Visiting Lisbon, while an enjoyable experience, has made me grateful for a number of things back home in Canada, and especially Toronto.
For starters, I appreciate the vast space we have in Canada. Even in our larger, busier cities, roads are comparatively wide, and there is plenty of room for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to move about comfortably. The cobblestone paths of Lisbon were cute, quaint, but not particularly practical for modern-day society.
Accessible public washrooms are another welcome thing to come home to, especially since I seem to have developed some sort of bladder or urinary tract infection: Searching desperately for a place to pee every half hour in Lisbon was getting a little old; many places do not have washrooms, or, if they do, you need a code from your rec’t to get in, or you have to pay to use them. I know some businesses are becoming more restrictive about public washroom access in Toronto, too, but believe me, it’s not nearly as bad as in Europe!!
I am also grateful for the culture of non-smoking that we have worked hard to cultivate here in Toronto. One of the first things one notices when traveling outside of Canada is the stench of cigarettes all around.
Finally, our city's tree canopy and green spaces were gifts I took for granted until we went to Lisbon for a week and -- with the exception of a few palm trees here and there -- were surrounded by stone and cement. We saw no parks at all in Lisbon, and very limited stretches of grass or greenspace in the immediately surrounding area. Returning to Toronto, with its many public parks and private gardens was like returning to paradise.
There is one thing I like better about Lisbon, though, without a doubt, and that is the climate; I could not believe how chilly it was when we stepped out of the airport at YYZ. And grey snow everywhere... Yuck! Winter in Toronto really is unwieldy for those who have experienced January in a warmer environment.
For starters, I appreciate the vast space we have in Canada. Even in our larger, busier cities, roads are comparatively wide, and there is plenty of room for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to move about comfortably. The cobblestone paths of Lisbon were cute, quaint, but not particularly practical for modern-day society.
Accessible public washrooms are another welcome thing to come home to, especially since I seem to have developed some sort of bladder or urinary tract infection: Searching desperately for a place to pee every half hour in Lisbon was getting a little old; many places do not have washrooms, or, if they do, you need a code from your rec’t to get in, or you have to pay to use them. I know some businesses are becoming more restrictive about public washroom access in Toronto, too, but believe me, it’s not nearly as bad as in Europe!!
I am also grateful for the culture of non-smoking that we have worked hard to cultivate here in Toronto. One of the first things one notices when traveling outside of Canada is the stench of cigarettes all around.
Finally, our city's tree canopy and green spaces were gifts I took for granted until we went to Lisbon for a week and -- with the exception of a few palm trees here and there -- were surrounded by stone and cement. We saw no parks at all in Lisbon, and very limited stretches of grass or greenspace in the immediately surrounding area. Returning to Toronto, with its many public parks and private gardens was like returning to paradise.
There is one thing I like better about Lisbon, though, without a doubt, and that is the climate; I could not believe how chilly it was when we stepped out of the airport at YYZ. And grey snow everywhere... Yuck! Winter in Toronto really is unwieldy for those who have experienced January in a warmer environment.
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