New York vs Toronto

I had the chance to pop up to Toronto while I was in New York. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the brightest idea. Officially, I was still in the US for agricultural purposes. It dawned on me as I was lining up to reenter the US that explaining the type of agricultural work that I would be undertaking in New York City might be a little tricky...thankfully my customs guy was a good bloke...very quick with the rubber stamp!

I popped up to Toronto to organise some paperwork for my work in Canada and also to visit a friend who's living there at the moment.

I took the red-eye special. I found this amazing bus service called Megabus. Basically they run shuttles between major US cities at prices lower than Greyhound. Because it's a new service, all of the buses are brand new and very comfortable...double-deckers too, so you can sit up top and look out the front window (arriving in Toronto pictured above). Amazingly they have mobile wireless internet available on the buses i.e. you can log on while traveling 75 on the interstate. I felt like a fraud as I flipped the laptop open, given my preaching about the rough-and-ready Greyhound, but it was a nice luxury to have.

I really like Toronto. It was interesting to compare it to New York. I have this running analogy/theory about closely related cities that likens them to close friends. I've written about this before, describing the Sydney-Melbourne vibe. If I cut and paste from that post, I think the same can be applied to Toronto and New York: Toronto is like the friend that you enjoy spending the night with because they are interesting and charismatic, yet concerned about you and whether you're having a good time. New York is interesting and charismatic but it knows that it's good, it flaunts it, and it couldn't give a shit if you have a good night or not - come the end of the evening, it starts to piss you off.

I wouldn't say that New York has ever pissed me off, but there are times that I have felt intimidated by its presence i.e. not cool enough. I think a lot has to do with the physical appearance of both cities. New York, like Sydney draws a lot of its personality from its geographical/architectural credentials. Toronto and Melbourne on the other hand aren't particularly 'beautiful' yet they have a lot of personality (which, in both cases, is right up there with their counterparts) created purly by the people that live in the city.

I found that Toronto like Melbourne celebrates individualism more so than what is in vogue (very important to New Yorkers and Sydney-siders). The upshot of this ethos is that you feel more comfortable amoungst trendiness. The big test is walking into the 'cool' shops and guaging the reception from the sales assistant. Cowboy boots were welcomed with open arms in the suave boutiques of Queen Street West Toronto.

Massive generalistation-alert, but this is my blog!

Testing my theory in an aptly named boutique on Queen Street West, Toronto.