Author: admin

Thursday, 17 June 2010 Ottawa, Canada It’s 0545hrs. Three taxi drivers are arguing the toss over who should take me to the railway station. A few blocks away. None want to take me. No. They want to do an airport run. An expensive fare rather than my paltry CA$6. Security measures are in place for… Read more

Wednesday, 16 June 2010 Toronto, Canada Up on the 23rd floor the hotel is shrouded in rain. And the view is of the inside of a cloud. Tipping it down. Am struggling to walk, dear reader. My left foot. Is knackered. Decide it needs seeing to. A massage is required. Chinatown will definitely have massage… Read more

Tuesday, 15 June 2010 Toronto, Canada Arrive Toronto station an hour and a half late. And you moan about a few minutes on your daily commute. The first impression on approach is the CN Tower. It. Is. Tall. Toronto reminds me of New York. Same style skyscrapers. Same architecture. Same shadows in high summer caused… Read more

Monday, 14 June 2010 Toronto transit, Canada After an emotional evening, left Winnipeg behind on the train departing at 2330hrs last night. For a 34hr rail journey to Toronto. On a real high last night after a memorable weekend in Winnipeg. Train trundling across the prairies. Landscape has morphed into rock and boreal forest as… Read more

Sunday, 13 June 2010 Winnipeg, Canada Assiniboine Park houses an art gallery. Notable, dear reader, as it has the only known oil painting of Winnie the Pooh. Winnie the Pooh being named after Winnipeg. Enroute to join the Canadian Army Veterinary Corp at the start of World War 1, Harry Colebourn purchased a bear cub.… Read more

Saturday, 12 June 2010 Winnipeg, Canada Continue the weekend theme of all things World War 2 at the Western Canadian Air Museum. Small display tucked away in a corner dedicated to Coastal Command shows a Sunderland Flying boat and its dimensions. Its only now that I realise how big and bulky the Sunderland Flying boat… Read more

Friday, 11 June 2010 Winnipeg, Canada Introduced to Tim Horton’s by Mr & Mrs Manitoba. Canada’s answer to Starbucks. Breakfast for the three of us costs CA$ 7!!! About £4. Three coffees and bagels. Bloody hell. That’s cheap. Costs about £4 for a coffee alone in the UK. We’re to meet Maurice Shnider. A small… Read more

Thursday, 10 June 2010 Winnipeg, Canada   Whole day on the rails trundling through flat as a pancake landscape. Having left the mountainous Canadian Rockies behind now crossing the Canadian Prairies. God. It’s flat. Am to spend the weekend in Winnipeg. To meet people I’ve never met before. But. We have a connection. My Great… Read more

Wednesday, 9 June 2010 Jasper, Canada Quick excursion up the Jasper Tramway. Don’t know why they call it a tramway. What they actually mean is a cable car. Whisks you up to 7,500ft for magnificent views back down into the valley and Jasper town below. Of course, the higher the altitude, the colder it is.… Read more

Tuesday, 8 June 2010 Jasper, Canada Day trip down the Icefield Parkway to the Columbia Icefield. Having paid for the trip last night, discover I’m not on the bus driver’s passenger list. So not going. Two others from the hotel are not on the list either. Despite having paid. Driver discovers the error of his… Read more