Hello Toronto!!

Just a short blog to let you know that I have arrived safely in Toronto. Since I am now halfway through my USA/Canada trip, I thought that I better switch to English :D.

This morning my former hostmother dropped me off at Kansas City Airport. At the check-in desk I was (unpleasantly) surprised when I heard about an additional $25 lugage fee. I had to pay this fee, otherwise I would not get my boarding pass. Delta, the airline I flew with, had neglected to inform me about this fee beforehand. Booh! Also could not find a Kansas City teaspoon at the Airport. Another booh!! At least I bought a nice teaspoon at the Truman Library.

The flight from Kansas City to Cincinatti was quick and beautiful. No clouds in the sky. I could see the mighty Missouri River very clearly from the plane. Was able to follow the river all the way through Missouri, nice! In Cincinnati, I easily made it to my connecting flight to Toronto. Cincinnati-Toronto was another short flight, a little bumpier though because of the wind. Actually arrived in Toronto, clear skies here as well (could see that the highways were filled with traffic), five minutes ahead of schedule. Then, our plane sat on the tarmac for almost an hour, because there was no gate available!!

When the plane finally made it to the gate, I still had to get through customs. At the customs counter, I was “greeted” by an unfriendly Canadian official (the American official at customs in MSP was much nicer). I got a stamp in my passport, but it looks funny. It almost seems like the stamp says 8-OCT-2019 instead of 8-OCT-2010. I was happy though when my suitcase appeared on the bagage claim belt. The Airport Express Bus took me from the Airport (duh) to Downtown Toronto. The bus ride was suprisingly quick, a lot of traffic on the highways, no real traffic jams though. Interestingly, at the airport, I saw many, many people waiting for a cab Barely any cabs though, I am quite sure that, in this case, the Airport Express Bus was quicker AND definitely cheaper.

Because of the delay at the airport, I eventually arrived at the hostel around 7pm, I should have actually arrived before 6pm. Now, I did not have time for running or exploring. I went straight to dinner instead. I am planning to go running tomorrow, after I return from the Niagara Falls. And as far as the exploring goes, I have plenty of time to do that on Sunday and Monday (btw, running is in the plans for Sunday and Monday as well ;)).

I am going to bed now. Almost every person at the hostel seems to be asleep already. It is very quiet here. And it is before 11 pm!!

Very interesting side-note: I have no phone reception here, both on my American cellphone and my Dutch cellphone. I understand it when I have no reception in an itty-bitty town like Mount Pleasant Michigan (in the middle of nowhere). But hey, this in Toronto, a very large city (actually Canada’s biggest city)!!!