We took the bus downtown yesterday so walked from home to the bus station, bus station to dinner, then to the Arts Centre. This was the turnaround point of my walk.
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I also spent time walking around during intermission. Our National Arts Centre just had a major renovation/addition and so I'm still exploring it and learning new pathways (and new washrooms!) We were, obviously, sitting on the main floor this concert, but from the Mezzanine (the first level balcony and boxes) there is a new way of exiting onto the main road (the Centre is built on a hill with the main entrance at the back in front of our canal.) And they added a wheelchair ramp to make the concert hall more accessible.
After the concert, everyone else in the hall was ahead of us as they walked toward the lobby and exits and it was slow going (the hall seats 2000.) As soon as I got to the ramp, I had dh follow me and that popped us out at the foot of the stairs to the Mezzanine, up those and we were onto the main road in a minute. It was much faster. The Arts Centre is half way between two bus stops so if we are in the theatre, it is quicker to exit towards the East bus stop, and if we are in the concert hall, we can go to the west bus stop. Same number of steps and both walks are equally pretty.
Cost wise, it is almost 3x as much to bus as to drive and park a few blocks away. Time wise it takes 2x as much time to get there but is faster to get home since we don't have to wait for the parking lot to empty. But stress wise, it is better to bus plus I get a walk in so we have been doing that since we moved here.
Many times we choose to bus, at greater cost and time, than to drive but it is part of the project of getting more steps into our lives. It is simply a mindset to slow down and not cram as much into each day as possible. In return, we can build a bit of fitness time into our days.