Canada

 

 

 

 

Canada is amazing — the second largest country in the world, more than 3.8 million square miles in all, and it touches three oceans – the Pacific, Atlantic and the Arctic. Despite this great size, it has a population that is only about 1/10 that of the United States, and 90% of it lives within 100 miles of the 5,500 mile-long border it shares with the USA.

But what’s most amazing is that most Americans know appallingly little about the country. In fact, the average Canadian schoolchild knows more about the US — including its geography, history, culture and political figures — than most American adults know about Canada. Perhaps it’s time we all got educated.

Canada has two official languages, English and French, and is comprised of 10 provinces and three territories. The latter are so immense that together they are more than the size of Alaska, Texas and California combined.

On the eastern edge of the country, jutting out into the Atlantic, are Labrador and Newfoundland, rugged country where icebergs drift slowly along their 10,500 miles of craggy coastline. Whales swim in the sparkling waters up here while moose and other wildlife graze in nearby marshes and in forests further inland. Along the West coast of Newfoundland are some of the most dramatic landscapes in the country.

To the south is the region of Atlantic Canada with its provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. You’re never far from the sea here and as you travel along the beautiful coast you’ll wind through verdant woodlands and picturesque villages, some centuries-old. The entire area is one of the Canada’s top vacation destinations.

New Brunswick lays claim to the Bay of Fundy (with the highest tides in the world) as well as beautiful Acadian villages and quiet coves. You also find many little bays in Nova Scotia where picturesque lighthouses and fishing towns dot the coastal landscape. The farmlands and rolling green hills of Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province, attract many bicyclists, golfers and anglers.

In Québec, Canada’s largest province, the pastoral southern landscape belies the vast tundra of its frozen north up along Hudson Bay. The province is the largest French-speaking territory in the world and many of the 7 million citizens live in multiethnic Montréal and in the provincial capital of Québec City, the only walled city in North America.

Ontario, the adjacent province west of Québec, is the second largest province and sweeps northward from the Great Lakes to Hudson Bay. While the North contains thick forests and Arctic tundra, in the South you’ll find Toronto, Canada’s largest city, Niagara Falls, the country’s greatest tourist destination, and Ottawa, the nation’s capital.

Further west, in central Canada, the Great Plains roll across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta. Although endless fields of wheat and canola may stretch to the horizon and dominate the landscape here, there are also aspen forests to the west, tundra in the north and desert-like Badlands in the south. In the Badlands east of Calgary is Dinosaur Provincial Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, where dinosaurs once roamed. 75 million years ago the area was a tropical swamp similar to the Florida Everglades.

British Columbia’s beauty – ranging from ancient coastal rainforests to the Rocky Mountains it shares with western Alberta – make it a popular destination. While the northern part of the province is primarily mountainous, the south is fertile farmland filled with orchards and vineyards. Many travelers are attracted to Vancouver, a beautiful city made more famous by the 2010 Olympics, and the beautiful coastal scenery of the Pacific National Park Reserve.

Northern Canada — the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut — stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, encompassing more than 35% of the total area of the country. Home to the First Nations people and the Inuit, it is a barren landscape which lures about a half-million visitors every year, many of whom come to see wildlife including musk ox, caribou and polar bears.

Travel to its northernmost point and you’ll be only 500 miles from the North Pole.

Good to Know

Strike Up the Bands in Quebec City!
It’s one of the most thrilling places on earth during the special Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands. There’s just music everywhere! At the concert halls, in historic places, in parks, on the streets during parades, everyone is so captured with the music. We were “blown away” by the love of the music, the merriment, cheering, the pure joy, the pride.

Niagara-on-the-Lake: I Shouldn’t Take It for Granted
Just down the road for me about an hour away is the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. It’s a place filled with great things to see and do that, quite frankly, I seem to be taking for granted. I guess it’s the same for all of us. We don’t think to explore what is close by until a friend or family member visits and reminds us about it.

Montréal’s Old Neighborhoods
A few weeks ago we spent a long weekend in Montréal. I had always heard the city was a great place to visit, and a good budget destination, but you can take it from me that the first is true, the second isn’t. Blame it on the dollar. Still though, with the mix of English and French, the bilingual signs, the cobbled streets and architecture in the city’s old town, it is like a mini-trip to Europe sans the long flight.

Canada’s Great Winter Festivals
Many of us take winter vacations to escape the cold. But there’s another side to this coin — seeking the cold for a unique vacation experience. I’m not referring to a ski or snowboard getaway to the mountains, or snowmobiling about a national park, but about an urban winter vacation where you can enjoy the cultural side of a city including great restaurants, museums and shopping.

Quebec City, France Closer to Home
It was almost 30 years ago when I traveled to Paris for the first time. Like any city you come to appreciate and enjoy, I remember the experience well. A few weeks ago I experienced a similar feeling when I visited Quebec City. I had been there several times in the past, flying in and out on business, but never taking the time to enjoy it as a tourist. I now realize what a mistake I had made, for in Old Quebec I found the look and feel and language of France, but with more welcoming hosts and without the trans-Atlantic airfare.