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My final week in Toronto had more activities crammed into it, as I looked to finish hear with a flurry before moving onto Quebec. Saturday involved doing very little, as this is what the weekend is designed for. So much so, my only achievements were to complete some laundry, watch some television and eat my first piece of Ontario pizza - which unfortunately was not a patch on its Vancouver counterpart
Sundays activities were restricted due to an occurrence that had been all too rare in my time in the country so far - yes, it actually rained. However, the plethora of underground tunnels in the city allowed me to get out regardless of the weather. I decided to return to the Eaton Shopping Centre, which ridiculously boasts it sells anything in the world. This ludicrous claim was put to bed, as I was unable to find a life size edible model of Dale Winton anywhere within the building. Even more shocking was the fact it took around two hours to locate a shop that sold the basic principle of paper. I required paper in order to create a sign for my attendance at Mondays WWE tapings of Raw and Saturday Night Main Event - yes, I would be present for around 5 hours of wrestling action. After picking up the equipment, I decided to head down to the Air Canada Centre to scout out the arena, which saw me somehow wander into a restricted area where the trucks were being unloaded and the arena was being prepared. This strange occurrence was multiplied when one of the technical guys nodded at me, as if he thought I was a co-worker. The evening was spent on a pub crawl, where I experienced a new cider called Wanpoos, which was sweet and weighed in at 6.5%. After visiting 3 pubs, the evening finished in Gabbys, which was a bar as opposed to a girl. Here, the crowds were wowed with McCarthys fantastic vocal ability on the karaoke machine, where I performed Help, Angels and finally a duet of Hards Day Night with a Liverpool girl whose accent was strong I struggled to understand it. I even managed to appologise to the Australian chap whom I spent most of last night kicking in the head due to his position in the adjoining bunk, after mistakenly thinking he was snoring when it was infact the chap above him
Monday saw me prepare my sign for the wrestling of the evening, when the seeming impossible happened and I managed to spell 'Khali' wrong by missing out the A. My efforts to secure the equipment to create my sign was all in vein, but not even this could spoil the evening of seeing the stars of the WWE action. On arrival, I noticed that the majority of the crowd were taking the event very seriously for something that is fake. My position high above the ring allowed me a fine view, and first up was the taping for Saturday Nights Main Event. This began with Chuck Palumbo against some guy I had never head of, followed by John Cena v The Great Khali, during which a cock up saw Khalis entrance having to be redone. This was followed by Finlay & Hornswoggle v Boogeyman and little Boogeyman, MVP & Edge v Batista & Benoit, Vince McMahon arm wrestling Bobby Lashley, Doink & Eugene & Kane v Viscera & Kevin Thorn & Umaga. The live taping of Raw then began, with a bikini battle royal kicking it off, the highlight of the night, followed by Hardy Boys & Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch v Johny Nitro, Kenny Dykstra & Worlds Greatest Tag Team, Ric Flair & Torrie Wilson v Carlito & Victoria, Orton v RVD, Santino Marella in the masterlock challenge with Chris Masters, and a main event of Cena & Lashley v Umaga, Khali and Shane McMahon. It was a pleasing evening of entertainment, and I was able to return to the hostel feeling content with my moneys worth and a slice of pizza to boot
After losing my WWE virginity yesterday, the Tuesday would see me lose my baseball virginity as I ventured to Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees. As excited as I was, I purchased a beer before realising I didn't have a clue about baseball. However, as the game wore on, I began to pick up the general idea, and much to my surprise, actually enjoyed it. The game was exciting, and this was aided by the great between innings entertainment - ranging from three giant chilies racing around the outfield, a competition to see who could do the must crazy dance on the big screen, people running out to prepare the pitch, a 'stretch' were everyone stands up and does stretching exercise, and singing along to 'Take me out to the ball game'. The match finished 3-2 to the Jays, and I returned to the hostel contented with a new found sport I actually liked
Wednesday morning began with me visiting an internet cafe, where I amusingly found a man whose sole purpose for being in the establishment appeared to be to download porn. Unamusing was a women who decided to bring her dog into the cafe, and kept talking to it as if it were a small child, and referring to herself as Mummy. She was the sort of person that you wished could be used as an organ donor when still alive. I spent the afternoon taking the tour of the Skydome, where I got to see a world series ring, an executive box and the press lounge among other things. Best of all was our convenient timing of sitting in the seats when the roof was opened for the nights game. With a few hours to kill after the tour, I headed to the Irish Embassy for four pints, before returning to the Skydome, where the Yankees were 10-5 victors over the Jays, and I finally nailed the rules of baseball, meaning that a return tomorrow would see me able to fully understand the game!
Thursday was my final full day of this period in Toronto, and as such I decided to visit the Steam Whistle Brewery for a tour. The brewery building is in abandoned train warehouse next to the Skydome, and the tour included how the beer was made, that the bottles are returned to the company for reuse, and that you can hire the building for weddings and other ceremonies. We were also given the chance to sample some, and it was simply delightful, which makes it a shame it is only sold in Ontario and Alberta. The evening was spent once again at the Skydome, with the Chicago White Sox the visitors this time to take on the Blue Jays. After the game, I returned to the hostel for my final night in Toronto
Disaster began the day, as I awoke at 7.56am, with my departure time for Montreal set for 8am. Panicking, I grabbed everything together, and managed to make the bus thanks to the understanding of driver Heather. However, in the confusion I lost my second pair of sun glasses of the trip. The journey to Montreal saw us stop off once, as we visited the Thousand Islands, where there were surprisingly a thousand islands. It was also the place where the delightful Thousand Island Sauce originated from, a sauce I am particularly fond of, especially when combined with cucumber sticks. The islands also include the shortest international bridge in the world, as the islands pass from Canada to America, and a heart shaped island including a romantic castle built by a millionaire to show his love for his wife - who left him not soon after. After the tour, we headed to Montreal, the city with arguably the best night life in the country. We began by eating in a restaurant where an industrial sized plate of spaghetti was enjoyed for a bargain $3.99, before me and new acquaintance York fan Iain watch the highlights of England v Brazil. We headed to a club, where several vodka shots were taken, which somehow I got away without paying for. My lack of French was not having too many problems, and we ended the night in a tobacco cafe, where you can smoke shishas of anything that the place had in stock. This refreshing evening was rounded off when my lack of French did incur problems, as I managed to order a pitcher of beer for myself, which only cost $6, from which I squeezed around 4 pints out of. We then headed back to the hostel for a decent nights sleep, before the sixth week in Canada began with a trip to fine venue of Quebec City
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