The dark side of Canada.
Eleven things (feel free to commiserate in the comments section):
1. First there were the blisters... but then my feet toughened up.
2. Days without milk, especially near the start. This meant milkless coffee, and milkless cereal. What an existence!! Who would have thought that getting UHT milk in Canada would be so difficult?
3. Deadly dangers, like potholes (already referred to in a previous post; pictured here again for your convenience).
4. Days below 20 degrees, in summer months!
5. Biting insects. Swarms of bloodsuckers, mostly attracted to me!
6. Health woes. We both dealt with a sore throat, on and off, from Quebec City until Prince Edward Island. There has been an occasional headache, too. Woe, woe!
7. My jandals broke, and I had to buy some new ones from Walmart. I don't know how my old jandals feel about that, and I wasn't able to ask them, because they're dead.
8. Irregular mealtimes. Breakfast at 11am, lunch between 2 and 4pm, dinner anywhere between 7 and 10pm...
"I can't smile for this photo. It's 3 o'clock and I want some lunch."
9. Some of the roads in Canada. Even some of the highways - it was like driving on Christchurch roads!
10. Fellow accommodation residents. This needs subcategories.
10a) The 2 sleeping roommates. In L.A., we stayed in a 4-bed mixed dorm room, and managed to nearly entirely avoid the two others: when we went to bed, they weren't back yet, and by the time we checked out at 11am they were still asleep in bed. I never thought I'd see the day I was up earlier than someone else, and finding it inconvenient to try and still be quiet and pack in relative darkness!
10b) The loud, laughing, yelling North Americans down the hall from us in Vancouver - it sounded like a bachelor party or something.
10c) The loud, semi-regular noise-making hotel neighbours. It sounded like they were chopping a big pile of carrots.
10d) The smoking neighbours (which I think was prohibited); the acrid stench of the fumes seeped into our room from theirs.
10e) The obnoxious fellow patron at breakfast at one hotel. John and I were perfectly content with the two types of bread for toast, along with appropriate spreads; chilled pancakes which could be heated, along with maple syrup; three types of cereal; eggs; bagels; coffee and tea for drinks. This man, however, complained (at times jovially, as if that excused him) about the lack of muffins, omelettes and fruit. "There is no food!" he said to the staff lady in charge of overseeing breakfast. She was so good-natured, laughing along and apologising. "You are my witness!" he said to her. "Where is the fruit? No omelettes?! I paid for a breakfast - what if I ask for my money back, eh?" Yes, we were indeed witnesses - to his rudeness and ingratitude.
11. A certain motel. It was a one star place, and a spider greeting me as it descended from the doorframe of our room was an omen of things to come. The floor was so uneven it reminded me of Christchurch (again), and the taps were as squeaky as the opening of an ironing board. The shower temperature was volatile, although we only discovered this on the second day, when we were showering at normal people's time. The wifi was dodgy.
John and his computer search for inspiration, along with internet signal.
Most importantly, there wasn't much toilet paper supplied, and this is something, I have always felt, out of which one must never run.
On the other hand, we got two free water bottles, containing water, one of which we still have (with the water replaced)! That alone just about overrode the negatives - but we also actually had quite a comfortable stay here.
Do you need cheering up now? Stay tuned for next time!
You poor things. It must be very tough :)
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