Time Glen woke up this morning: 5am
Time I woke up this morning: 7am
Winner! I would have slept longer but it was not to be. I lounged in bed for a bit while Glen went to the gym. I felt guilty for about ten minutes then got over it. A few more days and my body clock should be back to normal.
Then we’ll be well and truly into Toronto Pride and we’ll become sleep deprived.
Maybe.
We might end up going to bed at 10pm every night.
This morning we went to look at apartments in the Motion building on Bay and Dundas. Beautiful (from the outside) new apartment building with a well equipped gym (probably the best we’re going to find inside an apartment block) and all new apartments. We wanted to have a look at them but they’re tripled booked for viewing appointments and the earliest we could get is 4 July…and I’ll be viewing them alone as Glen has to work until 6.
Many people have just been renting them without seeing them…and I think that’s the way we’re heading as well. They’re reasonably priced, though water and electricity aren’t included, in a great location, better-than-average gym and should suit us well. Slightly smaller (based on the plans) than we would have liked but we think we’ll find it ok. This is for a one-bedroom apartment, move in on 1 July. There are some two-bedroom places, much bigger of course, but they’ll work out to be $500-$600 cheaper than a one-bedroom, which means a couple of trips that we’d miss out on. So, one bedroom it is. We’ll put in application tomorrow.
A real estate agent is meant to be showing us around a few others but we haven’t heard back about appointments and at this stage we’re a bit over it.
Because we couldn’t get in to see an apartment in Motion today, we went to another building which is just over the road from where we’re staying now. It’s owned by the same company as Motion and they’ve got a pretty good gym and some places available now. We went in and talked to Fatima who was only too pleased to show us the two one-bedroom and one two-bedroom places that were available. Unfortunately, they weren’t really to our liking. I did my best schmoozing though to see if she could get us an appointment at Motion. She tried but sadly the guy gave her the same response he gave us: triple booked. Damn. At least we tried.
This afternoon there was a Toronto Pride event on at the University of Toronto in Hart House Circle. Free entry before 8pm, bbq/food from 4pm to 8pm, then dance party afterwards. We decided to go and got to UoT at about 5:30pm. My god, the place is amazing. It looks like something out of Harry Potter, which is to say, the UK.
The party/bbq was held inside the courtyard so you were sitting looking up at this impressive architecture. We grabbed some food and found a few spare seats at a table with some older gay guys. We did the polite thing and introduced ourselves, our accents helping to break the ice. They were only too happy to give us a bunch of tips and destinations to explore while in Toronto. We took them down in our phones and will go through them all.
There’s one which is a subscription service for theatre shows where you can access house seats that haven’t been claimed or sold and just take them for free because of your membership. The guy who told Glen about it goes to three shows a week. The subscription costs $80 a year, which even if you only go a couple of times a year, works out to be worth it. So glad to have heard about that one. There is also a free walking tour of back alleys and graffiti, as well as a wotif/lastminute.com type website which will be handy.
Gradually the guys we were talking to disappeared and we left about half an hour later. I was just so amazed to be sitting in this unique location for gay pride. The buildings were stunning, inside and out. Plus, once again, it’s been a beautiful day so it was a wonderful way to spend a late afternoon.
We wandered around Queen’s Park, stopping to take photos of a squirrel, then headed back towards our accommodation. Along the way we passed the Jesuit school and there’s a bench outside it’s doors with a sculpture of a man lying on the bench. It’s called Jesus the Homeless and it is a bit startling. You half expect it to move or sit up.
We went for dinner at a Thai restaurant called Sabai Sabai. It had been recommended to me but from the outside it looked pretty crappy. However, tonight it was bustling and when you go in the decor is all very trendy. It’s Thai but done tapas-style so we ordered about five things. It’s actually been the best meal we’ve had since coming to Toronto. Will definitely go there again.
In other news, I’ve booked flights to go to London to see my sister in July, before she heads back to Australia. Can’t wait to see her as we haven’t seen each other since November. Glen and I also booked tickets to Chicago and New York in September when a friend comes to visit us. The best part was that we were able to use our frequent flyer points to pay for it all (minus the $60 each in taxes).
After such a long lead time to get to Canada, and then the initial few days of procedural stuff, the excitement of actually being here is coming through so much more. I think I’m going to love it here.
Travels with Dan 
What do you say, eh?