Friday, February 27, 2009
Oh, Canada!
In the past six months, I have been to Canada twice—in November, I went to Alberta for work, and two weeks ago, Dave and I went to Montreal for a short vacation (or, as Bridget Jones would say, "a romantic mini-break weekend." However, since we spent part of Valentine's Day watching the NBA slam dunk contest, I'm not sure our vacation would have been up to Bridget's romantic mini-break weekend standards). Aaaanyway, I feel that two trips to Canada in pretty rapid succession qualify me to unequivocally state that Canada is awesome. Here are some of the reasons why:
-The food. In Quebec, they have this delightful concoction called tarte au sucre. For those of you who can't recall your high-school French vocabulary (I feel you there), this translates to sugar pie. Specifically, maple sugar pie. Yes, folks, the Quebecois have invented a pie made out of nothing but cream and maple sugar. Once I discovered this delightful confection, I ate as much of it as I possibly could. This is probably why the scale at my gym is telling me I've gained three pounds since the last time I stepped on it. Well, that and the poutine, which is another Quebec invention consisting of french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. I'm aware that doesn't sound quite as delectable as the maple sugar pie, but in its own way, it is. I just wish I hadn't felt so disgusted with myself after scarfing down a whole plate of it. Perhaps that's why it was recommended in the guidebook as drunk food.
-The music. This is no surprise, as I have long been fond of Canadian musicians. This fondness started in high school with Sarah McLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies, and has grown over the years to encompass artists like Leonard Cohen and the Great Lake Swimmers. When Dave and I were looking for something to do on our last night in Montreal, I started poring over the live-music listings in the local alternative weekly, figuring this might be a chance to further my love for Canadian musicians. I found a small write-up on Jill Barber, a Vancouver-based singer/songwriter who was playing at a tiny club not far from our hotel, so we decided to check her out. The concert was awesome—she mostly sang songs from her newest album, which has kind of an old-school, 1950s feel. I did notice one odd thing about my first Canadian live-music experience, though—the audience was almost oddly well-behaved. To the point that Dave and I were the only people in the entire room dancing. Sure, most of the songs were pretty slow and not really dance-able, but there were a few up-tempo numbers. And it's not like we were breaking into a fully choreographed tango right there in the middle of the club—we were just kind of swaying along to the music, but we seemed to be the only people in the room moving our bodies in any sort of fashion. I think it might be a Montreal thing, though, as even Jill Barber commented a few times on how reserved the audience was.
-The fact that it's technically a different country. Canada might not be that far away from the U.S., and we might speak the exact same language (except for Quebec, of course, which was an interesting experience, attempting to speak French somewhere other than France), but it is technically a different country. I know because I had to wait a freaking hour to get my passport stamped at the Edmonton airport, and endure a series of bizarre questions from the U.S. border patrol guard on our way back into Vermont from Quebec. (My favorite: "Have you ever had trouble with the law anywhere in the world?" I mean, what was he going to do if I'd been like, "Well, there was this one time in London when my friend Dave and his roommate were playing in the shopping carts at the huge Tesco Metro, and a bobby came up and asked us, "Are you off your trolley?!"?) Anyway, Canada is kind of like international travel lite—you get the thrill of being in another country without all that messy jet lag and language barrier stuff.
As far as I can tell, pretty much the only bad thing about Canada is the weather. Next time I think I'll visit when it's not the dead of winter. (As a side note, all of my trips this winter have been to destinations that are colder than my current locale. This was obviously poor planning, and needs to change next year.)
In the past six months, I have been to Canada twice—in November, I went to Alberta for work, and two weeks ago, Dave and I went to Montreal for a short vacation (or, as Bridget Jones would say, "a romantic mini-break weekend." However, since we spent part of Valentine's Day watching the NBA slam dunk contest, I'm not sure our vacation would have been up to Bridget's romantic mini-break weekend standards). Aaaanyway, I feel that two trips to Canada in pretty rapid succession qualify me to unequivocally state that Canada is awesome. Here are some of the reasons why:
-The food. In Quebec, they have this delightful concoction called tarte au sucre. For those of you who can't recall your high-school French vocabulary (I feel you there), this translates to sugar pie. Specifically, maple sugar pie. Yes, folks, the Quebecois have invented a pie made out of nothing but cream and maple sugar. Once I discovered this delightful confection, I ate as much of it as I possibly could. This is probably why the scale at my gym is telling me I've gained three pounds since the last time I stepped on it. Well, that and the poutine, which is another Quebec invention consisting of french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. I'm aware that doesn't sound quite as delectable as the maple sugar pie, but in its own way, it is. I just wish I hadn't felt so disgusted with myself after scarfing down a whole plate of it. Perhaps that's why it was recommended in the guidebook as drunk food.
-The music. This is no surprise, as I have long been fond of Canadian musicians. This fondness started in high school with Sarah McLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies, and has grown over the years to encompass artists like Leonard Cohen and the Great Lake Swimmers. When Dave and I were looking for something to do on our last night in Montreal, I started poring over the live-music listings in the local alternative weekly, figuring this might be a chance to further my love for Canadian musicians. I found a small write-up on Jill Barber, a Vancouver-based singer/songwriter who was playing at a tiny club not far from our hotel, so we decided to check her out. The concert was awesome—she mostly sang songs from her newest album, which has kind of an old-school, 1950s feel. I did notice one odd thing about my first Canadian live-music experience, though—the audience was almost oddly well-behaved. To the point that Dave and I were the only people in the entire room dancing. Sure, most of the songs were pretty slow and not really dance-able, but there were a few up-tempo numbers. And it's not like we were breaking into a fully choreographed tango right there in the middle of the club—we were just kind of swaying along to the music, but we seemed to be the only people in the room moving our bodies in any sort of fashion. I think it might be a Montreal thing, though, as even Jill Barber commented a few times on how reserved the audience was.
-The fact that it's technically a different country. Canada might not be that far away from the U.S., and we might speak the exact same language (except for Quebec, of course, which was an interesting experience, attempting to speak French somewhere other than France), but it is technically a different country. I know because I had to wait a freaking hour to get my passport stamped at the Edmonton airport, and endure a series of bizarre questions from the U.S. border patrol guard on our way back into Vermont from Quebec. (My favorite: "Have you ever had trouble with the law anywhere in the world?" I mean, what was he going to do if I'd been like, "Well, there was this one time in London when my friend Dave and his roommate were playing in the shopping carts at the huge Tesco Metro, and a bobby came up and asked us, "Are you off your trolley?!"?) Anyway, Canada is kind of like international travel lite—you get the thrill of being in another country without all that messy jet lag and language barrier stuff.
As far as I can tell, pretty much the only bad thing about Canada is the weather. Next time I think I'll visit when it's not the dead of winter. (As a side note, all of my trips this winter have been to destinations that are colder than my current locale. This was obviously poor planning, and needs to change next year.)
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