connections again (metro👍) So off to the hostel that I booked the day before. In general, last-minute planning and booking was a theme throughout the whole trip. With two consequences. The advantage is that you can react to any situation and decide spontaneously, whatever fits. The disadvantage is that it's more expensive than booking in advance☺️. But it's okay, even though I had to allocate time for planning during the vacation. When I arrived at the hostel, there was a little girl from Belgium also waiting outside, who wanted to check in at the hostel, and we started talking and got along well. After the complicated check-in process (hostel, café, and bar all in one place, a bit confusing😉) with Iris from Belgium, I teamed up with her to go shopping and cook dinner. We had rainbow trout (a bit mushy), potatoes, vegetables, and salad. So, too much food😂 but it doesn't matter. After that, we chatted a bit and then went to bed. The next morning, breakfast was included. Nice, I didn't have to worry about everything myself☺️. The hostel itself was a bit run-down but lovingly decorated. Everything was covered in Buddhist paintings, pictures, and sayings. A bit too much, in my opinion. It was a 4-bed room with air conditioning but no windows🙈. Well, never mind. After that, I made plans with Iris to go on a bike tour of the city. I love guided tours, but $85 was just too much. Instead, we rented bikes from a tour operator. It was adventurous, they were impossible to find as their office was in a hole in an underground parking garage🤔. After some doubt, we were finally able to start. It was a bit cloudy, but still very hot. In the beginning, it was quite ugly as we struggled through the downtown traffic. After a food break, we arrived at the lakeside promenade. It was really nice there. Then we continued to the Distillery District. It used to be a large distillery, and its beautiful brick buildings are still well-preserved. Today, there are artist studios and small shops, intentionally avoiding chain stores. Nice!👍and the Mill brewery, so it was time for a beer break. After returning the bikes, we went back to the hostel. For dinner, I went out with some guys from Germany. One of them wanted to buy a bike in Toronto and ride it to the Burning Man festival within 40 days. Crazy, but a cool idea👍.

Before going to bed, I diligently looked up the summaries of all the previous stages of the Tour de France. Saturday started with breakfast. Iris joined another round of biking, this time using the bike-sharing system (only $7 a day, unbeatable). Today it was really hot (33 degrees), the sun was scorching. We rode to Casa Loma and then to the lakeside beach. Cool, they even have a city beach! But the water is about as cold as the river on the canoe trip☺️, so we stayed outside. Then a moment of panic when I looked at the clock: I'm late! And just like that, I was on my way to the airport. I could leave my luggage at the hostel in the meantime.

Crazy stuff! 5 weeks have already passed! 5 weeks with a lot of different impressions and wonderful experiences. There's so much to tell when I get home. With this trip to Canada, I fulfilled a long-standing dream and I'm so glad I did it!

At this point, I want to thank everyone who read along and shared in the joy! My biggest thanks goes to my girlfriend Silke, who was the actual initiator of the 6-month break. Without you, maybe I wouldn't have been able to do it. Thank you, I love you for it!!😚

But that also means that these 5 weeks were just the beginning and Silke and I have planned an even bigger trip together: we will travel through the Balkan countries with our van for 10 weeks! We will definitely write a blog and keep you updated!

Goodbye and see you soon!

Your Gerrit