Sunday 27 October 2013

4 weeks in Toronto.

I have been living in Toronto for a month although it really doesn't seem that long but at the same time it feels like forever ago since I was in NS. Time is a funny thing.

Here are some of my observations about Toronto thus far:

- The traffic is not as terrifying as I was expecting. Sure it takes at least 10 minutes longer than google estimates and the highways can be a little crazy at times but there are 2.6 million people living in the city so it is to be expected. However what is terrifying are the people who blow through the red lights, I don't mean yellow lights, full on 'turned red' lights...which seems to be everyone except me. I was vindication when a Porsche blew by me (I had fully stopped in the left lane) in the right lane through an obviously red light only to be pulled over by the cop sitting in the intersection. Muhahaha

- Few people wear a helmet when cycling. A lot of people cycle as it is the fastest way to get around and so few people wear helmets. I don't understand it at all. There is so much research showing the effectiveness of helmets in preventing brain injuries. Put a helmet on people! No one wants to pay for your preventable health bills.

- Everyone has been really nice. Except for a few people (but there are a few jerk everywhere), people are generally nice.

- There is so much to do! While a lot of the stuff cost money (people seriously need to stop paying 150$ for nosebleed seats at the leafs games), there are usually cheap nights at the museums or ways to find discounts which is pretty great.

- The restaurants have not been as awesome as I had expected. I've only been out to eat a handful of times since moving here but the few times I have haven't been as good as I was expecting. I'm not sure if it is because when I was here in July, every restaurant we ate at was delicious so I had high expectations (I do have high food expectations in general) but I did think that most of the restaurants would be superb because why would anyone go to the mediocre places when there are so many options? Maybe I just haven't had good restaurant luck this past month.

- I can't complain about the transit system. I mean transit sucks everywhere but what is really nice here is the fact that every morning when I walk to the bus stop only to watch the bus pull away, I only have to wait for 5 minutes for the next bus. However, I did think that Torontoians would be better at moving to the back of the bus.What is awesome is that they let you take disposable beverages on the bus!

- The library system is amazing! They have all of the books and so many copies! I am number 1010 for the J.K. Rowling detective book but they have 311 copies so the list moves pretty quick.

2 comments:

Faith said...

The worst is seeing cyclists in Toronto not only without helmets, but also TEXTING while cycling without helmets... GAHHHHHHH!!! Makes me want to push them over (when there's no traffic around) to give them a little scare... (yes, channeling my inner Lucille Bluth here).

Allison said...

I have seen one of those and I also wanted to push him over! I think pushing over people with headphones on would also be a good idea. We should all strive to be more like Lucille Bluth.