“Don’t make travel plans when sleepy. Or do. The fallout is just as fun as the rest of life.” – Old Sean
Accidental Layover
Well…
Whoops.
In a fit of sleep deprivation, I’ve managed to book a plane ticket to Dublin with a layover flight. However, I misread the fine print on my ticket and ended up with a layover lasting a whooping 26 hours.
I flew out of Florida only to arrive in Canada for my exceptionally long layover period. Unable to stomach the idea of camping in front of the Toronto Airport for so many hours, I found a hostel in Toronto and trudged over. The Samesun Hostel is a mid-level lodging establishment for impromptu travelers. I was just happy to avoid paying over $100 dollars for a hotel room.
Once I arrived, I found myself extremely adverse to sleep. I ended up working downstairs, researching interesting things to do in walking distance. Eventually, a young British-Indian woman from London sat down next to me and we whittled the wee hours of the morning away swapping recommendations.
The following morning, I arose after a solid five hours of sleep to begin the endless walking that so defines life.
A Day in Toronto
I began by wandering south, into Kensington Market. The shopping district is home to a lot of independent Indie-shops, which makes it a good place to move from breakfast to coffee to vegan snacks. The artwork around the area is fairly interesting, making it nice to meander around.
I didn’t stay for too long, however. I wandered towards Queen’s Park for a while, but quickly became swamped by foot traffic. A graduation at the University of Toronto was ongoing, with caps and gowns flooding the streets. I evaded for a while before finally bursting through. I did a lap of the park area before walking towards the rather famous Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. This is a part of the university, but sadly entrance requires pre-booking and supervision while observing some of the rare and unusual tomes. I was unable to enter, so I simply shuffled away to the next corner of the city.
Excessively Strange
The next corner turned out to be the very strange and delightful Bata Shoe Museum. As the name might imply, this is a museum dedicated to footwear. Shoes of every type, artistic style and guise are on display from around the world.
The museum’s founder, Mrs. Bata started the museum when her travel-and-shoe-collecting hobby began spilling out of her house and private storage. The current result is amazing, with floors of specialized shoes showcasing culture, art and strange features of terrain.
My eyes went glazy after a while from the sights of boots, sneakers, flip flops, decorated sandals, painted clogs, carved bone shoes, jeweled heels and comedic stompers.
Imported Castle
I left the museum with my vision spotty. My next destination was the eccentric icon Casa Loma Castle. Toronto was the private home and brainchild-creation of a self-made multi-millionaire soldier who squandered his company and massive wealth in a few short decades. The castle is utterly crammed with personal designs and effects, including a huge library, a couple of brass sundials, an actual pipe organ, sculpted pillars, a functional old-fashioned bowling alley, stained-glass ceiling, huge gardens and an unfinished pool converted into a graveyard. The only downside is the ticket costs of entry, which is $40 Canadian dollars.
Last Moments in Toronto
Historical anomaly interest met, I delved back south into the city, stopping for a poke bowl and dessert at a fecal-themed café predictably called “Poop Café.”
There were a few other things I had hoped to visit in Toronto, but my clock was already running low, and I was fairly wrung out from the previous week of travel.
Within the next hour, I had retrieved my backpack, spoken fondly with a few other hostel guests and workers before finally heading back to the airport. That very evening, I was snoozing fitfully on a plane shooting to Dublin.
In Dublin, I’ll be meeting my brother and sister for a tour of Ireland. I’m excited beyond words at the moment.
Until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written June 14th 2022
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Ten years ago, I abandoned my military surplus store backpack for a Farpoint 40 Osprey Travel Pack. I’ve never replaced my bag since. Two years ago, I bought two more Osprey Backpacks for my younger siblings on their first tour outside the country. I have nothing but praise for Osprey Products.
