Fresh on the heels of our second wedding engagement (get it???) we’ve been trying to cover as much ground as possible. We headed to the great white north to see just what’s going on under america’s hat. We hit up most of the major things in eastern Canadia – Toronto, Ottowa, Montreal and Niagara Falls (sorry Halifax). Protip for you wine nerds on the east coast – in the states you hear a lot of hype about Napa. But there’s like 200 wineries in the Niagara area alone and they make some fantastic wines. And I say this as both a drunk and a glutton. It was actually surprising we hadn’t heard of it – it’s almost as if it’s a conspiracy. And speaking of conspiracies, why the hell is Thanksgiving so late in America? November 28? I’m telling you, Canadia has the right idea – they celebrate Thanksgiving a full six weeks ahead of us. I’m pretty sure they’re still celebrating stealing land from native Americans (Canadia-ans?), so it makes sense that the food is identical. And by that I mean it is delicious. We sort of wandered into it – we didn’t even know there was a national holiday approaching until we got there. I gorged myself on a couple thanksgiving dinners (by now you know the Wawa Gobbler story) and Shefali exercised characteristic restraint as usual. Montreal is cool, it has a massive subterranean city – which is really just a bunch of shopping malls and subway stations all interconnected through underground corridors. Still it’s pretty impressive. Also it’s fun when they just start busting out the French to you. I can usually get one or two thoughts out if I need something, but all bets are off once somebody is trying to have a conversation. In many ways, it’s like speaking English. Toronto was fun, a very active east coast city. Lots of cool street art and someone even made sculptures entirely out of Vespas. Plus, the best jerk chicken i’ve ever had and the most amazing fish taco i’ve ever had within four doors of each other. Is there anything Canadia-ans can’t do? Oh yeah – drive. Seriously, they’ll just pull out in front of you without signaling or waving. I mean, there’s the stereotype of the polite Canadia-an. And that definitely exists – from the owner of the hostel in Toronto to the social table in Vancouver (more on that later), if anything the myth is a bit of an understatement. And maybe that’s why they all do it, maybe they expect you to jam on the breaks and graciously allow them to pass because they would do the same for you or anyone else. Or maybe all the generations of transgressively intermixing with undomesticated species such as polar bears and eskimos has deadened their fine motor skills. Or, maybe they only know how to drive moose and that’s just how you drive a moose. I can’t say, I was born in a hospital, not a log cabin. Toronto in particular had some fun surprises, like the hands-free trash cans (genius) and parking rules you need a PhD in cryptography to decode (just like home!). We burned about two weeks here before heading back to New England to meet up with some friends.
[1] Buffalo, NY and Niagara Falls
[2] Toronto, ON
[3] Ottawa, ON
[4] Montréal, QC