Yes! It is true, I am back in the land of Maple Syrup and Beavers! The flight was long and very bright, but I amused myself with pathetically attempting to sleep and watching (in order): Mars Attacks!, Caddyshack, Kung-Fu Panda, and then miscellaneous portions of other shows. 

It was definitely exciting to come back to land at the Ottawa airport and know exactly where I would be sleeping that night. Nothing beats knowing precisely where and how you are going to get to the place you will be sleeping later that night. Bliss. 

Anyway, here are some of my favourite photos/moments from across the pond:

Yeah, there’s lots. I think I uploaded over 1,250 photos to flickr. Bwhaha.

Both buses and trams cost 1 Euro for one transfer within 74 minutes. That’s about 50% cheaper than OC transpo when you pay by cash. It gets even better though, since for that 1 euro, you can go all the way to Monaco. That’s right. Tomorrow I’m going to spend a whole 3 euros to go to a place called Cap d’Ail and  then Monaco (one euro for each location, and then another euro to get back). Nicccceee (eh! Nice! nice!). 

I’ve been here from 6:00 BST until now 18:00 BST — so having spent 12h in London, here are my impressions:

1. Too much neon orange and yellow. Seriously, have never seen so much in my life. I hate it. So many people where it as part of their jobs, or if they’re cylists, or running, or it’s on police cars and ambulances. Blah blah blah. 
2. Amazing architecture. Surprise! I’ve barely seen a tenth of the city and I still love most of it. There is a HELL of a lot of red brick. Almost … too much …
3. It’s not very clean. Call me crazy, but in all seriousness I have never seen someone my age outside of a convenience store or something who finishes a can of whatever and then just throws it on the ground. There was a garbage can nearby, too! Indeed, things are quite dirty. In the core it’s fine, but my hotel appears to be in a rougher area of town I guess? 
4. This hotel cannot give directions. I have literally spent at least two hours walking around the streets close to my hostel. Supposedly there’s a “The Source” (omg!) and a Postal office. I found neither. Apparently we have mixed perceptions about distance,  
5. This hotel has a POWERED revolving door. 
6. There’s something weird about the British and their signage. The primary colours + black + white. I used to like it for it’s simplicity. But now I just find it a lazy and poorly executed means of conveying messages. Almost none of them are graphic. It’s white text on a red background that says “Sidewalk out of service”. That was fine when I only saw a couple, but when you walk down a street you are INUNDATED with them. THEY’RE EVERYWHERE. And some of them are seemingly redundant and a waste of money. Eg: a construction site with signs posted on the 2/3m high fence around it that says “Parents don’t let your children play in here” (something to that effect). D’uh? 
7. I really like their rail transit system. It looks really complex and crazy, but after you ride it for maybe an hour or two, screw up a couple of times — it’s a breeze. Buses are kind of flawed: seems like you require tickets or a pass to board, but only major stops have tickets. Ugh?
8. I only saw one homeless guy. 
9. WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. 
10. Note to self, they have an equivalent TravelPlanner, called the ‘Journey Planner‘. Wish I knew that sooner. 
11. Difficult to find places to eat, places to withdraw money.