DOUBLE TIME (TORONTO/THE COUNTRY)

Saturday in the country. . . We went into Creemore via a rather unmaintained road (I thought the car was going to cark it there for a moment!) after a very leisurely morning of breakfast and lazing around. I saw some chipmunks today! CHIPMUNKS! They are so much cuter in real life than in cartoons. Also, red squirrels, which are SMALLER than black squirrels and also cuuuute! In Creemore we wandered along the main street and looked in pretty much every open shop – pottery, homewares, ceramic painting café, bookstore, gallery etc. We also did some shopping. It was strange being back in a country town, but it being halfway across the world. Creemore is home of the Creemore Brewery, but none of us particularly wanted to go on a tour. When we got back, we made soup and ate it with the delicious cheeses I bought yesterday from the market (which I will tell you about soon, I hope). The washed rind was lovely (not too pungent, a slightly fresh salty taste, and great gooey texture), the Roquefort was Roquefort, the port aged Munster was delicious and flaky/crumbly, and the semi-soft goats cheese was melt-in-the-mouth and mild. After lunch, J took L, A and I on a walk down around the ‘big pond’, where I had my first real brush with the Dreaded Canadian Blackfly. GODDAMN! It reminded me of Australia in the summer with the blowflies, only these ones keep milling around – at least blowies settle on your back. We also saw a beaver dam, and all the gnawed down little trees near it. How cool is that?! After the wander through the countryside we came home and realised it was quite late (given that lunch was at 4 – a four o’clock mystery meal!), a few of us napped and a few of us sat around talking about favourite (best and tackiest) books. L and I made dinner at about 8pm – gorgeous little roast potatoes with olive oil, rosemary (home-grown by J’s dad) and salt; warm sweet potato salad with sweet potatoes that turned out to be white (yams?), not orange. Nom nom nom. After dinner I got to try Canadian Ice Wine, which was delicious. It’s very sweet (almost as sweet as a botrytis wine), but a much simpler, more pure flavour. This one smelled and tasted of strawberries, raisins and caramel. We ate gelati and chocolate, and then it was after midnight.

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On my first day in Toronto I was rather tired – adjusting the three hours between here and Vancouver took a little time. However, after a shower and Skyping with Dan, L and I took PT to Kensington Markets (I got little tokens for the subway! They have trams/streetcars! I am slowly getting into the idea of reading more about public transport systems – I think they’re fascinating). Kensington is a cool little neighbourhood (neighbourhoods = what Australians would call suburbs, although they seem to be smaller – Brunswick St/Smith St would probably be a neighbourhood), with lots of fresh food, over-stocked spice shops, several hippie shops, a cool little place where it looks like the local anarchokids hang out, several cafes, and fearless pedestrians. We ate at (I think) King’s Café, a vegetarian Chinese-style restaurant with lots of fake meat. I had dumplings. Man, I miss dumplings in Melbourne – let’s get some when I get home.

We then visited Good For Her, one of the excellent local sex shops in Toronto, and I began my international collection – I want to buy something from every country I visit! And I had to get something to match the awesome Canadian flag dildo cosy that L made for me! Hilarious! We walked through a nice old neighbourhood called (I think) the Annexe, with big, snow-roofed houses, established trees and tulips bobbing in the front gardens. One thing I notice in Canada is the lack of front fences. Possibly Canadians are less stickybeakish than Australians, as I kept wandering into people’s yards to photograph their flowers (especially in Forest Hill, basically the Toorak of Toronto, with its enormous, tacky mansions).

After that it was time to consume more delicious things, so L took me to the Tea Emporium, where I squeed over the beautiful homewares and accessories, and sat down for a cup of delicious ‘Sweet Embrace’ Rooibos. Om nom nom. I also met my faggy tea-brother in Toronto – I was so happy.

It’s so strange to see how space and time are organised so differently in places where it snows – different styles of house, garden, road, parks, transport . . . anyway, I was tired, so I had a nap on L’s couch (actually more on L herself) before heading to J’s place to move in and meet the gang. I got to meet J’s gorgeous big black cat Alex – he’s quiet and stately (except with untied shoelaces) and does this cute thing with his front paw, holding it in the air like a showpony. So I got to meet A, yay! And A, J and I chatted and watched Resident Evil: The Apocalypse with the sound off so I could be introduced to Toronto as it looked overrun with zombies. Fun times!