Our overnight bus trip up to Totonto from New York was long and uncomfortable - no reclining seats or blankets or meals, so we barely slept. The border crossing was smooth and we arrived at the Toronto bus terminal early on Friday 20 April, where we were greeted by an icy wind and drizzle. We made our way to the nearby subway station and followed the directions given to us by Michael, our next CouchSurfing host. Soon we were warming up inside his apartment, and learned that the weather is actually not too bad for this time of year, and besides, the winter has been pretty mild anyway - I'd hate to see a bad winter! We spent some time settling in and chatting before Monique and I left Michael to get some work done - he's working this year teaching English over the internet. We found Michael to be a super-helpful and welcoming, going to a lot of effort to host us well. We walked around town for a while and when we could stand the cold no longer, got a coffee at a nearby university cafeteria. After some time of just hanging out and catching up on a bit of admin, we got some Chinese food from a street cart which we ate on some steps in the sun. We did a bit more exploring but soon ended up in the public library - it was warm and there was internet access :-) We did a bit more admin and then headed home, making a detour to the supermarket to buy some food for dinner. We all wolfed down a yummy spagetti bolgnaise and then the two of us joined Michael for Hip-Hop Kareoke night at a bar downtown. All the performers were really good - up on a big stage with no words on screens or anything. The walk home was FREEZING cold and we were relieved to get home and into bed.

Saturday we got to sleep in which was great. We packed a few snacks in a bag and headed out to explore the city a bit. Michael was kind enough to arrange us some tickets to a film festival that was in town. We went to a show that was actually a bunch of short films - some even in 3D. They were all amazing, but the stand-out one for both of us was called The Magic Piano. Afterwards, we wrapped up warmly and walked down to see the CN Tower, which was the tallest building in the world for over 30 years. The weather was pretty bad, so we didn't go up but took some photos and then walked the short distance to the waterfront to see what that was all about. There wasn't too much going on there so we headed underground to the subway to escape the cold, where we found some cheap and cheerful burgers for lunch. We decided to just take the subway to the end of the line and see what was there - we spent most of our time walking around a big shopping mall, which was totally fine with us - it was warm :-) On the way home we picked up a few supplies for dinner and snacks - it was one of Michael friends birthday's and he was having some people round for drinks at his apartment. We didn't join them for later drinks out on the town and spent the rest of the evening doing some admin and working on the blog.

Sunday we got to sleep in a bit and then took the subway down to the waterfront area, where we caught a ferry accross to Totronto Islands. It is a relatively small, thin clump of islands a short distance East of Toronto which, apart from a few houses and the yacht club, is basically one big public park, including a mini theme park, petting zoo and frisbee golf course. It was still pretty cold, but we had a cool time walking around around - I imagine it must be great in summer. We watched a bunch of local kinds playing baseball while we waited for the return ferry to arrive. We warmed up with a coffee in a nearby Starbucks and then made our way back to Michael's apartment. He was asleep so we just did admin stuff and then caught the subway back into town for dinner. We got to ride on the streetcar (tram) which Monique quite enjoyed :-) When we got home we packed the bag and then settled down to sleep.

Monday we were up pretty early with the intention of exploring the city some more. However, it was raining and freezing cold so we got as far as the nearest Starbucks, where we could get online :-) We did some blogging/photos/reading before heading back to the apartment to get our things and say our last goodbye's. We caught a train and then a bus out to the airport and made it with plenty of time to spare. Everything is automated there - you can check-in and print your tickets & baggage tags at any of the hundreds of little booth things. Our flight was slightly delayed, but fortunately they have free wifi internet that actually works, so we were able to keep ourselves busy until our boarding call, and then we were on our way to Vancouver!