Ottawa is a vast expanse of suburbia and farmland awaiting redevelopment into more suburban homes. Logically, it has an equally expansive greenbelt managed by the National Capital Commission full of trails for outdoor activities. During winter, over a hundred kilometres of snowshoeing and cross-country skiing trails are maintained for citizens Read more
While Canada Slept: How we lost our place in the world By Andrew Cohen I took a course titled Canada and the World taught by Prof. Cohen when I was a master’s student in Ottawa. While Canada Slept was one of the required course readings. There were about 25 of Read more
Geologically similar to the Badlands of South Dakota, the Cheltenham Badlands are a lot smaller in scale. They are a swath of Queenston Shale with layers of siltstone and sandstone. When it was formed, the land was under water. Circulating water helped form the grey streaks in the rock. Lower Read more
There are only five places in the world where a member of public can touch a piece of the moon recovered from one of the Apollo missions, not just from lunar meteorites. There’s one in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Smithsonian Air and Space Read more
The Welland Canal only refers to the one that is currently in service, there were three built before it. The First Welland Canal was completed in 1833 with 40 wooden locks at 110 feet long each. The Old Welland Canal was completed in 1853 with 28 stone locks at 150 Read more
In the heart of the eastern townships of Quebec, Sherbrooke reminds me of Lausanne in Switzerland. It’s not quite as beautiful, but the St. Micheal’s Cathedral on the top of a hill can be seen from Rue Dufferin like how the Lausanne Cathedral can be seen from Post Charles Bessières. Read more
With fortifications stretching back to the 17th century Slubice has a complicated history of sovereignty going back to the Holy Roman Empire. However, all is good nowadays with Slubice and neighbouring Frankfurt (Oder) sharing waste management systems, open borderless bridges, cross-border taxis, public transit, and schools mandating both German and Read more
Like how the German border town of Frankfurt an der Oder is frequently mistaken for Frankfurt am Main, the Polish border town Kostrzyn nad Odra is sometimes confused with the smaller Kostrzyn near Poznan. The name is a mouthful for anyone who can’t speak Eastern European languages so I know Read more
The St. Lawrence river runs from Kingston past Brockville and Montreal to Quebec City then out to the Atlantic. It’s an important waterway that helped build Canada with trade and transportation. What is less well-known are the churches along the river between Montreal and Quebec City. Four of the ten Read more
Arthabaska has been amalgamated with Victoriaville, but it was inhabited as early as 1830 while Victoriaville was only named after Queen Victoria in 1861. More famously, Arthabaska is known to be the summer home of Sir Wilfred Laurier, the first Prime Minister of Canada who spoke French as a first Read more