“Which one?”, I hear you ask. Well, I’ll give you a clue. It’s not the large circular object. ;)

After willing myself back to sleep at 4am (curse you, jet lag!), I finally got up at around 9, and headed down to the on-site Mizzen restaurant for breakfast. I had a delightful helping of Eggs Benedict, which was presented so prettily that I almost didn’t want to begin carving it apart, and tasted excellent. It was during a conversation with the waitress that I found out that the con had agreed a 10% discount on breakfast with the restaurant, so that was fun. Until you added in the taxes, which cancelled out the discount. Canada, please, add your taxes into your prices…!

Sufficiently filled by breakfast, I went for a walk around the downtown area before the opening ceremony, down to the CN Tower and Rogers Centre and back across to Union. Not long, but the cold, crisp air was a pleasant break from the dry heat of the hotel. Back at the Westin, I completed a Furscience survey just before the opening ceremony began, at which it was a delight to see Shiro and up on stage as Guests of Honour alongside the DHC fursuit makers. It was also incredible to see the venue packed to the rafters, and even then, I knew that this con would be far larger than the previous year. The Dealers’ Den opened, and I spent most of that afternoon wondering around there, where I came across great friends and stopped by the tables of truly brilliant artists along the way; and I wondered around for a bit, presented me with a beautiful piece of artwork, and and were as delightful company as ever (I will have REAL Welsh cakes for you next time, I promise!). I also ran into a very cool avian fursuiter, who told me that he was the volunteer who had helped in setting up the wires the previous night.

It was also during the afternoon that I received word from Soba that he was on his way, at last. Learning that his ETA would be mid-evening, I headed down to the lobby to see off the TF dinner group, and to assemble the honour guard for my roommate. Alas, when he arrived, the Westin car park was completely full, and I took his bags to the room while he headed out in search of parking. Successfully found for the night (though at an extortionate price), we had little time to settle in before we headed back out to meet up with a certain Gideon Hoss, who I had not met before but who was a terrific gentleman to speak with. Suggesting the Fox as a suitable venue, we made it in good time before the sports fans descended on the bar (with Toronto playing hockey at home that evening), and so I ordered a fish & chips and displayed the etiquette of applying salt & vinegar to the dish. Over dinner, Gideon and I found a common interest in World War II history, and the three of us spent a good while chatting on the subject before the crowd of hockey fans descended. We barely escaped with our lives. ;-p

Back at the hotel, my roommate and I retired to our room, and being the awesome fellow that he is, he presented me with some items he’d been able to snag from Midwest Furfest (with an aviation theme I would have liked to have gone, and so his getting some goodies for me really made my evening)! I think I got off to sleep at around 11, and slept through until the previous morning.

The fun continues on Saturday! Hope you enjoy!

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TL;DR – Woke up and went for breakfast. Went for a walk before around Toronto. Went to opening ceremony, good fun. Went to Dealers’ Den, where I bumped into some friends and caught up with great artists. No lunch, but drank lots. Around 7pm Soba arrived. Went for dinner with Gideon at the Fox. Went to bed around midnight.