What Food?

For those of you who have always dreamed of an "all-you-can-eat" diner, Canada is not the place. You'll probably have more luck just south, in the USA.

What you will find in Toronto is a spectacular mix of Asian, American, European and a whole lot of other cuisines. Noodles, ribs, burgers, pizza, bacon, sushi etc... even falafel, humus, shawarma.
All are available at the local grocery store or just on the street from the variety of restaurants Toronto has to offer.

The portions are fairly large here and the innocent bystander will have a hard time getting adjusted to the super-size meals but it's still not as bad as in the USA. Be careful or you'll start putting on weight.

The quality of the meats is much better than in Israel, especially the beef. Finding a decent steakhouse is not that easy, but buying your own meat and grilling it to perfection is an easily achievable task.

The only real problem, is cucumbers. Why do the need to be fifty (50!!!) cm long? One puzzled guy asking...

My Beloved TTC

Since I was twenty one I always had a car and assumed it was the only way to get around. My first car was a charming '88 Ford Fiesta that I took into the toughest of places and always brought me home safely. Since there is no real alternative to owning a car in Israel, you get used to driving around and getting stuck in traffic. Frustrating as it is, public transportation is almost non-existent. I couldn't have imagined living a life without a car until now.

Here in Toronto, the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) have done a wonderful job. No really. You can travel up and down Toronto without ever paying more than about two dollars per direction or about ten dollars for a day pass. It gets you everywhere and anywhere. Whether by subway, streetcars or buses, the system is outstanding. A bus will stop every block and there is no place you cannot reach, especially downtown.

If you ever need, you can always rent a car for about sixty dollars a day. Just make sure to get that extra insurance and damage waver. It's not that cheap but on rare occasions, my wife and I had to.

All in all, for new comers, a car is a luxury item you can do without (at least for a few months).

The House on Spadina

Our little house on Spadina Rd. was at a great location - in the middle of the Annex neighborhood and 100 meters from the TTC subway station. All in all, a perfect location. Shira could get from the house to her lab in under ten minutes door to door!

The internal condition of the house however was a disaster. We set to work - plastering, painting cleaning and then some...

Ray, our neighbor downstairs, was incharge of the house maintenance for the landlord, Alex. He fixed all the tiles in the bathroom and fixed the peeling ceiling.

We also started the buying frezy to fill up the apartment since we had no furniture at all. IKEA helped us alot as did neighbors who moved out of their place and left chairs and tables and other treasures to anyone willing to carry them away.

After a few weeks, our shipment of personal items from Israel also arrived and made us very happy - finally having a piece of our old home with us.

After two months of hard work and settling in the place looked hospitable.

Welcome to Canada

Big hug. After not seeing my wife for a week I finally got to see her at Toronto airport.
She came a week before me and got us a cosy little place on Spadina Rd. We hailed a taxi and filled up the car with all the suitcases and pets (to the drivers unhappy face) and took off to our place!
The floors were dirty, the paint was peeling and we had graffiti that the previous tenants felt obligated to leave us. After leaving a brand new apartment in Israel - this was a little harsh.
We placed all the suitcases and pets and went off to have a nice American breakfast to forget the airplane food.

See You on the Other Side

It was just another hot summer night in Ben-Gurion airport. Everything was exactly the same as I knew it for the last 30 years. But this time was different. After this time, I would become an outsider. I am moving to Canada. Now.

My mother was crying so Itai (my younger brother) took her back to his car and back home. I was afraid she would collapse from the stress.

I checked in my luggage - OMG 90 kg. It was just too much. But after some bargaining we got it all settled. My faithful cat also went down the rail into the plane's belly.

My dad helped me out all the way to the gate. I was still carrying my chinchillas. They would stay with me during the flight. Another last hug and onto the plane. Lucky I got an aisle seat with the chinchilla cage stashed under my chair.

Last call to my wife, she was already in Toronto - "see you on the other side".
I turned off my cell phone and the plane started to taxi to the runway.

Are We Moving Already?

It's been months of preparation and waiting. It feels like our entire lives are on hold. God I wish time would fly. But it has...

There is no way to take our stuff there. It will never fit in the five cube space we got for our shipment. We shipped only our very personal belongings. In the days that followed, we sold all our stuff. It went for pennies. Our living room furniture, IKEA this IKEA that. It all went by like a dream.
In the end, we felt naked giving up almost everything we owned - everything we gathered and stocked for that rainy day that never came.