Stranded in Toronto

So I am currently in Toronto. . . And I am not supposed to be.  In fact I was supposed to fly through Montreal.  I got to the airport in Winnipeg, checked in my luggage and was waiting at the gate to board when I found out the flight to Montreal was cancelled.  They rushed me onto a flight to Toronto and told me that I would be re-booked to Amsterdam upon arrival in Toronto. It messed up my plans of meeting a friend in downtown Montreal for coffee and a chat, but hopefully I will fly through Montreal again some time soon.

I arrived in Toronto at which time they informed me that all flights to Amsterdam from Montreal and Toronto had been cancelled and they weren't sure why.  It was kind of mass confusion because I am flying the majority of the journey with KLM, but my domestic flights were on WestJet, so the WestJet people were trying to get information from KLM and it was all one big confusing circle for everyone.  The long and the short of it is, I have to stay the night in Toronto and I leave at 5:45 PM tomorrow and then onto Uganda one day later than planned.  In the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal.  I just hope it is not to much of an inconvenience for the people who are picking me up at the airport in Uganda.  I'm going to call them when it is not the middle of the night there.

So right now I am enjoying the fancy pants hotel West Jet put me up in. I wanted to go to the CN tower, but the guy at the front desk said we are a long way from downtown.  Apparently we are close to the largest mall in Ontario, but I don't need or want anything and even if I did I don't have room in my luggage for anything else!  It is kind of ironic really, sitting in the lap of luxury while in the next day or so I will be transported to a place where eating 3 meals a day is a challenge for the majority of the population. I know that it is a lot easier now to enjoy this than it would be on my way home when I have seen and been changed by the experiences Africa will offer.  I was sitting in the restaurant this afternoon with a plethora of business people eating a meal that cost double what I would pay back home.  That is fine by me, West Jet also gave me a very generous meal allowance to use either at the hotel or the airport.  So I had fun leaving a big tip. . . I'm hoping I can use the leftover vouchers to buy souvenirs or books at the airport tomorrow, but maybe that would just be too good to be true.

By the way. . . I enjoyed a very expensive bowl of ice cream for supper.  It was fabulous, probably my favourite part of the meal.  Although it was maybe a little indulgent, it will probably be the last bit of ice cream I will taste before returning home again.

I also forgot to mention.  There is a fellow from Alberta in the same situation as me, he is flying to Amsterdam and then on to Ukraine.  He has been so helpful with my luggage.  Both my bags are dreadfully heavy and he lifts them from place to place for me.  It is so nice to have some help:)

Note to my Mother if you are reading this:  I am fine and you can calm down.