No one told me how hot Summer in Toronto would be, and I certainly did not expect this! Today when I checked the temp for outside whilst I was in the blissfully unaware air-conditioned office, it was 36C, with a 'feels like' rating of 44C. Forty four degrees Celsius! The humidity is the killer! Toronto is like Melbourne in so many ways, but with Sydney's weather. The blanket of heat that covers you the moment you step outside...yuck! I think Quebec City has Melbourne weather - at least it did on Saturday!
As I left work today, I was relieved to see the lights on the Canada Life Tower running downwards, meaning it should be cooler tomorrow. Although only marginally, according to the forecasts.
I had not really anticipated this extreme heat for my time here. In fact, today Michael and I joked at work about how most people see Canada as a place of snow and igloos and Eskimo outfits....certainly not the kind of weather we get back home that contributes to bushfire devastation, like today's heat!
One of the funny, or quirky, things about Toronto is that it has an underground tunnel system, linking most of the major downtown shops and hotels and such places, which is in place to allow Torontonians to avoid the freezing and snow-covered Winters. But these tunnels are ideal for this heat too, and I actually used them 2 weeks ago to escape the heat while running around the city with a client on an errand. These tunnels, the PATH, is like a whole other world, with shops and food courts down there, underground. An escape from the real world above!
When we first moved to Toronto (in January 1987!), my mum thought the real estate agents were trying to scam her whenever they talked about air conditioning, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, and was all "I JUST WANT HEATING!!!". So that's what we got.
ReplyDeleteThat first winter, all our furniture cracked. And the first summer, everything went mouldy, and we all nearly passed out from the heat.
Needless to say, our next house had all the mod cons!!
Basically, Toronto in summer = living in Satan's armpit...
A ha ha ha, Satan's armpit indeed!
DeleteI feel like no one has ever mentioned the heat here!! Ha!
When my housemate was installing the air con in my room I was all like, whatever, as if I will need that!! Needless to say, on right now! Would be dying without it!