Hi there. Just quickly wanted to check in about my first few days on the road. If you followed me on Twitter and Instagram you know pretty well what has been going on, but anyway, here it is, all in one place.
Flight was great, I watched some movies (Gravity, The Big Lebowski), and a little nap in between (after only sleeping for 3-4 hours the night before, this was much needed). Arriving at Toronto I was a little lost at the beginning, trying to find my way downtown (there’s no Metro/Subway going to the airport?! Why, Toronto, WHY?!).
Made it safe and sound. Dead tired now. Night, Toronto! A photo posted by Fabio (@nummerus) on
Wide awake at 6 am. I like you, #jetlag.
— Fabio Casutt (@nummerus) May 26, 2015
Next morning I quickly checked out of the Hostel and ran over to Union Station, to catch my train to Ottawa. Upon taking my seat, I was surprised about some differences between Via Rail and SBB:
This guy somehow doesn’t look too healthy #noneck #viarail pic.twitter.com/wkInYfih97 — Fabio Casutt (@nummerus) May 26, 2015
Advantage of free wifi on #viarail: I can tweet about how much the train is shaking. Plus, I now see why they put those brown bags there… — Fabio Casutt (@nummerus) May 26, 2015
No brown bags were used or harmed during this trip.
Since the train station in Ottawa is quite far out of the city I had to rely on busses to make it to my hostel. Research suggested I could take any 95,96,97,98 Bus heading Downtown – however, no word about how to obtain tickets and how much a one way ticket costs. So I asked this one dude who was waiting for a bus as well and he gladly helped out – CAD 3.45 for a one way ride, no cards, no change. I gathered my stuff and opened one of my bags, where I stored some coins from earlier trips to Canada (I had no coins, since I hadn’t paid anything cash so far on my trip). Almost done, another guy comes running, asking how much the Bus is and where to buy tickets – I gladly explained what I had just learned, and after some small talk we realised that we’re both swiss. And just at that moment a 95 Bus arrives, we grab all our belongings and enter the bus – my new friend didn’t have any coins and would have had to give up his 20$ bill since busses don’t give you change. I gladly helped out and paid for him as well – a good deed wouldn’t hurt, so I thought. In the bus we shortly exchanged numbers to meet up later. When I got off at Mackenzie Bridge and entered a building I started looking for my regular glasses. I didn’t find them anywhere, which didn’t alert me then. With 3 bags and uncountable ways to store my belongings within them, I thought I must have put them somewhere I can’t find them right away. After checking in at the hostel the big search began though. And I still didn’t find them. Big WTF. I must have lost them while looking for my money or in the bus. I packed it all up, ran back to the bus station and took the next bus back to the train station – no glasses, nowhere. For a moment I looked at a trash can and hesitated to search it too – maybe someone found it and just threw it in there – who knows! Then I checked at the lost and found at the train station: nothing. Lost and found of the bus company: call back tomorrow after 11am. THANKS, KARMA! Since I already lost my glasses once this year, without ever finding them again, I didn’t have the slightest hope of getting them back. So I went off to see Ottawa with my lenses in (good thing I brought them), and planning to buy new glasses when I’m home. Here’s some photos of Ottawa:
May 27th, 11am: I called the lost and found office of the bus company again, described what I lost and after a few moments the lady on the phone returned with some more questions – like: what’s the inside of the case like? What colour is the frame? Hope! And then she finally said: “yes, we have it!”. Jumping from joy, I immediately looked up their office on the map, took some water and a jacket and ran off to get my glasses back. THANKS, KARMA!
I enjoyed some more views of Ottawa that afternoon, before getting my bags and again heading out to the train station to catch the train to Montréal, my next destination. I seriously hope I didn’t lose anything else. Would have loved to stay a little longer in Ottawa, if the “Glass-Incident” hadn’t happened I would have had a perfect two days of sight seeing.