Pascal and I have known each other since we were 13 and in Hong Kong. When you know someone for a dozen years, you’re not really worried about embarrassing yourself in front of them anymore. He moved to Montreal a couple of years ago and I moved to Ottawa last Read more…
The British Sovereign is from the house of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, so there should be no surprise to the etymology of this town. Located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Cobourg was an important location for trade in the 19th century. The Peterborough and Cobourg Railway connected the city of Peterborough Read more…
“The City of North Bay is a vibrant community in Northern Ontario,” says the city’s website. It could be a vibrant community in summer, but a cold autumn day makes the city’s street population consist almost entirely of homeless people. It’s also the first major city on the way to Read more…
The city of Montreal was named after Mount Royal. If you say it fast enough and corrupt it with a semi-French accent you’ll eventually hear the resemblance. It’s location in the centre of Montreal Island makes it the Central Park of Montreal. It’s a favourite leisure destination of locals in Read more…
I’m travelling Ontario based on the Reader’s Digest Canadian Book of the Road. I should also make it clear that I got the 1991 edition for free from a garage giveaway so some of the information isn’t current. I arrived in Pembroke looking for Ontario’s largest totem pole at its Read more…
One of the most significant cultural events of the year in Geneva is the Fête de l’Escalade to commemorate the repulsion of Savoyard troops from the Republic of Geneva. In 1602, the Duke of Savoy launched a surprise attack on Geneva and legend has it that a cook was the Read more…
I had a quick run through Renfrew. There, I said the pun. The downtown area of Renfrew is actually very pretty. The traffic is calm, people are kind, and local businesses stay local. There aren’t too many chain stores apart from fast food restaurants that populate the streets. The blocks Read more…
If you’re looking for great art, go to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto where they have Reuben’s Massacre of the Innocents and exhibition rooms full of works by the Group of Seven. If you’re looking for a crash course in art history, come to Ottawa’s National Gallery of Read more…
Gatineau sounds like gâteaux, which is the word for cake in French. My relationship with Gatineau is also very gastronomical. It is right across the river from Ottawa, in Québec, where alcohol is sold inside supermarket and discounts are abundant for quality European foodstuffs. Once a week, I would cross Read more…
Waterloo and Kitchener are the twin cities of Ontario. Even though they have grown to connect into one urban agglomeration, they are still separate cities. The logo of the city is actually the tower of the old town hall that now stands in Waterloo Park. The new City Hall, like Read more…