Couch to couch

So I'm here. I'm alive. And I'm on a couch.

Toronto has welcomed me with open arms! To meet people and the city, I've been using the couchsurfing.org site - and I'm never looking back...

First to welcome me to the city with a cheeky grin and love of beer, was Julien - a laid-back guy from Corsica, seemingly attached to his mountain-wear jacket. So I was with 'the lads'- a Frenchman, Irishman, American and Canadian (there's got to be a joke in there somewhere) for the next four days. Where to begin - the pub of course!

Julien (left), Josh, Steven. THE LADS!

So that's where it all began, and what a start to the city! Julien, a fallen angel in my lost-confused-dazed anglo-head helped me find my feet, (and my beer). I've met some great people and hopefully made a friend or two, and I'm only 5 days in... I have a feeling I'm going to like it here!

Like a baby, everything I see is new. SENSORY OVERLOAD (though I have managed to resist putting unfamiliar objects in my mouth, so far (why do babies do that?)). The streets, like a logical maze, collide and stretch out infinitely. Downtown, swimming through Kensington market, a wave of colour and a heavy-base beat encroaches around me... then my nose tells me I'm in Chinatown and am bombarded with plastic street signs and cheap electrical shops. Next, I hit the Eaton Centre - a terrifying and infinite shopping centre which reaches down, underneath the feet of busy commuters, musicians, people with places to go. Bright lights, hypnotic music and lots of crap that really just shouldn't exist (who buys it all?)

So that sums up the first few days with Julien and the lads - not to mention Friday night (which somehow ended up very messily) and a breezy day at 'the Beaches' - a long stretch of lakeside coast with sand, sun and sandy shoes.

I'm now couchsurfing waves of kindness with Josee (and her cat, who as taken quite the liking, maybe a bit too much so, to me). It's a beautiful green sanctuary on a quiet suburban road. I can smell summer is waiting....