God Bless Canada
The family and I spent the past week north of the border in lovely Toronto. I was there for some work-related training and Dinka and Veronika tagged along to visit some friends and explore the city. Toronto is a terrific place and we were in the poshest, most fashionable neighborhood you could imagine. If we had arrived a week earlier, we would have seen the stars filing out of the Four Seasons on their way to screenings for the International Film Festival. My walk to work took me past a Rolls Royce dealership, Prada, Vera Wang and other similar boutiques that I will probably (and happily) never set foot in.
For me, just being in the city is entertainment enough, which is a good thing because traveling with a toddler prevented the rest of our plans from coming to fruition. Every lunch hour I would grab some food (report upcoming) and spend the rest of my alotted time just walking around and taking it all in--checking out different neighborhoods, people watching (ordinary not famous), soaking up the local flavor. At the end of a whole seven days, I'm pretty sure that I have perfected this art. Here are my guidelines for all aspiring citygoers and streetwalkers:
- Travel light. Confidence is key here and being laden with typical traveler's gear will not help. If possible, carry nothing at all in your hands. You would be surprised how having free arms will propel you down the street.
- Get the walk right. Again, it's all about the confidence here. When you're walking with nothing in your hands, there's no obvious places to put them and it's easy to start guessing yourself. Once that happens, it's all over. Your arms stop swinging naturally as if they had never functioned without your concentration. You wonder if you're legs are too far ahead of your torso. If this happens, just pull it together and try not to fall on your face. Your arms should swing but only slightly--more will indicate power-walking. Walk briskly but not hurriedly. When you encounter slower walkers, glide around them easily, twisting your upper body where possible instead of side-stepping.
- Wear some clothes you feel good in. If you're a man, try rolling up your shirt sleeves, it feels great. If you're a woman... I have no idea.
- Make eye contact. Shifty glances and ogling are equally bad, but friendly, confident eye contact catches people off guard and gives you an opportunity to see what kind of people (and a city) you're dealing with. Pay attention to the look on your face as you do this though. If your eyebrows are furrowed, you'll look agitated and people will not respond well.
- Wear sunglasses. The only difference between you and city people (besides that they're thinner, more attractive and have more money) is that they all wear sunglasses, and cool ones at that. Besides they will shield your shifty eyes.