bicrom abroad

i don't possess a suitcase. despite being in my thirties and having lugged the various paraphernalia required for life on the road around scores of different countries, despite having invested in travel towels and money belts and head torches and all manner of other travelling gear, this supposedly staple piece of equipment is something which i have never really had any need for. this revelation hit me, or rather was batted towards me by a mildly aggrieved wife, when packing for our first long holiday in the first world. crumpling shirts and jumpers into the bottom of my backpack is apparently simply not commensurate with the dress codes of toronto restaurants and the door policies of new york bars.
strange to think that a holiday into canada constitutes the unknown for vicki and i. yet after a few hours in toronto, of enjoying the now novel experience of being back in a city, the novelty had already started to wear off a little. toronto is very, well, nice; you can imagine it being a wonderful place to live but beyond that it's just a bit vanilla. fine for a couple of days, good for some romantic first anniversary dining and reacquainting ourselves with shops that open on  sundays and other wonders which are anathema to cayman, but not much beyond that.
even niagara felt a bit flat. after iguazu and kaiteur it was just a bit average, barely worth navigating the hordes of sweaty american and indian tourists. we saw the falls (and of course the floral clock; as ridiculously mediocre as it sounds), got drenched on the boatride, ate an ice cream and got back on the bus. all that was missing was the obligatory tshirt.
despite the apparent negativity of the preceding few paragraphs, toronto actually served its purpose and we had a pleasant enough time. after some long months in our respective offices a few days relaxing in a nice hotel room (albeit one which had a front door which looked deceptively like a bathroom door in the black of night; if vicki hadn't have put the chain lock on i would have been blearily displaying my wares under the bright corridor lights at 3am) and being back in a big city were actually just what we needed. we ate in an amazing restaurant for our anniversary, knocked back some kir royales, got some lebanese food and did some generic mooching. solid, textbook holidaying. but our trips abroad are always about more than just hotels and restaurants and, as such, we cannot wait to touch down in british columbia and really start seeing and doing some stuff. and if the developed world can throw up enough surprises maybe i will invest in that suitcase after all.