The last time I visited Canada was for a family reunion when I was about 11. My memories of Canada are of intense games of Dr. Mario on old school Nintendo, G.I. Joe battles with my cousins, and of course, it being very cold.
After recently visiting Toronto, my perception of Canada has definitely changed, all besides it still being very cold.
As an entrepreneur, I am always very aware of controlling costs in our company. This has its ups and downs. When I searched for hotels near the location for our photo shoot in Toronto, I was quite excited to find a hotel room for $80 a night relatively close to Downtown. Things sometimes, are cheap for a reason.
After getting in around 11 pm, I ventured out to find food. Being so late I had one option of a 24 hour diner a couple blocks away. As I walked down the street, I realized why my hotel was so cheap. On the opposite block of the hotel was a small entourage of women in high heels, primarily spandex pants, and fur coats. One can only assume what such a group might be doing near midnight on a street corner in sub-freezing temperatures. Sure enough, as I walked by, I was offered what I’ll only call as “companionship” for reasons of political correctness.
Declining the offer, I continued on my way to the restaurant. When I sat down, the person sitting next to me was none other than an incoherent homeless person, drinking coffee in an unsuccessful attempt to sober up. I finished my dinner and went home, and lay awake for a few more hours due to jet lag.
The next morning I had food poisoning, and made my way out to see the CN Tower, the world’s tallest building. The floor I visited was a towering 113 stories tall, and the elevator cruised upwards at 15 miles per hour. There was one section in the Tower where you could stand over glass plates 113 stories above ground. I am not a fan of heights, and I kept imagining what it would be like to fall 113 stories. I’ve included a couple shots from the tower below.
CN Tower Glass Floor
Later that day, we finished the photo, and my 36 hour trip in Canada ended. You may recall from my blog on June 8th, 2004 when I booked a cheap hotel in Manhattan that was located next to the train yards and a Taxi cab chop shop.
The moral of the story is, sometimes you get what you pay for.
