Peace at last

Approaching six months in Canada, my travels have now covered over 5000 miles, eight American states, seven different months, five Canadian provinces and two apartments.

Finally, the tally of apartments has increased to two. I moved into my Victoria Drive room on Wednesday night, and lapped up the mixture of double-bed, laptop desk, cable television and private kitchen. That first evening, I took a quick exploration trip along Commercial Drive.

I had heard of the road, which is notorious for its restaurants and friendly, edgy bars. But not many of the travellers (from the hostel I stayed in, anyway) make the trip out to see it. Strolling along the street, just browsing, and looking for the supermarket, I was excited to see the places I could be frequenting once I’m more settled into apartment life.

With the warm weather, balconies were buzzing with couples, groups of friends and rushing waitresses. Along the railings, blue and red fairy lights created a relaxed ambiance. This is a place I could get used to.

On Friday night, Conor (from SWAP and Sunderland University) and I took a stroll along 'The Drive', looking for some decent drinking houses. After a brief foray into an Irish pub near Commercial and Broadway, we ended up in the Libra Room, a classy, funky bar closer to my end of the street.

A three-piece band was set up next to the window, playing background jazz, minus any vocals. It created a fantastic atmosphere for the relatively small area. A pyramid behind the square bar to the back displayed the vast array of spirits on offer, and simple, lighted blocks of green, blue, yellow and red added some character to the wall.

We ended up staying for the remainder of the night, before I returned home to my gloriously comfortable pad. An early start for Microsoft Excel training at work the next morning wasn't the perfect requirement for my aching body. I made it, with tired eyes and dry lips, and learned a vast amount of knowledge which can come in handy for my savings plans that I need to think about today.

Yesterday, Jen arrived from Montreal, via Vermont and Seattle. In the evening she, Tom and I took a visit back to our favourite Granville Irish pub, the Lennox. I recall we spent most of the night talking about topics as random and diverse as 1980s cartoons, the Falklands war (which began in 1982. I was wrong, apologies to Tom. You win, you are the king etc. etc.), the Boston Red Sox and the 'Grouse Grind'.

Today I enjoyed my first lie-in for three weeks. The fact that my body had become attuned to rising before 9:00am was quite annoying but, out of stubbornness, I remained in my bed until 10:30am before emerging.

I am relishing this lazy day, and am determined to keep relishing it, with minimum action, until I go to see 'Ironman' at the cinema later. Ah, the relief.