Gina dreams of running away

Last Friday morning Bellan and I set out for Toronto, the much loathed city by the locals around here.

We arrived by bus just afternoon, headed to the place we were staying, dropped off our bags, and headed back out to Yorkdale mall. First on the agenda was lunch, because we'd have to eat so far that day was licorice nibs, Coke, and a slice of turkey. I ended up buying two pairs of shoes, a few things from Smart Set and H&M, and some shirts and coat at Old Navy for Bellan. From the mall we went to the ROM, which was a bit of a disappointment. Half of the exhibits were closed because of renovations, and we were just too tired to care. We headed back to Anne's [where we were staying], chatted for a bit then headed out for dinner at a great little pub called the Slippery Boot. If you ever come across this gem of a place while in TO, eat there! I had some pest penne chicken was was excellent, and Bellan had apparently had the best wings ever.

Saturday we were on the go, go! go! yet again, heading down to Queen street to meet his friend Jamie and wandering around. I went to my first real live comic shop, where I picked up a few issues of Bat Girl, and the latest Manhunter. After some fortification of some street meat [street non-meat for moi], we went to the Eaton Centre and bought some caramel popcorn from Kernels. Mmm, caramel popcorn. Saturday evening was spent at my oldest and lushiest friend Chiara and her boyfriend Richard's place, where we had an excellent dinner and proceeded to get rather drunk and eat pie while watching Iron Chef. Around 11 Bellan and I decided it was time for us to depart, so all four of us walked to the subway stop where Chiara started crying and wailing about how much she missed me. Of course, this lead to me crying and wailing, while poor Bellan and Rich stood there awkwardly. Once we were safely back at Anne's, we ordered some pizza and watched more Food Network before hitting the sack.

Sunday morning was spent wandering IKEA with Anne, looking at furniture we will [hopefully] someday own. Sunday afternoon was lowkey, sitting around flipping through the 900 digital cable channels on the ol' 52" wide screen tv, before making a delightful dinner of barbecued salmon steaks and talapia with veggies. We weren't sure it was done quite right, but neither of us is dead so I guess it was a-okay. We went out for coffee, watched a movie, and went to bed.

Monday we forced ourselves to get up early, and went down to Queen street one last time for another trip to the comic shop and a last meal of street/street-non meat. We went back to Anne's one last time, made sure we had all of our stuff, and headed downtown to the bus station.

It was an excellent weekend all around. I forgot about the pressures and stresses of work, forgot about how much I hate Owen Sound, forgot about my parents, and just enjoyed myself. This weekend just really cemented how much we want to move out, and someday move to a bigger city.

When's my next vacation? I need another.