Niagara is a region of confusing names. There are two Niagara Falls, one on each side of the border. Then, there’s the Niagara Falls, the waterfall. There are also two Niagara-on-the-Lakes, one is the town and the other is the wine region, the two overlap with slight border differences. Camp Read more
It’s really too bad that the weather was terrible when I went to St. Catharines because it’s location on Lake Ontario allows for wonderful photo opportunities. Lakeside Park, which features a colourful carousel and a beach on one side and a lighthouse on the other, looked absolutely miserable in the Read more
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
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
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
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
Jean Chrétien was Prime Minister of Canada for a decade between 1993 and 2003. He was born and raised in Shawinigan, Quebec, where a museum is dedicated to his role in integrating Canada with the wider world. Although fire department maps name the gallery space as a “temporary exhibition” space Read more
La Cité d’Énergie is the main tourist attraction in the otherwise sleepy post-industrial Shawinigan. It’s one way the town is trying to reinvent itself as its population is declining for better opportunities in larger cities. The science centre is easily distinguishable by its 115-metre-tall pylon that has been converted into Read more