Is it weird to worry about speaking to your own parents? Margaret said they had a good plan for calling the UK and so I could call Mum and Dad if I wanted, but my initial feeling was fear. Not sure what to say after all these months, particularly as the last time I spoke to the them I broke down crying and Mum thought the phone had broken!

After an initial try at 10.30am when they didn't pick up and the answer phone was full to the brim I eventually got through at 11.30 to find they were filling their faces and watching rugby - no change there. No tears this time, a few sniffles because of my cold, but it was all very grown up. Good lord maybe this trip has changed me!

We drove into Toronto to go to the Art Gallery of Ontario in the afternoon, where my dwindling interest in art and museums was revitalised by the likes of Tom Thomson. Very impressed by the gallery, and surprised to hear of the Group of Seven who'd never been mentioned around me before, another item to add to my list of 'things to look up when get home'. We wandered down Queen Street and looked in am amazement at the many offers of 'Buy one get one for $1.99', crazy talk.

Dinner was a curried chicken concoction, very nice indeed, and followed by The Insider. A good day one might say.

Sunday was a very relaxed affair, although Barclay had had a bad night and kept Margaret and Daniel up so it was a good job it was. We went out to Cora's for breakfast, a chain in Canada that serves waffles with custard and cream, crepes, and pancakes, as well as the good old English. I wanted to get something I could put Maple syrup on, apparently anything goes, but my muesli crepes went pretty well.

I caught up on banking and reading as Margaret and Daniel did their pre-winter gardening, and I proved myself a poor houseguest by not getting them a warm drink the whole time they were outside. The selfishness of travelling alone hadn't erased yet. Sorry. We looked through Margaret's pictures from Beijing, Kristina's from Iceland, as well as Daniel's, and the many many pictures of Costa Rica from Kristina. I think I might have a contender for taking the most photos!

A dinner of pork tenderloin and more glorious vegetables before watching Out of Africa with Meryl Streep's dodgy accent. Impressed by the film, but more so by the African landscape which, I don't know if you remember, I saw first hand!