So...I went to Canada on Friday.
Very early in the morning. VERY early. Seriously, I think the small hours of the morning are the hours in which EVERYONE should sleep, no exceptions. Waiting at the airport took forever, but we got a chance to see all the new apple mac things which were REALLY awesome.
My dad also had his first (and probably last) Starbucks. He was grumbling about how confusing it was. What?! All you have to do is tell them what you want. Haha. The flight itself wasn't too bad, we got free blankets and cushions and despite what people say, airline food is actually pretty good. Well, the stuff they had on AirCanada anyway. It was pretty comfortable, which is good considering the flight was 8 hours long. When we were landing I honestly thought we were going to hit the CN tower (1,815.4 ft high and one of the seven wonders of the world) - we were that close. Scary!
The purpose of being in Canada was to attend a wedding of one of my Dad's old friends, so the first night, we stayed in the trailer park where they, apparently, live. Like, permanently. Despite the inevitable apprehensiveness on my part (I'm not a big fan of camping. I prefer sleeping inside, y'know...?), it actually turned out to be pretty good fun. It wasn't like your traditional wedding, and it was certainly not normal...but it was funny all the same. They seem pretty big on country music, that's for sure....every shop I went in, there was some kind of Taylor Swift song - they are like obsessed with her. At the wedding 'reception', (which was a gathering of about 10 people, all heavy chain smokers who swear like soldiers, gathered around a bonfire, eating [delicious, I must say] canadian food), we listened to a variety of music, but it was all Country. I can now say I have been introduced to a whole new genre of music! Haha. Thery had stuff like Taylor Swift (obviously), George Strait, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain, and, wait for it...Miley Cyrus. Dear God they were insane. First impressions are wrong, though, beacuse all ten of them were REALLY lovely - possibly the most friendly people I have ever met!
In the morning, some of us got up to watch the sunrise over Colpoys Bay - which was SO beautiful, you would not believe. Photographs do not do it justice. Completely silent, the occasional fishing boat, and very still water (with the occasional duck). The only irritating thing was the mozzies - clouds of them - at the end of the pier. Colpoys bay is supposedly part of Lake Huron - but 'lake' huron is actually bigger than the English Channel. Gives you an idea of how big Canada is in Comparison to the UK...
On Monday, we climbed the CN tower (if you're in Toronto, you kind of have to...it's like, essential sightseeing). Or rather, we didn't climb it...we got the elevator. The glass elevator. Which you could see out of...at ALL ANGLES. Man that was scary. Once we were actually up, we could go and look at the view of Toronto (breathtaking) - I got some pretty good photos. We also had lunch up there, which was again, slightly surreal. I can't say I've ever eaten a meal at about 2000 feet...well, I guess I can now!
It was a very refreshing experience. I met/saw some COOL things, including a group of Amish people (they were riding their ponies on the way back from church - it was so surreal). I also saw some wildlife which we don't really see/have in the UK - I saw my first ever chipmunk! A lot smaller than I expected, but very very cute all the same. I also met Rocky the Raccoon, saw a load of wild hares (quite big ones) and Piglet the...wait for it...dog. Oh and I saw some red squirrels!
There were a lot of differences between Canada and the UK. Obviously.
They all have country names like Ezra and Karmel and Whit. And People drive on the right of course, (which was one of our main sources of trouble...I had to keep screaming KEEP RIGHT!!!! at every junction. I swear to God my hair is turning grey with all the stress.)
Some things I'm glad to be coming back to, (besides the obvious).... Are the toilets. Seriously. The toilets in Canada are, quite frankly, weird. And the taps! No offence Canada, but the whole plumming system just scares me. The toilets FLUSH THEMSELVES. They have some kind of sensor...it's like WHAT?! I prefer to flush my OWN toilet, thank you very much. There are definitely some things which need to be done my hand, and flushing the toilet is one of them. It's like a dog taking itself on walk. It's not right! And with the taps, you have to either flip the handle right up, or stick your hand right under and they turn on themselves. Weird. Oh and I saw my very first skunk. It was, unfortunately, dead...but it still had the smell thing going on. I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad we don't have those in the UK. Jesus Christ. And oh my god the roadkill...there was TONNES of it! There's nothing better than a couple of dead skunks to ruin an otherwise perfect view...
One word to describe Canada? Amazing.
Pictures to come. Stay tooooooooooooooooned
