This city is insane … and I love it!

I truly love where I live. Toronto is definitely my kind of city. It has character, quirky bits, and distinct neighbourhoods. It feels real. Toronto and I suit each other just fine. Ok so our Mayor may or may not be a crack addict. And he may have gone on record as saying that this scandal is “good for the city”! But in Toronto as long as the coffee is flowing, the roads are more construction than surface and our sports teams losing, everything is business as normal.

I walk along the streets of my adopted home seeing things that I don’t give a second glance but cause visitors to look twice. I walk through the throngs of people with blue, red or green hair* wearing ripped denim or designer suits; business attire with sneakers or paint covered construction overalls with a $600 winter jacket.  Carrying lunch pails, designer purses or small dogs! The variations are endless.

Last week I was overtaken by two people on unicycles, while I was walking home.   Yesterday someone got on the street car carryng half a bicycle and a step ladder. At lunch I walk through the usual bunch of crazy-but-harmless people who call out randomly at anyone passing by. The bible bashing guy who can be permanently found on the corner outside the Eaton centre makes you jump out of your skin the first time he shouts in your direction but he’s more amusing than dangerous.  It’s always fun to take visitors past him without warning them. 

I go to my regular coffee shop in the morning and the staff knows what I want as soon as I walk in. My usual sandwich shop gets worried if they don’t see me that week.  I feel that I belong here, something I never felt in the UK.  My home town in England is, umm, an interesting place to say the least and quite frankly we never really got on.  I left at the age of 18 for university and didn’t look back.

Toronto is just a little bit insane and that’s probably why we get on so well.

 

* I don’t judge, Mine was pink for a while.