Thu, 09:33: Businesses all over Toronto are displaying Pride flags and colors, usually the Progress Pride version with the Black and Brown stripes as well as the light blue, pink and white stripes of Trans Pride added. It’s similar to when we were in Sydney for Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, with countless businesses eager to declare their support publicly during Pride Month, basically saying “We love the queers! We’re thrilled to accept their money!”
To be clear: I love it. This is also our first trip to Canada with a phone plan that has no international fees for texts or calls; between that and how swiftly we got through customs, it barely feels like we’re even in another country. Except, of course, for the whole Pride vibe: it’s distinctly more comfortably celebratory and inclusive here, particularly outside the boundaries of the historically queer neighborhood we’re staying in—although even there we’ve got pointedly inclusive messaging, as with a Trans Pride crosswalk or Trans Pride painted park benches. https://t.co/TyBfb14JhO
Thu, 19:36: Day trip to Niagara Falls today, and Shobhit had the time of his life! Rarely is he seen having so much fun—and we both had a blast. https://t.co/AWSXlc8EAK
Wed, 14:41: It’s a pretty nondescript building—evidently converted from old apartments—but they put us on the 23rd floor (out of 26*) so I’m thrilled! *Our floor is labeled 24, out of “27”, but of course this building, built in 1971, skips floor 13. https://t.co/5iEbqfDgAq
Wed, 16:52: Our red eye landed at 7 this morning, we went straight to our hotel, and we dropped off our luggage for storage while we killed time until we could check in at 2:00.
First on the agenda guided tour of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, because I have become a dork who wants to tour any state or provincial capitol building at every opportunity!
We took the first guided tour available, at 9:30 this morning, and we were the only two people taking it. The tour guide was a young Filipino woman who was visibly perturbed when Shobhit assumed she was First Nation. Aside from that, she rattled through her script like someone who has recited it a million times.
Anyway this was how we learned the building was built in 1893 but the West Wing was redone in marble after a 1909 fire destroyed it. https://t.co/AWSXlc8EAK
