A Day Out in Toronto

Yesterday I went to Toronto for the third time though this was the first time that I have been with a friend.

As I did previously, we caught a Greyhound into Toronto. I think I have previously mentioned how good the Greyhound service is but it really is true. Also now that it has got significantly colder it is nice that the Greyhounds have the heating on at just the right level.

When we arrived in Toronto we got a Starbucks and then went off to browse the fantastic Eaton Centre Mall. I’d forgotten how much fun it can be to go round shops with a friend. There will be a haul post about what I bought coming tomorrow. We had a really good curry for lunch in the Mall food court and then went out into the city for an exploration of the city. 

As it is now November most stores are getting ready for Christmas and there were some fabulous window displays. We also went down to the Old Town area of Toronto which is a new one for me but is definitely worth going down to for some really interesting looking old buildings.

After all that walking we decided that it was time for an afternoon break so we went to my favourite coffee shop – The Black Canary, comic coffee shop! I love this place so much, it is just so cool! This time I had a Black Widow to drink. I also bought a couple of comics which I shall share in My Haul post.

Once we had re-caffeinated and felt refreshed enough we decided to go back out and see some more of the city. Particularly this time we wanted to find out about the PATH, which is an underground walkway that connects most of Downtown Toronto. After several failed attempts and wrong turns we eventually managed to enter the PATH, now that we know where it is I would say that it will be worth remembering for when it gets even colder later on in winter.

The day was starting to get on and before we knew it we were having to start thinking about finding our way back to the bus station. We had dinner, a quick final browse in the mall and then walked back. Toronto looked really nice in the dark last night.

Both of us had a really good day out in a fantastic city. I love going to Toronto and I definitely want to go again. I’d like to go again soon once all the Christmas stuff is properly out as I suspect it looks fantastic!

Toronto is Awesome

About a month back I went to Toronto. This weekend, to celebrate coming to the end of mid-terms I decided to go to Toronto again.

As with last time I traveled via Greyhound (which is a good way to travel). When I arrived I got a coffee at the Starbucks on the corner of the street where the bus station is and walked to the Eaton Centre Mall. The Eaton Centre is a really cool mall, honestly probably the best mall that I have ever been to. I had a browse around, bought a couple of things and had lunch there. There’s going to be another blog post coming up where I detail what I bought.

This time I decided to go to the Royal Ontario Museum (R.O.M). This is a fantastic museum that has an amazingly wide ranging selection of stuff. I like that it combines natural history (there’s dinosaurs) and classical civilisations (Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt for example). There’s a lot of eras that I have studied in history classes over the years but it is always interesting to see and learn new things. Also – as with the A.G.O which I went to last time – there’s a substantial selection of exhibits about the First Nations communities of Canada, it’s nice to see that the major museums and galleries of Canada are celebrating the people who were here pre-colonialization.

After that I decided that I wanted to get away from some of the more touristy areas of Toronto. I had a wander around Bloor Street and Yonge Street with the eventual aim of gradually making my way back towards the Eaton Centre. This ended being a longer walk than I had anticipated but I think it was worth it because I did get to see a different side to the city.

During this walk I came across what is probably one of the coolest places I have ever visited – a comic coffee shop! Of course somewhere I can get coffee and comics (two of my favourite things) is going to be a big hit with me! I bought a comic there and sat to drink a Poison Ivy coffee. This was a completely unexpected find but I am really glad that I came across it, definitely somewhere I will be going again.

I ended the day back in the Eaton Centre and the surrounding Dundas Square area. I just relaxed around there before I had to catch my bus back.

I had quite a busy day with a substantial amount of walking but it was undoubtedly a lot of fun. One of my aims this visit was to get to know the city of Toronto a little bit better than I had last time and I feel like that was something I managed to do. I definitely want to go again because Toronto is a really exciting and interesting city, even after two visits I feel like there’s still a lot more for me to do.

My Haul – Of Course I Bought More Superhero Stuff

I think it’s time for another haul of stuff that I’ve bought since being in Canada. As you probably guessed from the title I’ve bought even more superhero stuff since last time. I also have decided to continue the new formatting that I introduced in my last haul post.

Value Village Thrift Shop

I’ve been to a proper North American thrift shop! It’s a lot like what you’d expect them to be like. They’re absolutely enormous. From my experience I’d say that the biggest difference between a Canadian thrift shop and a UK charity shop is just the sheer volume of stuff. If you know me you will know I often have good luck in charity shops (like my 1997 Hercules doll for £1 or my Princess Jasmine plushie for 50p!) and my luck at finding stuff has followed me across the Atlantic.

I found a Supergirl mini doll. The DC Superhero Girls mini dolls were originally Happy Meal toys but we never got them in the UK and the postage made them too expensive on eBay so I was glad to find Supergirl over here.

Dollar Tree

This is a different dollar store to Dollarama which I went to in my last haul post. Dollar Tree is a lot more like the UK’s Poundland.

In Dollar Tree they had a whole selection of Disney mini figures. There were so many, however I wasn’t too impressed with how some of them were painted but of course I had to get my favourite villain Maleficent.

The Comic Store

I really love the comic store here. I know I mentioned this last time but it’s so true. It’s just such a cool comic store and they have a great selection of stuff.

They had a special offer on this time, back issues were only $1 each! That is really good value. I managed to stay (relatively) restrained and only buy 6 comics. Knowing me it’s no surprise that the Flash and Wonder Woman are both there! I also picked up my newer favourite Green Lantern. As they had quite a few issues of Grayson I decided to buy some, that’s Dick Grayson (the original Robin) once he leaves Batman I’ve wanted to try some of his comics but I’ve been unsure where to start but a dollar per issue seems like a good way to get started!

I have very little control with soft toys, though it took me about a week to cave in and buy Wonder Woman bunny! She’s very cuddly and as you can see from the pictures she’s the same size as the Flash bear I bought last time.

And that’s my haul for this time, of course I bought more superhero stuff. I’m interested to find out what I will buy next time I go shopping…

My Haul – The First Canadian Haul

So I think it’s probably time for a haul post with what I have bought so far in Canada. This time I’m introducing a slightly new format for the My Haul posts. For this post I’ve broken it up into which store I bought things from as I thought that might be interesting for my UK readers to see where I’ve been going.

Walmart

The local Walmart is approximately 10 minutes away from campus. As it’s the nearest big shop I have been there quite a few times to stock up on groceries and essentials. But I’ve not just been buying essentials.

The first time I went I bought a DC Superhero Girls fleece throw blanket. You probably know I love DC Superhero Girls and I couldn’t resist a blanket with Supergirl, Wonder Woman and Batgirl on. Plus I’ll need a big blanket when the Canadian winter hits.

On Thursday evening one of my friends and I went out for a wander. We didn’t have anywhere specifically in mind to go and we ended up in Walmart. This time I noticed this Mulan plushie. I couldn’t resist getting her, especially as she’s not wearing the pink dress!

The Comic Store

The comic store here is fantastic! It had a great selection of comics and merchandise, I think it is the best comic store that I have ever been too. I honestly could have spent so much money in there! I really had to restrain myself.

I got a DC Superhero Girls colouring in book. I didn’t bring a colouring in book with me to Canada so I’m glad I was able to buy one.

I also bought this Flash bear! He’s cute and very cuddly. I doubt anyone who knows me is particularly surprised that when I saw him I instantly knew that I needed to get him! I guess his secret identity must be called Bear-y Allen (I couldn’t resist making that pun!)

Dollarama

Dollarama is a bit like Poundstretcher back when Poundstretcher used to be good. It’s got a lot of stuff and it’s very cheap but not everything costs a dollar.

So Halloween is still quite a while off but Halloween stuff is showing up in a lot of stores. This includes Disney Princess Halloween tote bags. Yes, of course I had to buy one!

Old Navy

My favourite cardigans ever are from Old Navy so when I noticed that there was one in the mall I had to go. They have a great selection of stuff and I think I will probably get quite a bit of my winter wardrobe from them.

Today I bought this Green Lantern tee. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a Green Lantern tee in a high street retailer before! I like the design on this one because it feels kind of subtle.

Piecing Together The City

So I’ve recently arrived in Canada for my year abroad and for me one of the most important things to get sorted (after all the admin stuff) is to start to piece the city where I’m going to be living together in my head.

By piecing together the city what I mean is the way that as you start to get more used to a new city it becomes pieced together in your mind. For example how the university is situated in location to the nearest grocery store and then how that’s located in relation to the main shopping area and the mall.

I’m not sure if I’m just misremembering but it seems as if it’s harder to piece together the layout of a Canadian city than the city I go to uni in back in the UK. It could partially be because I haven’t fully explored all of the city yet. I think there’s also a part of it that’s harder for me to piece the city together because it’s just different from the UK! Definitely the roads are wider than they are in the UK. Canadian cities – a lot like American cities – are laid out in a grid system, this makes it quite easy to navigate.

On Friday a couple of friends and me had decided we want to go to Wendy’s for dinner (we don’t have Wendy’s in the UK so this is exciting to us!). However we’d assumed that Wendy’s was quite far away and given we’d had a long day we weren’t sure about walking that far. But it turned out that the nearest Wendy’s was only a couple of minutes further a long from Walmart which we’d been going to a lot since we’d arrived!

I don’t know if this is a general thing with cities in Canada but here it seems as if the Downtown area is mainly full of independent stores. The chain stores are mainly in the mall and on the street surrounding the mall. This is an interesting change from UK cities where chain stores are increasingly pushing the independent stores out of business and away from the Downtown/City Centre areas.

Also, I have now located the comic store which I am obviously very pleased about!