Canadiana Backpackers Blog

Simon is a resident of London, England. But he’s one of our Toronto Hostels “fixtures”. That is to say that his presence is felt in the day-to-day routine of the hostels operation.

Simon is in charge of our hostels computer booking system and maintains our website. The miracle of modern computer technology means that his job can be accomplished whether he is in Toronto, Tamworth or Timbuktu. All he needs is a laptop and a wi-fi connection.

Simon was a member of the infamous Canadiana “Lager Louts” – a group of five “party animal” backpackers who invaded  the hostel five or six years ago.

They formed a core group of long-term residents who altered the zeitgeist of our hostels daily routine.

The antics of this infamous group have never been fully reported in our Blog because we are a family-friendly hostel and our Blog is not X-Rated.

But Simon is also an extremely gifted in the field of computer technology. He maitains our computers from his residence in the UK as easily as if her were in the hostel office in Toronto.

Such is the miracle of the Internet.

Simon (left) with Pearcey and Jonno. Three of the original “Lager Louts” corrupting Madders and Genesis.

I just lifted a quote from a Backpacker’s Website called: “Travel Advice: The NAKED Traveler”.

The article was penned by a former editor of a Backpacker Magazine in Australia and New Zealand. She is, as you might expect, very knowlegable about hostels and hostel life. She writes about it very well.

Nonetheless, I think she is a little (make that far) off-base in one area. This is what she wrote:

Aren’t you, like, old?
“No matter how much you like Bruno Mars or enjoy reading the Twilight series, people over a certain age shouldn’t stay in hostels. Conventional wisdom says anything over 35 is the cut-off point – no exceptions.  Think this doesn’t apply to you? Just Google the scene in Basic Instinct where Michael Douglas goes to a nightclub… in a jumper.  That’s what you look like”

That one statement is just plain wrong for many hostels in North America today.

Alright, perhaps that is the demographic of most of the hostels in her experience in Australia and New Zealand; but, here in Canada and the United States, more and more hostels are “Family Friendly”.

That describes our Toronto Hostel. At Canadiana Backpackers Inn, we have hosted guests from infants to eighty (plus) year-olds.

We get backpackers of virtually every culture and ethnicity staying at our Toronto Hostel. In fact, the hostels guests come  from as many different cultures that comprise the city itself.

Toronto is the most cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic city in the world. People from every country, all over the world, live in Toronto. At least 200 languages are spoken in Toronto.

Maria is from Pais Vasco or The Basque Country Region of Spain. It is an autonomous community of only 7,000 sq. kilometers and about 2.3 million inhabitants nesteled in the crook of the Bay of Biscay between Spain and France.

The Greater Region of the Basque domain is considerably larger that the autonomous region of Spain. The traditional Basque territory comprises a portion of southern France as well.

The Basque people have a separate language and culture but only an estimated 3 million ethnic Basque in the region.

Maria is a Vascos (as the Spanish would say) and the Basque Region of France was gradually annexed beginnibg in the 15th Century.

As 90% of Basque people are Spanish Nationals, the separatist movement is naturally stronger in Spain; this accounts for the measure of political autonomy  of the region.

We didn’t know a great deal about this area of Spain/France. But lovely Maria is one of the kindest, happiest and gregarious of any language student we have ever hosted.

We’ve learned a lot by having Maria here as a guest. By traveling and staying in hostels, you learn something every day.

Toronto is well-known as a city composed of “neighbourhoods”. Our hostel in Toronto is located in the Downtown core of the city and is the only of the youth hostels located in the heart of the Entertainment District.

The downtown centre of the city is comprised of about 25 seperate and distinct neighbourhoods.

The hostel is a five to ten minute walk to Chinatown and the famous Kensington Market. Chinatown is the place to eat and Kensington is a trendy rather bohemian and eclectic neighbourhood.

Long ago, Spadina (now Chinatown) and the adjacent Kensington Market was where early Jewish immigrants settled. Over the years the Jews have migrated to the upscale Forest Hill neighbourhood and have been supplanted by Chinese on Spadina Avenue.

Kensigton shows only a few vestiges of it’s early Jewish history such as an old, little used, Synagogue built pre-war in the 1930′s.

It is now a decidedly trendy “market”. There are fruit stands, butcher shops, retro-clothing boutiques, ethnic spice stores and even “head shops” specializing in pot paraphenalia. (We ran into actor Woody Harrelson, from Cheers in the Hot Box Cafe enjoying a joint.)

Anyhow, the point of this blog entry is to let you know that of all the Toronto Hostels, the Canadiana is right in the middle of where it’s all happening.

It stands to reason that Toronto’s Entertainment District is dead-centre of the city. And our hostel in in the centre of the Entertainment District.

To explore Toronto, our hostel is the place to begin!

Let’s get this right upfront. The Toronto Zoo is world-class.

It is a massive facility covering more than 700 acres within the city limits. Plenty of space equals plenty of displays, plenty of animals and plenty of room for expansion.

Our hostel in Toronto hosts thousands of backpackers every year. We are the largest Backpackers Inn in the city and we are filled to capacity in the summer and for most of the winter as well.

We do our best to promote both our hostel and the city. In the world of backpackers, word-of-mouth recommendation is a very strong factor. Toronto’s success (especially in summer) comes from the city’s free summer cultural and music festivals. So quite simply, the more popular the city, the more guests for us as well.

We have an amazing Museum and one of the top Art Gallerys in North America. There is also an enormous Island Park and a well kept, clean and safe waterfront. In fact “clean and safe” describes Toronto in general.

What a shock it was this morning to pick up the Toronto Star (Canada’s largest newspaper) and read that the Zoo has suffered a massive decline in attendance. And this after exibits have been renovated and new ones added.

As mentioned earlier, we do our best to promote Toronto attractions. We have photographs of the Toronto Zoo on our wall along with a brief description extolling the virtues of the facility. We even “talk up” our zoo when travelers ask what they should do while in Toronto.

So why do so few of our adventurous travelers choose to visit?

According to zoo officials, the recent decline in attendance can be blamed partly on the new HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) which adds a couple of bucks to the price of admission.

Ok, now listen up Zoo Officials. We’ve got a flash for you.

We’ve conducted a straw pole just today with more than 50 new travelers and an equal mumber of long-term residents. “Why haven’t you visited the Zoo?  The HST perhaps?”

The fact is the HST merely adds a few dollars to an already obscene admission price! Even parking is $10. A group of six backpackers. going to the zoo can expect to pay more than $150 dollars before getting in! Add to this “extra charges” for “special exhibits” (i.e. Stingrays) and absurdly expensive prices for food and drink.

The bottom line is that backpackers who do visit usually have high praise for the Toronto Zoo. But their strongest impression (as they tell others) is it is very, very expensive. And that, discourages many. We had actually had plans to use our 14 seater van to organize a weekly “zoo event” but we had difficulty getting a full load to sign on due to the high price of admission.

Come on Zoo Officials. If you want us to promote you. At least, give us a little more to work with.

Jonno, from Oz; Mika, from Japan; and Darren, from England @ the Zoo.

Tigers photographed by Darren.

Darren (on left with hat).

It used to be that the majority of people you meet in your travels were merely like “Ships who pass in the night”.

The cliche is that it is a small world. It is. And it’s getting smaller.

At our hostel in Toronto, we meet a lot of interesting backpackers. Places like ours used to be referred to as “Youth Hostels” but youth is no longer wasted only on the young.

We just heard from a past guest from Oz who first stayed with us almost six years ago. She returned two years later in 2007 after she retired (at a very young age). Actually, it was less of a retirement and more of a reinvention of herself.

Sue Storr has been a teacher all of her career. But like so many backpackers, always wanted to travel. So she “retired” and took to the road. And a traveling lady she is!

She set off for China where she had contracted to train Chinese teachers to teach english. We’ve followed her travels over the years by reading her excellent “travel blog” with photos and stories of her travels in remote regions of “The Middle Kingdom” as China is called.

These days, it is much easier to maintain contact with old friends. We now have smart phones, satellite phones; but, most importantly, laptop computers and email.

Sue’s nickname used to be “Treadie”, likely given to her because of her passion for travel. And here at the hostel we can see Sue’s smiling face in the photo/bio of her on our wall of “Notable Guests”.

It is not surprising that even after all these years, Sue is still on the road. She really gets around and we wouldn’t be surprised to see her just turn up at our hostels door.

Peripatetic pedagogue Sue “Treadie” Storr with friend in China.

The Chinese New Year began on February 3rd this year. As opposed to western reckoning, the Oriental New Year is based on a lunar rather than solar cycle.

The track of the new moon changes from year to year. Thus, Chinese New Year can begin anytime between late January and mid-February.

The Chinese calendar consists of 12 annual cycles each symbolized by a different animal and ascribed certain attributes.

The Chinese Lunar New Year dates back to the year 2600BC when the first cycle of the Chinese Zodiac was introduced by Emperor Huang Ti. This makes the year 2011AD Lunar Year, 4709.

Due to the cyclical lunar dating, the firat day of a lunar year can fall anywhere between late-January and mid-February.

New Year’s is arguably the most important annual event to many Orientals. This year is the Year of the Rabbit. (You can Google search to find the character traits attributed to those born under this sign).

The celebrations that began last Wednesday will continue well into this weekend. And with close to a half-million Chinese in multi-cultural Toronto it should be quite a party.

We should all get out and celebrate the arrival of the 4709th New Year. After all, according to another calendar (the Mayan one) 4710 (a.k.a. 2012AD) just might not happen.

Yesterday, February 2d, we celebrated “Groundhog Day”. This is a North American Tradition that the majority of backpackers have never heard of.

It goes something like this:

“On this day, when a groundhog emerges from his burrow and doesn’t see his shadow, we can expect and early end to winter. However, if the little critter does see his shadow, we are in for six more weeks of winter’s wrath!”

This tradition exists only in the northern United States and Canada. And it is not as ridiculous as it probably seems. The equinox (which defines the beginning of spring) occurs about six to seven weeks after February 2d. This year spring officially begins March 20th, or about seven weeks after Groundhog Day.

This day has long been celebrated by people growing tired of the snow and cold. This “fun tradition” has been around since (at least) 1886 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Punxsutawney is a non-descript coal mining town in Appalachia. In the Delaware Indian dialect it means “Town of Sandflies”. But up to 40,000 people gather to watch their own “Punxsutawney Phil” emerge and check for his shadow.

In Ontario we have our own rodent prognosticator “Wiarton Willie” from the little town near the ski resort of Blue Mountain.

This year neither, “Wiarton Willie” nor “Punxsutawney Phil” saw their shadows on February 2d. In other words, they have both predicted an early end to winter.

Let’s hope they are right.

Note: In our last post (“Global Warming” – Feb. 1st) we were bracing for a predicted “savage snowstorm”. It didn’t happen. Nonetheless, the Spring Solstice occurs on March 20th this year, predictions of our fat, furry friends notwithstanding.

What causes “Climate Change” is open to debate; but, that “Global Warming” exists is simply a fact. Just as any adult who has grown up in Canada!

Right now we are leaving January which is traditionally the coldest month of the year. And it is indeed cold. But not as cold as it usually is in a Toronto January.

We have yet to shovel snow this year and winter will begin to give way to spring around mid March. The coldest temperatures see the mercury drop to about -20C at night, then warm up to around -3C to +3C during the day.

Buffalo our sister U.S. city located 80 miles southeast of us on the Niagara Frontier is situated on the “snowbelt” that runs along the south sides of  two Great Lakes – Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It has long been the scene of savage, crippling snowstorms the paralize the city.

Last year (for the first time in memory) that didn’t occur. And, this year, so far, there has been no major snowstorm. It just might remain so this year again – God willing!

The reality is that this is the great white north and a major winter snostorm is virtually inevitable. But no one can deny that in the past few years the storms have become less severe and don’t have the impact they once did.

Today when we read that friends in Australia are broiling in 45C weather (113F) our nightime low of -15C somehow just doesn’t seem that bad!

At least, all of our homes and buildings are heated. And we can dress appropriately. But you can only take so much off.

The droughts downunder have caused fires, massive crop failures and have been just plain lethal. So stop complaining about the cold and button your coat up.

I am writing this blog on Tuesday, February 1st. The news reports are warning of an approaching blizzard that is expected to hit the northeastern U.S. and Ontario  on Wednesday. The storm is predicted to be of “historic proportions”, described as an “epic” weather system.

Oh well, I guess being spared winter’s wrath once again, was just too much to be hoped for.

Some can’t remove their coats in the heat.

But you can dress for the cold – or not…