Originally I had planned to walk to the train station (~1 mile), take the train into the city, then take the bus to the airport. This would, in all, take about 1.5-2 hours from start to finish. I wasn't very excited about the prospect of walking through town in the dark at 4:30 in the morning, though... but then I remembered that my sister is home from school right now and bored out of her mind, and she would absolutely love the opportunity to get out for a bit. I worked it out with her that if she drove me to the airport on Friday and picked me up Monday evening, she could stay at my apartment with her girlfriend all weekend and I'd give her a little $$ for gas and tolls. It ended up working out extremely well for all parties involved-- I got a fast, safe, and inexpensive ride to the airport, my fish were cared for, the apartment was looked after, and my sister got to spend time with her girlfriend away from the prying and judgmental eyes of my mother. She was delighted, and I have to say, I have never had an easier time getting to or from an airport (and I have taken MANY flights!).
I arrived in Toronto around 11am on Friday after being delayed by about 45 minutes. Customs was quick and easy and they sent me on my way after taking my form without asking me a single question. My SO was so excited to see me and it made me so happy. We stopped at a Tim Hortons on the way back to his town, which was shockingly reminiscent of a Dunkin Donuts, save for the lunch menu. DD is very popular in the region of the US that I'm from, so in my mind, Tim's will always be a DD equivalent.
We went back to his house, where I met his dog, Roxy, and his dad, who had just gotten home a little before we did. His dog is very sweet and one of the calmest small dogs I've ever seen. I got my things settled and we went to his room and just hung out, played animal crossing, and cuddled. We thought we had plenty of time to go grocery shopping and prepare dinner for his family... until we realized it was already 5pm (where did the time go?!) and his mom would be home in less than an hour! We left for the grocery store as quickly as we could, but his mom was already home by the time we got back. Thankfully, she was very understanding and offered for us to go out to dinner, and we could make dinner Saturday night instead. It's a good thing, too-- we forgot to get rice.
Saturday morning we decided to go out to Sarnia and Point Edward, where Lake Huron and the St. Clair river meet. The water is SO BLUE!!! I have never seen a river that blue! I guess mainly it's because I'm used to the Long Island sound and the Hudson river, but good god, look at that color! It's almost Mediterranean.
We walked around the point and looked at the monuments, then walked along the shore for a bit while we talked about the water system and life in general. Brendan worked for the St. Clair region conservation authority for a while, so he was explaining some of the work that they'd done in the area and telling me about the fish in the waters there. Naturally, he climbed down to water level to test the water temperature.
Brendan thought it was hilarious when a barge passing by honked its horn and scared the daylights out of me.After we finished our walk, we went back to the parking lot, where there were a couple fry trucks out for the lunch crowd. Brendan asked me if I wanted fries (he says they're really, really good) or if I wanted to go to Purdy's for lunch. How could I miss an opportunity for either? We settled on sharing a small poutine (my FIRST poutine) from the fry trucks and then heading to Purdy's for some fish.
Purdy's offered two kinds of fish-- perch and pickerel. Now, a long time ago, my mom insisted that I was having an allergic reaction to the fish when we had Perch for dinner one night and I felt like I had a bone stuck in my throat. Since then, I haven't had the opportunity to test to see if I was actually allergic to it, so I figured hey, now's the time! Brendan got the perch and I got the pickerel, and I tried a piece of his fish to see if anything happened (spoiler alert: nothing happened; I was right and it was definitely just a piece of bone or something). Good to get that out of the way, I guess. The perch was way better than the pickerel and I'm sad that I didn't just get it, too. Next time, I guess.
Around this time, Brendan got a phone call from the local grocery store where he had applied to work a few weeks ago. He let it go to voicemail, but when we got back to the car, he called back and found out they'd accepted him for the position and they gave him details on starting. Unfortunately, they wanted him to come in for orientation on Sunday, but orientation would take up most of the day and he didn't want to sacrifice the little time he had with me, even though we wouldn't be doing a lot on Sunday. He told them he'd be out of town and they said they'd arrange another in about two weeks (it's been two weeks-- they still haven't, though they keep saying they will). I feel a little guilty about it, but it's part-time work, and he'd actually be making less money from working than he'd make just staying on employment insurance a little longer, so in a way, it's worked out.
Saturday evening we made dinner (got rice on the way out to Sarnia), which I regrettably took no photos of. We made cedar smoked salmon marinaded in a maple syrup/mustard mix with onions. Brendan asked me to cut the onions... turns out I've never actually cut an onion (I don't eat onions, myself) and I probably did the worst job he's ever seen while crying like every person who's ever cut an onion does. But I did it, and it worked, and dinner was prepared. We had the wine that we bought back in Watkins Glen with dinner-- it paired excellently.
Side note time, I am so thankful that Brendan enjoys cooking. My family has never been very good at cooking and I lack a lot of culinary skills that I should probably have. I don't like making complex meals for myself since I live alone, so I've never felt the need to really push myself to learn. Add to this that I'm a picky eater and I am just not very good at cooking. Brendan, on the other hand, is great at meal planning and lets me watch while he basically cooks the whole meal, even though he says we made it "together." He is so very clearly more adept than I am, and I appreciate that he takes the time to put together meals that he knows everyone will enjoy.
We did, however, also prepare some dessert (before dinner-- needed to refrigerate for a couple of hours), and I am much better at baking and dessert prep thank cooking. This was my time to shine. We made a chocolate mousse with oreo crumbles and Baileys Irish cream. It was absolutely delicious! I could never do this with my family, as my mom does not eat sugar and neither of my parents consume alcohol. It was really nice to be able to make something so delectable.
That evening, we all went outside and Brendan built a fire. We just sat around chatting with each other while Brendan and his mom kept the fire going. I got bit a number of times, but this is unavoidable for me... I am a mosquito magnet. We stayed out until the June bugs started clumsily buzzing around.
Sunday morning, Brendan's mom made breakfast for us and left for church with his dad. We spent some quality time together for a while before getting ready to go out to London to see the mall and stop at Roots (Canadian clothing company). After we walked through the mall, he took me to my first Nando's experience so that now I can tell all my UK friends I've had cheeky Nando's with the lad. The rest of Sunday was mostly just relaxing, cuddling, napping, and watching things. Brendan spent some time showing me his collection of mussel shells and explaining the differences between each and how they identify some of them.
Monday was my last day in Canada, so we took the opportunity to drive out to Toronto and see some of the city. We parked in one of the airport lots for $20 so that I'd be able to get my bags and get to the airport easily later that day. We went to the CN tower first, which was really cool-- reminded me of what they've done with the new one world trade center. Basically, you go up a really fast elevator and you get some really incredible views of the city. They also had a bit that had a glass floor where you could see down the tower to the ground-- Brendan absolutely refused to go on it, but I bravely (ha) walked out onto it while holding his hand.
After that, it was about noon, so we went to get lunch. I just wanted something inexpensive and simple, so I elected for the Subway across the street. I have to tell you: when we went into the Subway, it was bright, sunny, and lovely weather. Brendan asked me whether I wanted to eat inside or outside-- I elected for outside since it was such a nice day. 5 minutes later when we walked outside with our food, it was pouring rain and thundering outside. We were both like what?! Thankfully the patio was under an awning and we were able to eat our lunch without getting wet. The rain let up pretty quickly and we were able to head to the aquarium in the sunshine again once we finished.
The aquarium was really great, and we had lots of fun looking at all the different sea creatures. The first exhibit, of course, was about the Great Lakes, and Brendan spent the first portion of it pointing out all the fish he could identify (which was most of them). The rest of the exhibit focused on more exotic fish, and we got some really neat pictures of them.
I don't remember what day it was-- I think it was Saturday morning-- but at one point we were just cuddling together and talking about our lives. It felt really good to be affectionate and talk so openly, kindly, and freely with one another while being that close. That's when he told me he loved me, and I was so happy that he finally said it to me. What a perfect time to tell me.
(I took this picture in the CN tower-- the man in the corner kept moving INto the picture and not out of it, so eventually I just said fuck it and took the picture. Now it's Brendan's favorite picture of us.)
I'm scheduled to go back up again at the end of this month, so I'll be in Canada for Canada day (July 1st) and US Independence Day (July 4th). Canada is turning 150 this year, so they've got tons of great Canada merchandise out in most stores (I bought a lovely set of glasses while I was there, each with a different Canada 150 logo on it). We're planning on celebrating both holidays in the most outrageous fashion we can, so look forward to pics from that! Hopefully it's not too hot so we won't be dying in the heat. :P
SO glad he told you he loved you ♥