Toronto, Canada

So after a long stint I finally made it back to Canada. But, this didn't mean it was the end of my trip. The plan was to miss my connection and try to fly out the next day for free. So, you're probably wondering why the heck I even want to stopover in Toronto. Well, my new roomate Aislin from Toronto coincidentally has her birthday the day I arrived in Toronto. We were trying to plan out a way that I could stopover for cheap, meet her and party it up for her birthday. After a long bathroom break, step 1 was complete. Now to try to get a flight for the next day free of charge. After, talking to a bunch of representatives and being very persistent I was lucky enough to find a loop hole that allowed me to get a free stop over. Alright, mission accomplished!

Aislin's Dad was nice enough to give me a ride from the airport. I hung out with Aislin's parents for a bit then hit up a quick nap. I could've slept a lot longer but I wanted to hit up the Hockey Hall of Fame. How often am I going to be in Toronto? No red-eye flight will keep me away from my hockey. Especially after being deprived for almost 5 months.

It was totally worth it too. It's a really cool place. They had a special Montreal Canadiens exhibit, a trivia section that I kicked some 10 year old kids' asses at (Ya I did!), a shooting zone, goalie zone, video game spot and a whole bunch of sweet interactive places. Ya, I was like a kid in a candy store. I even got to take a photo with the Stanly Cup....well...the fake one...I went on the day of the Final Stanley Cup game. So, there was no disputing that. Definitely worth checking out though for all you guys going to Toronto.

I got back to Brampton by train and met my roomate Aislin for the first time. She was nice enough to pick me up at the train station, feed me pizza and booze when I got back to her place. Jeff and Ailsa, I think you made the right choice, haha! The party was good times. I met Aislin's friends and we played some hilarious drinking games. Ya, I guess these Ontarionians are half-decent partiers...

The next day Aislin gave me a ride to the airport and I was off to Vancouver...for real this time...I swear!

Bogota, Colombia

I did it! That was my last South American bus ride of the trip. No accidents, no killers ala. Greyhound passengers and no kidnapping. I'd say I got off pretty dang well. So, groggy as hell I caught the collectivo to the Cranky Croc hostel to stay for the night.

It took me about two hours to run into a guy that went to UVic. Man, what a small world. A group of us went to check out the Botero museum. Botero is arguably the most famous modern artist of today. He has a famous style of drawing voloptuous humans and animals with comically inporportianate body parts. The art is quite entertaining to view. We then grabbed some lunch and I went for a snooze to catch up on the sleep I didn't get on the bus.

That night we had some drinks at the hostel with the intention to go to Zona Rosa. However, we met some locals that said it would be dead there on a Monday night. How does this town not have 90's night!? So we stayed in the hostel the whole night and played some hilarious drinking games.

The next day I headed out to the salt cathedral north of Bogota with a girl I met in the hostel. I was expecting a salt looking cathedral above ground but it was actually a cathedral built in the old mines. Boy was I way off! It was quite the amazing sight. The mine was lined with the 14 steps of the crusification of Jesus. Each step had a interpretive abstraction usually beholding a unique form of the cross. Thank God we had a tour guide. Every little nook on the cross, rough texture, wavvy wall or misshaped rock had its own meaning. I usually lack an appreciation for art but this was amazing! After the 14 steps we were lead into a huge cathedral that was held up by the four pillars of Christianity. Literally. We saw the depiction of the birth of Christ, the ressurection of Christ and some amazing sculptures that were brought in from the old salt cathedral. What happened was 50 years ago a salt cathedral was built purely of salt. However, it was built in a place that rained a lot and you can imagine this deteriorated the building over the years. Eventually they had to evacuate the building. So, they decided to move the cathedral into the abandoned mine shafts below. Great idea because the new salt cathedral tour is truly amazing.

We didn't get back to the hostel till the later evening and I had to get to my couchsurfers' place. So off I went to catch a cab and find this place. My host was nice enough to hide a key for me so I could get inside. I didn't meet her till later in the night. She is a nice girl from Colombia who is also part of AIESEC. They're everywhere! She went on an exchange to India and knew English very well. We chatted for a bit and then I eventually passed out from exhuastion.

The next day I headed off to Usaquen to do some shopping. I've been holding off for a while so I wouldn't have to lug presents around. I also dropped by La Candalaria for some shopping as well. Then I was back to the hostel to watch the Colombia vs. Peru game. Surprise surprise, Colombia thumped Peru. So, of course we had to celebrate. We went to the Salsa place that I went to a bunch the first time I was in Bogota which is packed on Wednesdays. Another Canadian girl, Helene, and I drank up a storm with a little ninja action doused in. That was a good last night to cap off the South American trip.

It finally came, my last night in South America. I was leaving that night so I still had time to do some shopping, figure out some errands on the internet and say goodbye to everyone at the hostel. Before I knew it, nightfall came and I was cabbing to the airport for my flight back to Canada.

Wow, the trip went by so fast yet so slow. I couldn't believe it was over but I had done so much in that 4 and a half months. It felt weird to get in that plane but it was the right time to come back. Now I have to see if I can pull off a stop over for the night in Toronto by successfully missing my connection to Vancouver...stay tuned...