My parents don’t really venture downtown all that much. It’s mostly because they’re unfamiliar with it and my father kind of has a bit of taste aversion for the place. I wouldn’t call it a phobia, but he certainly wouldn’t want to be walking around there. Anyway, on several occasions my mom’s expressed interest in heading into the city with me. I think she missed being in more populous areas. I decided to make Saturday the day when we’d head down. I warned her though that there would be a lot of walking involved. Just like me she has horribly flat feet. And just like me walking around for extended periods used to be tough. Luckily, I know that the time she’s been putting into going to the gym has made her a lot stronger.

I walked over to their place early in the morning and head a bit of breakfast before the two of us headed out. We took the bus down to the subway station, and from there we headed into town. As we rode, I pointed out different stations where I’d get off to do my day-to-day activities. In doing so she got some sense of just how far I had to travel to get to things. It just so happened that this weekend a portion of one of the subway lines was closed. Unfortunately it was a section that we were planning on using. Instead I took her on a detour to a nearby station, and from there we walked to the downtown mall. As we walked I kept a close eye on her. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t feeling uncomfortable. She held up remarkably well. Really, she was spending some time just taking in the sights, and that was fine with me. When we arrived at the Eaton Centre she seemed kind of excited. She hadn’t been there in many years. I just followed her around for a bit before we split off. We agreed that she’d give me a call when she was done. I just wandered around looking at random things.

After we were done shopping we agreed to head to Chinatown. It’s a bit of a walk, and I think it would have been fine, but she revealed to me that she wasn’t really wearing sensible footwear. Well, midway there I decided it would be prudent to take a break and have lunch. We stopped by a Korean restaurant, and that’s where I introduced her to bibimbap. She enjoyed it, which made me happy. After that and a short visit to my favourite tea shop (she noticed that they knew my name) we hiked up to Chinatown. She seemed excited to go shopping for some exotic fruit. She ended up buying a dragon fruit just out of novelty. Since we were in the area I also took her through Kensington Market to visit some bakeries and the European deli. All throughout, people were milling about carrying out business as usual. I thought that it was a good thing to show mom that Toronto really can be a lively place. It’s easy to forget that if all you see are the suburbs.

When we were done instead of taking the subway all the way back I decided to have us take the 506 streetcar across town back to our neck of the woods before taking a subway and bus back home. I figured that it would expose her to other neighbourhoods that she would probably never otherwise see. We agreed that even though the streetcar was slower and more crowded, at least there would be more to look at.

In the end, I think she was satisfied with the outing. I’m sure she wants to head out again another weekend. I kind of want to show her how to access the trains from Union Station on her own, and I want to check out the St. Lawrence Market together one morning. I want her to experience the city as I’ve come to know it from working downtown. Those are all noble goals, but ultimately I’m just glad to be spending time with her. Ever since moving out we really haven’t done much together. This time is golden. Need to take advantage while I can, you know?