City of the Arts (0)
Posted 19 February, 2008 in Canadian Travel
Toronto, capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario, is an art enthusiast’s dream. The city, the fifth largest in North America, is home to several major galleries and museums.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is the largest in Canada with more than 40 galleries. The museum displays both art works and natural history items and has the largest collection of avian and mammalian skeletons in the world. The museum’s Far East Collection, the largest collection of far eastern artifacts outside of China, is anchored by the Ming Tomb, a complete seventeenth century warriors tomb and the only complete Chinese tomb in the West.
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art was, at one time affiliated with the Royal Ontario Museum. This specialized museum is home to more than 2,000 pieces of ceramic art. Their collection features everything from pre-Columbian pottery to classic European porcelains of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Art Gallery of Toronto has strong collections of European and Canadian art. One of the main attractions of the Gallery is its collection of Henry Moore sculptures, one of the largest in the world. Henry Moore personally designed the exhibit space for this collection in 1974.
For more than thirty years the Textile Museum of Canada has celebrated international fiber art. Their permanent collection contains more than 12,000 textiles, from pieces as much as 2000 years old to modern designs, with samples from more than 200 regions of the world.
The Bata Shoe Museum is housed in a whimsical, shoebox-shaped building designed by architect Raymond Moriyama. The museum is home to a 4,500-piece, semi-permanent “History of Shoes” exhibit that highlights examples of footwear spanning time and the globe, from ancient Egyptian sandals to the sleekly sexy stilettos of 1990s. The Bata also has three additional galleries that display special exhibits throughout the year.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (0)
Posted 5 February, 2008 in Canadian Travel
The bright red uniform jacket and broad-brimmed hat of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are a symbol of Canada recognized all over the world. The well-known red serge coat, black riding pants with their yellow stripe, and red-banded Stetson are not part of the regular daily uniform for these police officers. The red, white, and black dress uniform is, generally, only worn for civic ceremonies, public relations events, celebrations and memorials.
The RCMP is a singular organization, since it is simultaneously a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. They provide total federal policing service to all Canadians. They are also under contract to provide policing services to eight provinces (all except Quebec and Ontario), the 3 Canadian territories, more than 200 municipal areas, 165 First Peoples communities, plus 3 international airports and several smaller airports.
Piercing Interest (0)
Posted 29 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
Gasp Peninsula in Quebec, Canada is aptly named. Its name derives from the Mi’kmaq Indian word gespeg, meaning ‘end of land’. It is the end of an eastern Canadian peninsula, and, more interestingly, just off the coast lies Perc Rock, the far northern end of the Appalachian mountains.
Perc Rock is one of nature’s true wonders, and one of the most photographed places in Quebec, possibly in all of Canada. The 375 million year-old rock is an enormous limestone slab, 295 feet (90 m) wide, 279 feet (85 m) high at its highest point, and an awe-inspiring 1476 feet (450 m) long. The rock’s name comes from the French word perc, “pierce”, so-called for the large opening that pierces the slab near the seaward end.
Olympic Fans (0)
Posted 21 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
International sports enthusiasts can visit the history of the Olympic Games in Canada, and get a glimpse of the future.
Canada hosted its first Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec in 1976.
The Olympic Stadium in Montreal features the world’s tallest inclined towers - it is 574 feet (175 m) high. The vision of the architect who planned the stadium was nearly impossible to achieve, however. The stadium’s retractable roof was not completed until 1987, more than 10 years after the event for which it was designed.
Drumheller (0)
Posted 17 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
Drumheller, Alberta, in the heart of Canada’s prairies, proclaims itself “The Dinosaur Capital of North America”, and has the fossils to back it up.
Just northwest of Drumheller is the Dinosaur Trail, a 32-mile (50km) circular drive along Highway 838 that will lead visitors to, among other things, the Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology, and the World’s Largest Dinosaur.
The Royal Tyrell Museum has a wide array of exhibits. The Hexen Science Hall features an interactive display to demonstrate basic scientific concepts. In the Preparation Lab, visitors can watch scientists prepare fossils for study or display. The Burgess Shale and Devonian Reef exhibits offer a look at life under the waters of Canada’s prehistoric oceans. In the Cretaceous Garden, Museum guests can walk through living history, a garden filled with the same plants the dinosaurs ate.
High Rollers (0)
Posted 16 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
The tides in the Bay of Fundy, the waterway between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, are the highest in the world, with an estimated 100 billion tons of water rolling in and out of the bay twice daily.
One of the best places to see this phenomenon in action is Hopewell Rocks Park. These “flowerpot” rocks are tree-topped rocks only partially visible at high tide. Low tide reveals their delicate, sculpted bases. During low tide it is possible to actually walk on the revealed sea floor. As the tide comes in, footprints left on the flats literally disappear before people’s eyes as the water rises six to eight feet per hour. In some parts of the bay the difference between high and low tide can be as much as 46 feet (14 m).
Whale enthusiasts will appreciate the bay area for the variety of marine mammals attracted to its krill-rich waters during the summer months. Up to fifteen different species of toothed and baleen whales make their summer home in the waters just outside the bay. Whale-watching tours depart daily from June to October each year.
While in Calgary, gastronomes and chocoholics alike should swing by the home office of Callebaut Chocolate, 1313 1st Street SE, for Canadian chocolates with Old World style. (0)
Posted 16 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
Bernard Callebaut grew up in Belgium next door to the factory where his family had been making chocolate for the previous four generations. In 1980, when the family decided to sell the Belgian chocolate business to Swiss chocolate giant Suchard Toblerone (they still owned, among other things, a brewery), Bernard decided to emigrate.
We wanted to bring truly excellent, gourmet chocolate to the Americas. After touring cities throughout America and Canada, he fell in love with the mountains and culture of Calgary. There he began anew with Bernard Callebaut chocolates.
Yukon (0)
Posted 16 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
Yukon, formerly The Yukon Territory, is Canada’s most northwestern province, bordered on the north by the Beaufort Sea and the west by the state of Alaska.
Visitors to the region will need to be hardy and prepared for the sub-arctic climate. The temperature in the province goes over 50° F (10° C) less than four months of the year. The average winter temperature is between -4° F and -26° F (-20° to -32° C) but, since it is drier than many parts of southern Canada, the cold is considered more bearable than the same temperatures would be further south.
Empress Hotel (0)
Posted 16 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
The Empress Hotel sits regally on the Inner Harbor of Victoria, capital of British Columbia, and is a joy to behold for both history and architecture buffs. The Fairmont Empress will be celebrating her one hundredth anniversary in 2008.
The hotel was begun in 1904 after supporters of the city convinced the Canadian Pacific Railroad to establish regular ferry service to Vancouver Island and build one of the railroad’s signature hotels in Victoria. The Empress, named for Queen Victoria, then the Empress of India, and designed by English architect Francis Rattenbury. The original, 116-room Edwardian chateau-style building opened with a great deal of fanfare in 1908.
Ride the Rails (0)
Posted 13 January, 2008 in Canadian Travel
Travel in western Canada can be adventurous, romantic, and fun. All you have to do is take the train. VIA Rail, Canada’s federal Crown corporation railway system, offers several routes to travelers who want to see Canada without having to drive through it.
The Canadian is the western transcontinental train, a three-day journey from Toronto to Vancouver with stops along the way in Winnipeg, Jasper, and Edmonton, among others. Truly adventurous travelers who want to plan their own vacation can even request special stops anywhere between Sudbury Junction and Winnipeg, a service the rail line touts to outdoor enthusiasts.
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