4th – 7th – Post race and return home

There was a diner only a few streets away from the hotel so that was the obvious choice for dinner after the run. Why walk further than absolutely necessary when your legs have a hard time cooperating?

The following two days I spent being a tourist and visited the National History Museum and the Bronx Zoo. I had visited the National History Museum before but it’s quite extensive so I wanted to visit it again and maybe check up on things I may have missed the last time. And dinosaurs are always fun looking at. 

Stegosaurus.

Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The Bronx Zoo was quite the experience; it’s basically a very large park in which they have installed multiple large cages or fenced areas where most animals have a lot of space to move around in (relative to the fact it’s a zoo). I think the only thing I had a real issue with was the collection of semi-exotic birds outside that were placed in fairly small cages. I feel like every zoo has a setup like this, regardless of where you are. It was otherwise nice to see the seemingly good conditions the animals were living in. Unfortunately this also meant you had to do a lot of walking to get around – minor unfortunate downside of an otherwise good experience. There is always the “eek” about having animals in cages for our entertainment, but if you do it this was the way to do so.

They had this wheel of fortune thing to show what you could experience as a penguin. 

For a child friendly zoo, some of these are very dark. I loved it.

 

 An excellent visual way of showing the fragile life of 100 robins. 100 eggs, 74 hatchlings, 52 fledglings and 10 adults. 

And descriptions for why those gone disappeared (cold, eaten, etc.).

I spent more than 5 hours at the zoo and when they closed at 1630 I had to rush the last parts before leaving. It was a ½ hour ride with the subway from the hotel, and leaving the zoo I took the subway south for an hour ending up in Brooklyn to check out the night views of Manhattan before crossing Brooklyn bridge with all the other tourists having the same idea as me.

 

Dinner at Katz's Delicatessen: a Reuben sandwich. Even better than it looks!

A place known by most without knowing it. "I want what she's having" should give you a hint.

The Wednesday was the last day in the city with a flight out in the late afternoon. I didn’t want to plan much so I did a late checkout from the hotel, went down to the pizza place further down the street and used my last cash on a slice and soda, before having a walk around midtown and ending up back and Penn station and returning to the airport. Got there a bit earlier than planned – but better too early than a bit late – so I hung out in the lounge seeing it slowly completely fill until my departure. Wasn’t such a bad thing getting there early after all.

The flight home went well and arrived back the next day in the early morning, had a long nap and finished off the day with a port tasting. I slept very well that night. Overall this had been a nice trip back to New York and running the marathon there again, but I do not expect to return again for that purpose. I would rather spend my money and time on different destinations, and while I didn’t reach the goal of getting a sub-4 hour run I did improve my time enough to get my average down below 4 hours. And that was good enough for me.

Full album can be seen here.

3rd of November – New York marathon

The alarm went off at 0430 and I met up with a couple of people in the hotel reception and left at 0520 to go to the pickup location where we got onto a bus that took us to the starting area. As opposed to Boston they used tourist busses and not school busses so there was plenty of leg room available for the 1½ hour drive. It wasn’t because it was far away but the last half hour we were stuck in a queue of busses letting runners off. Getting there around 0730 meant there was quite the wait until my wave started at 1020. The wait time was spent walking around in the huge starting area trying to stay warm; while the temps would be around 10-12 degrees during the run it was barely half that as long as you weren’t standing in the wind, so a lot of the time was spent trying to find a place where you’d be in the sun but out of the wind – but when you found a spot like that it was quite nice. There were free handouts of bagels, coffee, teas, water and energy drinks. The New York marathon is the one I have experienced with the most of such things and plenty of similarly large runs would be very welcome to feel inspired by this.

At 0945 the corrals were opened, 15 minutes later they were closed again and a few moments later we were all channeled from the corrals forward to the starting line. With 5 starting waves there would be an average of app. 11.000 people getting ready to run at this moment.

Crossing the Verrazzano bridge.

With the national anthem sung (of not for that and all the flags, how would we even know we were in the US?) we were finally let go at 1020. We started by leaving the first borough (Long Island) by crossing the Verrazzano bridge from where we had an excellent clear view of the south end of Manhattan. The was a slight cold breeze but barely a cloud, so conditions were nice. After the bridge we passed a 2-mile sign and I couldn’t help myself proclaiming “don’t worry – only 24 miles to go!”. The woman running next to me gave me a look that showed without a doubt that she was not nearly as enthused by that comment as I was. Tough crowd.

Crossing the bridge we entered Brooklyn and from there it was mostly just a straight line north, passing through Queens, before crossing Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. Even if there was a unitedness in the boroughs themselves, styles, visual expressions and the level of support changed on an almost street by street basis. It was constantly changing and plenty for a runner to look at and take in, especially for someone who wasn’t local, but what they all had in common was at times overwhelming support for the runners.

With few exceptions there were water stations at every mile which meant it was easy skipping half. This seemed to be a common theme among the runners, and it also helped take some of the pressure off the stations with the numerous participants. I noticed in the beginning that the stations seemed quite short relative to how many people ran, but considering most people skipped a few here and there it made sense. Towards the end the temperatures had risen enough that getting a sip of water at every station seemed justified (and appreciated), but at least the humidity never got to the level as it had been on Friday morning. That would have been horrible.

Reaching Manhattan we were met by a wall of noise. A mile on the bridge made you get used to the silence except for the footsteps, but reaching 1st avenue you were met with countless loud spectators welcoming us to Manhattan – an almost shocking experience if you weren’t prepared for it. Running up 1st avenue all the way to the Bronx is rough; mostly mentally because you can see very far ahead and it’s hard to ignore the fact that you can see an incline almost all the way. It isn’t steep at all and you probably wouldn’t feel it if you couldn’t see it under normal circumstances, but it just keeps going forever. You just have to dig down, grab the occasional water and let the support and routine carry you forward. You crossed the 25km mark on the middle of Queensboro Bridge so there was still a bit to go from here.

Crossing the bridge back into Manhattan after the Bronx.

Reaching the Bronx we basically did a few miles large 180 degree turn before returning to Manhattan where we now were running south, reaching Central Park and running through the southern part of it, ran along the south end, coming through Columbus Circle before reentering the park and running the last 400 meters before crossing the finish line.

Running through Central Park 2km and change before the finish.

Reaching the finish line.

From there there was still a bit of walking left to get our medals, snacks and ponchos before being able to find an exit and leave the finishing area. From the finish line and to leaving was probably a few kilometers and getting to the hotel was another 2ish kilometers. I could have taken the subway but that would have required me to walk on stairs, and in this case I preferred having to walk a bit more instead. Back at the hotel I had a shower followed by collapsing onto the bed. It felt good not doing much for a few hours.

Anyways, numbers! I finished in 4:03:14. So my usual goal of sub-4 hours wasn’t met, but to be honest this wasn’t expected, either. But it does mean that I improved my time from the last time I ran New York with more than 8 minutes which was nice. This also means that the average finish time for my 6 completed marathon majors is 3:59:28 which is an extra bonus. I can’t be disappointed with that. I ended up finishing as 20141 out of 55530 overall (top 36,27%), 14304 out of 30702 men (top 46,59%) and 2147 out of 4287 in M40-44 (top 50,08%). Also 57 out of 111 Danes (top 51,35%). Overall a result I am happy with. The average man ran it in 4:17:48 and average woman in 4:48:29. The fastest was a Dutch guy who did it in 2:07:39, the slowest an American woman in 11:47:55, youngest a Danish 18 years old women and oldest an 88 years old New Zealander man.

30th October – 2nd of November – Return to the Apple

As expected the flight to New York went without a hitch. We left on time at 1300 and arrived at Newark a few minutes early around 1630. I’ve heard of less than flattering stories about the airport but within 25 minutes after leaving the plane I was standing out in the arrival hall, half an hour later I had located the airport train and arrived at the train station, and from there I grabbed a train to Manhattan Penn Station from where I walked to the hotel where I checked in at 1800. The entire process ended up being much smoother and problem free than I had mentally planned for.

On my first full day in the city I went to the runners’ expo to pick up my bib and race kit. As usual it was big and extensive. It was quick to pick up my stuff and afterwards I spent some time meandering among the numerous booths selling various running-related (and less running-related things, too). It’s always weird seeing people selling jewelry and old-fashioned watches at a runners’ expo. 

My name on the World Marathon Majors list!

From there I had a walk around in Central park before moving south and wandering somewhat aimlessly. I ended up having dinner at a small pizza place with way too much cheese on the pizza, so I decided to spend the next 1½ hours walking back to the hotel instead of taking the subway, just to feel not too bad about having that dinner. But reaching 6th avenue I was stopped in my tracks as the street being completely blocked off due to the annual Halloween parade that was about to start. I decided to stand and wait to have a watch instead of trying to find a way around – something that would be near impossible as there were no bridges across the avenue so the only other option would be to take the subway. It was 2 hours of floats with a bit too much spacing in between so there was a fair bit of waiting involved. I was glad I ended up seeing it, but it also felt like if I had missed it, it wouldn’t have been the greatest tragedy. 

The following morning at 0700 a small group from the travel group at the hotel did a morning run to the finish area in Central Park and a short detour into the park to see the Lennon memorial before returning to the hotel. A nice 7km run – but at this time of day it was already 20 degrees and filthily humid. Yesterday it reached 27ish and today seems to end up being similar. Fortunately the humidity seemed to have topped in the early morning.

The day was spent getting all the way south down to and around the 9/11 memorial, circling the south part of Manhattan before wandering back north towards the hotel along the Hudson River. Dinner was had at a local smash burger place before visiting Edge – a new panorama view at 101st floor located next to and on top of Hudson Yards. Almost in the middle between the financial district down town and south end of Central Park giving a good view of both clusters of tall buildings. The platform was outside with 3ish meter tall glass walls but with limited reflections so everything considered the conditions weren’t bad. I did get pretty stressed out by people leaning up against the glass. I know they are durable and stable, but why tempt fate like that?

The following day, Saturday, I walked along the Hudson River before reaching the north end of the High Line which I went onto and followed to its south end. A subway line now closed made into a green walking path at around 3rd floor. With the weather as it was and leaves still on the trees it was a really nice walk in spite of the crowds who had gotten the same idea. I recall doing this on my previous visits, so I’m not winning any points for originality, but this is probably the greenest walk I’ve had on the line.

I ended up at the 9/11 memorial again and this time I visited the Oculus – a modern building that’s a mall and subway station. Style-wise it doesn’t feel like New York at all; bright, white and clean – almost clinically so. Felt more like something you’d see in an oil state where you build flashy buildings. Absolutely no personality at all. 

 The Oculus.

 The Oculus from the inside. Looks fancy and all, but does fit with the surrounding buildings, I think.

 

For dinner I visited a restaurant in Little Italy and arriving at 1800 for my reservation it was complete mayhem. But waiting for a bit I got my table and getting seated things seemed to settle down a bit. Until when I was about to finish my dinner where a large party was seated next to me. I quickly finished up, paid and got out of there and returned to the hotel in an attempt to have an early night before the run tomorrow.

9th – 11th – Post race and going home

Having arrived back at the hotel and showered (thankfully I didn’t have a bathtub so I could just walk into the shower without having to lift my legs) I splayed out on the bed and moved as little as possible until it was time for dinner. I waddled along until I arrived at a restaurant where I could get (another) Chicago style pizza. Disgustingly beautiful. While the previous pizza I had had been 6 inches and for one, they didn’t have anything smaller than 12 inches here. Oh, well, the sacrifices you must endure on vacation. Unfortunately this was a challenge I couldn’t handle and had to leave a quarter of it. And I even skipped dessert! 

Returning to the hotel I managed to arrange a late checkout which could not be any later than noon. This meant that I’d still have time to kill before returning to the airport to catch my flight at 2200, and I wasn’t planning on spending most of the afternoon at the airport. 

Cars lining up for the Columbus Day parade.

Leaving the hotel at noon I deposited my bag and hobbled about for a few hours around town without any real purpose other than trying to get my legs moving normally again. I ended up going back to the hotel and spend an hour in the reception relaxing before retrieving my bag and leaving for the airport.

Check-in was quick and efficient but security not so much. Long queue and only two security stations tested your patience, but finally getting through the lounge turned out to be located literally across the hall so that was easy to find. It was probably the smallest lounge I have ever been in a very limited selection of food, and if you had to use the toilet you had to leave and find one somewhere else in the airport.

Apart from that everything went smooth – we took off on time, the flight was uneventful and arriving in Copenhagen arrival was perfectly timed with the trains so I was back home only 1,5 hours later.

Full album can be see here.

9th – Chicago marathon

My alarm went off at 0530 (I do this voluntarily…) but it was made easier by me waking up a few minutes before. I stumbled about for a bit and got ready – the temps were just a few degrees above 0 but I decided to skip long pants over my shorts and settled with a shirt and jacket to stay warm. Walking the 20 minutes to the starting area I found my choice of clothing wasn’t completely off, though my legs did notice the lack of covering.

I had expected it to be similar to the starting area for the New York marathon where you could get snacks, light food and various drinks (and dogs to pet!), but there was just water filling stations, the bag check tents and porta potties. Considering the size of the arrangement it just seemed a bit lazy to not have anything. Though I do seem to remember the NY starting area being bigger so they had room for more, I still think there’d be room for various booths here. Oh, well.

Around 0700 it was time to get rid of my warm clothes and hand in my bag, and wearing only my running shorts and t-shirt I really got to feel this morning temperature. Definitely close to freezing. I got stuck in the queue to a porta potty for 20 minutes (why is it that outdoor urinals are never used in the US? Is it really such a taboo to pee even if no one’s able to see your penis?! If you take out your penis to pee and nobody sees it, is it still sexual assault?).

After the long and cold wait I shuffled over to my starting corral and realized with absolute – sarcastic – joy that the pacers were carrying a small sign on a stick in their hand. So also here you completely lost sight of the pacers only a few meters away, and none of them were able to hold their arm out to keep the sign elevated for even a short while before the sign was swinging all over the place out of sight. The corral closed at 0745 and as the first wave were sent off we were slowly shuffled forward until it was our turn to stand at the starting line. And, as scheduled, at 0800 we were sent off.

The first 5km was spent going a bit back and forth in the center of the city before heading north, passing among other things the zoo. At the 8 mile mark (app. 13km) we did a u-turn and returned towards the center where we hit the mid-way point before turning west, another u-turn at around 25km with a few kilometers return before turning south until just past the 37km mark where we once again turned around and headed back north, into the center and finishing in the opposite end of the park from where we started, another marathon done.

Photo by MarathonFoto.

While it was cold waiting for the run to start it was clear it had already started heating up at that point (either that or I was slowly loosing all sensation in my body from the cold) making it more comfortable standing around. After the start it took a few hours for the temps to reach around 15-17°C making the entire thing much more bearable. It was also quite windy throughout the run, and while the buildings shielded us from the worst part, when we did get hit directly by it, it lowered the temperatures quite significantly.

Photo by MarathonFoto.

As with the previous runs in the US the support along the way was impressive for the majority of the course. There were parts where we ran “alone”, but when people were lined up there was a lot of energy among them. And I bet there will be a few worn-out vocal cords tomorrow; I’m impressed by the volume some of them were able to produce! A lot of great encouraging posters: “Blisters are braille for awesome”, “At least you’re not at work”, “World’s worst parade” and “You have stamina – call me!”. The latter I saw first fairly early on and having not seen that poster before I instinctively gave the girl (young woman?) holding a quick smile – and passing her and her friend I heard a shy giggling and “did you see that guy??”. Short interactions with the onlookers can be fun.

Photo by MarathonFoto.

There was also multiple posters warning against trusting farts during the run and puckering up instead. Last turn before the finish line, 400m to go, I gained on someone who was running funny. Which, for the record, a lot of people were doing at this point. Having noticed him and returned to my normal empty “who’s idea was this please let it be over soon”-gaze my mind started churning; “he’s struggling hard, legs also covered in mud, wait – when did we run through mud, that isn’t… sniff-sniff… that isn’t mud at all!”. Poor guy. Didn’t pay attention to the posters. I just hope it had only happened recently.

Glad it was over.

Photo by MarathonFoto.

I crossed the finish line in 3:58:02. This put me as no. 14033 out of 39301 total (top 35,71%), 9712 out of 20844 men (top 46,59%) and 1796 out of 3488 M4044 (top 51,49%). For Danish runners I came in 55 out of 101 total (top 54,46%), 46 out of 78 men (top 58,97%) and 9 out of 15 M4044 (top 60%). I had hoped for a new PR (sub-3:55:34) considering the flat course but at around 25-30km it was as if my body started realizing what it was being put through and started complaining so I was suddenly facing a massive mental hurdle. Combined with the two half marathons 1 and 3 weeks ago (the latter being a new PR)  I was happy with getting in below 4 hours. But crossing the finish line everything below my waist just felt like overcooked noodles. A few steps past the line I had slowed down and started zig-zagging, having to lean against a fence to not topple over. A volunteer came over and grabbed my arm – I reassured her I was ok but just needed a moment to recover, thinking that she would tell me to sit down. Instead she reached into her pocket and grabbed a water bottle which she shoved into my hand and ordered me to drink. Apparently I was pretty thirsty – it disappeared in only a few gulps. The water, that is, not the bottle.

I waddled slowly on, collected drinks, snacks and my medal before I lined up to get my bag. From there I slowly started towards my hotel, wincing every time I was faced with a curb or even worse: stairs. It took almost two hours for me to be back in my hotel room after crossing the finish line, a walk that under normal circumstances would probably have taken half an hour or so. 

The slower pace was definitely because of traffic and the large crowds making it hard to move around.

Definitely.

8th – Chicago 5k

The following morning started off with the official 5k run at 0730 from the Millennium Park and around the loop in the center. Meant as a social run as a warmup for tomorrow’s marathon there is no reason to push yourself in any way. The weather was nice but cold, and it stayed dry with only a breeze. Quite nice conditions everything considered. App 7300 runners participated and the fastest ran it in app. 15 minutes. I ended up finishing in 25:48, putting me as 1072 out of 7115 overall (top 15,01%), 814 out of 3455 men (top 23,56%) and 140 out of 594 in M4044 (top 23,57%). I obviously didn’t catch the part where it wasn’t a competitive run – it probably wouldn’t have hurt to relax a bit along the way. Oh, well – it’s nice getting a good result, and it was only a 5k after all. Crossing the finish line you were handed drinks and snacks, and to my surprise you were also handed a medal. I did not see that latter part coming!

Photo by MarathonFoto.

After having returned to the hotel for a shower I went out for breakfast. Following that I decided to just visit the Institute of Art, apparently a very famous and large museum at the park that has a large variety of stuff. And yes – from the old classics from Europe (and especially the Netherlands) including a lot by Monet to modern stuff that at best could be defined as “odd”. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand modern art. A rock cut into three pieces. It was a nice Japanese rock, but apparently the artistry was through the roof because you could “see how beautiful the pieces are as how they fit perfectly together”. Or the self portrait that was just a pile of sweets. “Optimal amount: 175lb”. Or the self portrait “White acrylic paint on wall”. The wall was white. There was no difference between the color of the wall and the paint, so the resulting “art” was basically just a blank wall. The a collection of statues that each were accompanied by three questions that the artists had answered to explain their creations. One of them a wiggly shape forming a circle and the question was “Is it wiggly or circular” (which one could say is a reasonable question) but the answer was “The onlooker does not know what they are looking at. But it is grounded like they are.”. And the rest were equally if not even more out there. I couldn’t help but think they were high on their own supply. Maybe I wasn’t high enough? A more reasonable explanation (in my mind) is that they are having a bet among themselves trying to see who can come up with the most outrageous idea and still manage to sell it as “art”. 

Or maybe I just don’t understand modern art. 

The good weather brings everyone out to the Bean.

After a somewhat confusing visit to the museum I returned to the hotel where I relaxed until dinner. Fastest service ever. Arrived at 1800 and left 45 minutes later after having both lasagna and tiramisu. I can be an efficient eater when I want to, I admit, but it was the wait time for the food that was the shocking part – 2 minutes was the longest I had to wait at any time throughout the meal. And the food was genuinely good and didn’t seem rushed. 

6th – 7th – Chicago pre-race(s)

Slightly jetlagged I woke up before the alarm went off, though at that point I had had more than 10 hours of sleep, so one could argue it was time to go.

Leaving the hotel I found my way to Millennium Park to figure out how long it would take to get to the starting area on Sunday, and from there slowly made my way to the runner’s expo. Walking the main concourse in the massively huge facility I passed multiple ridiculously large halls (several of them were larger than the hall at Royal Arena in Copenhagen) before crossing a walk bridge into an equally large building where the expo was held.

When I arrived there were multiple long queues to get in and they didn’t move at all. It took me a moment to realize that today, on the first day of the expo, they didn’t open until 1100 and I arrived maybe 10 minutes before that. When they did open the queues started moving at a decent pace which effectively funneled people through security before being directed to the booth that had your bib. After having received my bib I also picked up my kit for the 5k morning run on the day before the marathon before entering the expo hall. Here I picked up the marathon kit (which contained my t-shirt and mostly just vouchers) and had a walk around looking at the booths of various more or less running-relevant stuff. There was nothing really interesting, though I did leave with two boxes of energy bars which were pretty much tossed at me when passing by the booth.

The Bean.

Walking the waterfront.

Leaving the expo I wandered through Chinatown before circling around and ended up back in Millennium Park and seeing The Bean (I am a tourist after all). And while the official name is Cloud Gate everybody calls it The Bean, and seeing it that name makes perfect sense. Crossing through The Loop and walking the Chicago Riverwalk brought me to the waterfront where I continued a bit north before crossing through Millennium park and returning to the hotel. Perfect timing, as it had just started raining when I entered the building. A few hours later I left for dinner, something I had been looking forward to; Chicago style pizza. It’s basically a cheese pie with pizza toppings, so when you cut it the melted cheese, while still relatively firm, lightly oozes out. For dessert I had a cookie which ended up bigger than I would ever been able to imagine. It turned out it was made in a individual-size pizza pan (6 inches), filled up the pan and topped with ice cream and whipped cream. Just like the pizza it was disgustingly obscene and I loved every single bite of it. And I am pretty sure it’ll prevent me from getting a sub-4 hour time on Sunday.

Do you want some pizza with that cheese?

When leaving the hotel the following morning I went to grab breakfast nearby; 2 pancakes, sausages and eggs before heading north. My plan was to go along the waterfront but the weather made that a miserable idea. It had gotten windy from east-ish and it varied between drizzling, pouring down and the occasional break until past noon. So instead I wandered through the city streets until crossing the Chicago River where I headed towards the water to see Navy Pier. It is basically a large recreational area built on top of a very large pier, but as it was out of season and morning everything was closed, and the few other people out there looked like me; having a look around trying to ignore the disappointing weather.

Standing in the center below the Bean looking up.

I continued north and found myself up alongside the zoo which is free to enter which meant I ended up entering and had a walk around to see what they had to offer. Nothing really spectacular, but I assume if you have a zoo which rely entirely on donations it does limit you one way or another.

Returning south towards downtown I took a couple of hours rest in the hotel before returning outside to grab dinner. It was surprisingly hard to find an Italian place with room for one (third time was the charm and I still ended up sitting outside) so when returning to the hotel in the evening I found a place online and secured myself a table for Saturday night. Or tried – it took half an hour just to find a place that had room for one and was willing to book only one! The dinner was pretty great, but I am baffled by the size of the desserts. The piece of cheesecake was enormous – and dense – and I am sure the calorie contents dwarfed that of the creamy pasta with bacon I had as a main.

5th of October – Arriving in Chicago

In spite of it being an almost 9-hour flight getting to Chicago was (almost) without issues along the way. Obviously, as we are in Denmark, there were problems with the train signals towards Copenhagen so only one train departed my station every hour which didn’t leave any margin for error going to the airport. Also, the flight didn’t have internet. What is this? The stone age?

Arriving in Chicago it was fairly uneventful getting through immigration. The officer did point out it was suspicious that I had been in Iran in ’17 while eyeing me up and down, and I had just started worrying about if this would be the end of the trip for me, until he continued grinning pointing out the suspicious part was that I still had my head on my shoulders. Hah-hah. Humor of airport security. 

Arriving in Chicago.

It took a bit to find the train to the city – it required a trip across terminals with the airport train before I could get settled into a seat on the train that took me on a 40-minute ride to the city center. From there it was a 5-minute walk from there to get to the hotel. 

The hotel has some weird quirks. There are rooms on floors 3 to 22, except for on floor 9 where the reception and restaurant is located. There are three elevators, and it seems like two of them stop at every three floors. It doesn’t open its doors – it just slows down and stops for maybe 4-6 seconds before it continues for another 3 floors until the next stop. Staying on the 18th floor and wanting to leave it was infuriating that the elevator stopped 5 times before reaching the ground level. The doors never opened until I had to exit. Leaving on the third elevator was mind-blowing – leaving the room and being able to leave the building only a few seconds later? Wild!

Despite having a room on the 18th floor I didn’t have much of a view; there was a taller building across the street blocking the view. Lots of large windows and it looks like most of the interior is apartments. And not all apartments have curtains so you have a fairly unobscured view into other people’s home. As someone who enjoys his privacy that concept gives me the willies. As an example; right now maybe one floor below me there is a woman lying on her carpet in the middle of the living room on her phone. Butt-naked. Not a care in the world. 

One would think that as this height you’d be far away from the street noise, but I suspect that being across from an even taller building the noises are just channeled up past my window giving me the full experience of the traffic. Also doesn’t help that the window doesn’t fully close/seal; I even had an employee up to see if I was doing something wrong but nope – couldn’t fully close, adding a slight draft throughout my stay. Marvelous!

14th – 16th – Return home

Waking up in the hotel the following morning I was surprisingly un-hungover so after getting my stuff together and checking out, I trotted back to the station and took the train back to Toronto airport and checked into my hotel for the third – and last – time on the trip. 

Not planning on just staring out of the window for the rest of the day I got myself a ticket for a night boat cruise and returned to the Toronto center. Walking around, enjoying the weather and killing time, I unfortunately realized that NomNomNom Poutine was closed on Sundays, so I had to find a different place to curb my hunger for one last pile of poutine. 

Belly completely filled with heavy poutine I trotted about until I ended up at the harbour where I boarded the boat and spent an hour or so travelling back and forth on the river taking in the full beauty of the downtown skyline. Definitely a better view than from the tower – especially because the windows were open letting you get an unobstructed view of the sights.

Walking along the waterfront in the evening.

Toronto skyline.

For the trip home I believe the easiest would be to quote my Facebook post from when I came home. Uncensored – sorry mom & dad; my language is foul when I get annoyed and you aren’t around.

My airport hotel was excellent; flexible check-out times so I was able to check out at 1400 so it fit with my departure. I had checked in to my flight in advance and I just needed to print my baggage tag at the airport and hand it in. 

The airport doesn't have dedicated bag-drop counters so I got in line in the BC check-in line - first in line. The order of people to go the counters next was controlled by two employees. When it was my turn - no it wasn't! An elderly couple had made their own line and rushed to the counter as soon as it was available, completely missed by the employees and I didn't realize what had happened until it was too late. I can't be mad at them, though, they obviously didn't see us/the "real" line because with their heads so far up their own asses all they would have been able to see was darkness. And they were Very Important Couple (tm) so of course they should be able to jump the line and ignore everyone else. And they took so FUCKING long. Finally I could hand over my bag and I was done in literally seconds.

Fast track scanner for security didn't work, so had to talk with a security guy - he let me through manually but pointed out it probably wouldn't have made a difference (next time I want a security guy that can count - the "normal" line was clearly at least 3 times as long). Success! Until my bag got randomly picked for thorough inspection - number 7 in line, and they all took a couple of minutes each. Waiting, among several large families including all generations, including toddlers and small kids. The fucking NOISE!

Finally got done and escaped to the lounge. Peace and quiet for a while. Delicious desserts. But why do they always only have ruby ports and not tawnies? :(

Went to the gate to board. The Very Important Couple (tm) was of course in front. Chaos, as another plane - even larger - was departing at the gate next to us half an hour later. We started boarding at departure time. Of course. And why is it SO FUCKING HARD for people to understand what order to board in? A majority in front of me were not BC so when they were turned away and told to wait for their group to be called they stood like deers in headlights and couldn't or wouldn't understand that they had to step away so others could pass them (WHAT? There are other people on this flight than ME?!? NO! That cannot be!!).

Finally got settled into my seat. 

There were problems with the on-board APU so they had to use one from the ground. It arrived quickly, but it turned out it wasn't big enough, so they had to call for a bigger one. It took close to an hour before it had arrived and we could pull away from the gate, and the mean time they couldn't run any cooling in the plane - and Toronto is/was mid/high twenty degrees. The fucking temperature in the plane... At least the entertainment system was turned on when we sat down and not as when I flew to Toronto where it didn't get turned on until after takeoff. 

The flight was a nice diversion from all the shitty things that lead to this. I do want to know who the fuck turns off the entertainment systems 5 minutes before arrival at the gate. I might be biased; I had 2 minutes left of an episode I was watching, perfectly timed for our arrival. I might have growled a bit too loud as the woman sitting in front of me turned around and looked at me.

Oh, didn't really sleep, either, so of course I was a normal pleasant patient human being arriving in Copenhagen.

Getting off the plane went well, arriving in the new part of the terminal (E for those in the know) but as they had closed the passport controls there they had put up a sign directing us to the control at C instead, including fencing so there was no doubt where to go. A group in front of me went in complete shutdown and blocked the entire hallway because having the employee who was standing there telling them what to do - basically just saying what the sign said - was apparently too much for them to handle. Again; deer in headlights. When I got tired of waiting for their braincell to reboot I started saying excuse me and pushing through which apparently kicked them into gear and they started moving again towards the escalator. For fucks sake (or is it "for fuck's sake"? I want to appear professional): you walk to the left and stand on the FUCKING RIGHT! It's not rocket science, uncultured swine!

Got through passport control - the officer seemed like the most competent person I had met since I checked in - and went towards the baggage pickup. Before that there are those one-way doors; there are two next to each other, and dear man who was short enough to be 12 but bald and grey enough to be 70: if you are aiming for one door go for that one. Don't, at the last moment, switch over to the other one without looking behind you, because it will result in me almost tripping over you and no stop fucking looking at me like that look where you are FUCKING going you are NOT alone in the world. 

Waited for my bag that never showed up so after an hour I reported it lost and went home. Apparently I was not the only one from Toronto that had a missing bag. Had to buy toiletries on the way home because someone in Toronto thought it was important to not send my bag with me (it's probably living its best life in Japan or on the beaches on Bali by now - asshole). Everything is hot and humid here with no relief. There is more wind out of my ass than in the air outside.

The worst part is that Very Important Couple (tm) did get their bags and left long before I gave up - but not before they found some of them on one of the carrousels that wasn't for our flight. 

But don't worry. I am different than before. I have grown. In spite of this I do not sit here and hate people.

Now I fucking hate everything.

For the record, the bag arrived 3 days later so I’m assuming it came over with the next same flight as I was on, and a few days later everything was back to normal. 

Once again big congratulations to Mira and Jeff for getting married. Big thanks for letting me be part of it and experiencing the wonderful wedding (and all the delicious food and snacks… and wine!). Thanks to Lisa for the fun company on my first night back in Canada. Big thanks to Angele for guiding us around Churchill and to the group for such a great time; Chris & Lorne, Dennis & Ruth, Kristi, Dorothy, Donna, Ana, Marina, Jenny, Jeanne and Hillary (and anyone I've unintentionally forgotten). 

Full album can be seen here.

12th – 13th – Wows and vows

I’ve always been a bit weirded out by train stations not letting passengers onto a platform until last moment or not informing the passengers of what platform the train will be arriving at until it has already arrived. Arriving at Toronto Union Station I got in line with a pile of other people who were carefully led onto the platform after showing our boarding passes when the train arrived. Seeing the platform the controlled access to it made a bit sense, as it was wasn’t raised and you were looking straight into the wheels of the train. The ride to Belleville was a pleasant less than 2 hours ride through the Canadian landscape.

On arrival it was a mere 40 minute walk in the blistering heat to get to the hotel where I checked in, settled in and left to have short walk into town and have a look around. A half an hour’s walk brought me into a town that felt almost dead – people were apparently not in a hurry getting out and about on a Friday afternoon. After having passed the marina and walked through a spot of green area I ended up in an Italian restaurant near the center, where their “garlic bread with mozzarella” should rather be sold as “bread with mozzarella with a clove of garlic next to it when toasted”. 

The ice seems unsafe in these hot conditions.

The following day I had a short walk mid-day before getting picked up at 1430 by a bus – a school bus, even – to take us to Potter Winery where a friend of mine who I met on my trip to southern Africa in 2013 was getting married. The location was gorgeous, the weather likewise, and the wedding went without a hitch apart from the part where the now husband and wife got hitched. With excellent snacks, food, desserts and wines I’d consider it a very success evening. The company was pretty nice, too. The party ended at 2330 when the last bus departed. 

10th – 11th – Toronto

I had a flight out of Winnipeg a bit past noon which despite a half hour delay went smooth and uneventful. We arrived in an orderly fashion but did end up having to wait for our luggage for close to 45 minutes. 

I checked back into the hotel and retrieved my bag in storage, trotted about for a bit before getting a ticket for a late entry to the CN Tower and grabbed a train to the city center.

Walking around Toronto.

Nathan Philip's Square with the city hall to the left 

and a large city sign if you've forgotten where you are.

I had planned to have dinner while in town but I realized I wasn’t really hungry so I ended up just having a walk around in the fading light until around 2130 where I could get into the tower and enter the viewing platform. An amazing view of the city below and in the clear weather you could see quite far. The view was partially obstructed by the countless hand-, finger-, cheek-, forehead- and other sticky prints all over the windows. And due to the interior light and people using flash there was so much reflection. Apparently there is an outdoor platform you can walk out on without the glass, but it was currently closed due to renovation. Ascending to the top floor there were fewer people and therefore a bit less chaotic and noisy. Some of the windows were angled downwards so there were less reflection, but due to their angles they let a ton of light in from the colored lights lining the tower.

It is really annoying with all these viewing platforms where you’re stuck behind glass and I don’t know why I keep paying (often a good chunk of money) go gain access to them. Ah, well, vacation-me is less critical than after-vacation-me when it comes to spending money.

Leaving the tower at around 2330 I returned to the station to grab the train back to the hotel/airport, and thinking I had plenty of time I wasn’t in a rush. I arrived 12 minutes before the next departure which turned out to also be the last departure, so despite I had no problems making it in time I was very glad that I hadn’t spent more time getting back to the station.

The following day I went back to the center to spend the day walking around seeing the city. The sun was out and the temps were high, but the many tall buildings gave some nice much needed shade. There are a lot of large tall buildings in the center – many more than I expected, I think. The roads were pretty wide so it’s fairly easy to get a good view of them despite standing near them. I tried booking a spot on a night harbour tour to get the skyline from the water, but due to a power outage in that part of the city (I thought I was in Toronto and not Toroffto?) they only took cash. Too bad. I grabbed some delicious poutine at a small booth called NomNomNom Poutine – which certainly lived up to their name. Fries, cheese curds, meat and gravy – what’s not to like? 

Poutine. Way better than it looks.

Trying to get out of the heat and maybe resting my legs I spent the afternoon in the Toronto Aquarium. There wasn’t much you wouldn’t see in any other aquarium around the world, though they did lead the guests past the water treatment and purification systems which introductions to what the various parts did, which I thought was pretty interesting. 

Mandatory "jellyfish in front blue background"-shot.

For dinner I ended up in the financial district in a basement restaurant where I had a delicious burger (priced as one would expect for a nice place in the financial district) with a dessert consisting of an excellent pile of 5 small donuts. While they called them donuts I’d argue these were closer to donut holes stuffed with cream.