A nice little piece over at Canoe and Kayak Magazine about two
guys who paddle across Canada. Two brothers to be specific. it’s nicely written and really seems like this was a tres
cool adventure. These guys went all out, paddling hundreds and hundreds of miles, even descending the formidable
Yellowknife River. Take a look.
Montreal for the Aquatically Inclined
It’s not so often that one finds a world class adventure river splicing through a world class city of
culture. But, as Eve Glasberg reports in The New York Times, Montreal is one amazing place that is blessed
with both.
Visitors to this French Canadian city can not only indulge in fine museums, galleries and outstanding restaurants,
but they can also don wet suits and enjoy either the wild St. Lawrence River or the tamer Lachine Canal.
A number of tour operators, such as Les Descentes sur le St.-Laurent,
offer white water aficionados both rafting and jet boat tours of some gnarly rapids (anyone know the French word for
gnarly?). Water lovers who prefer the more prosaic, can opt for kayaks and
pedal boats on the smooth waters of the nearby Lachine Canal. The nine-mile canal
was constructed in 1825 with the sole purpose of detouring ships around the aforementioned rapids that have now become
such a tourist attraction. The canal was closed in 1970 (after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened) and then converted
into a recreational boating park in 2004.
As an added bonus, the canal is lined with a bounty of parks and bike trails. In fact, Montreal has over 200
miles of bike trails. This is why, as Glasberg points out, Bicycling Magazine has awarded it the very
best bicycling city in North America.
Peddle or paddle, Montreal is definitely worth a visit.
Word for the Travel Wise (03/23/06)
Before you go thinking I’ve
made today’s lesson as easy as plucking it from a stop sign found in Nunavut, Canada – think twice. I wish things could
be just that easy and all the world could understand and communicate fluidly and fluently in the various tongue of one
another, but such is not true and we must continue to broaden our minds and sharpen our skills by learning the native
language of even the most uncommonly used words. No matter how dizzy and long today’s word may be I know that our
struggle to become more knowledgeable travelers is not in vain. We may stop, pause, or ask someone to speak a little
slower, but we shall proceed.
Today’s phrase is an Inuktitut phrase used in Canada:
quviasuktunga
tamaaniinnama – I am happy to be here.
I confess, looking at that phrase gives me a slight
headache. While it seems almost equivalent to the word scrambles commonly found in the Sunday papers, Inuktitut words as
noted from this Nunavut.com site are more "like
Lego blocks, intricate pieces locked together to produce a nugget of meaning." Wow, I’d certainly say so. Wiki breaks things down further with in depth info on terrirtories
where the language is heard in Canada, differences between Inukitut and the Inuit heard in Greendland and Alaska and
includes pictures of the alphabet. Learning this one on the web will be tough, but for those who wish to tackle such
linguistic feats check out the links above and some of these last few: Nunavut Living Dictionary, Inkutitut Syllabarium, the Inukitut Morphology List which holds the key
to one of the best online dictionaries for getting started.
Whistler to Get Dumped On
One of my favorite places to ski in the world is going to
get dumped on soon
with thousands of tons of freshie, though sadly, I will not be able to be there. Whistler in British Columbia…well, BC in general…is expected to get at
least 1-2 feet of snow, starting on Thursday or early Friday and then the storm will move east later Friday and the
weekend. So if you’re in the area, it might be a good time to take a sick day…and I MEAN sick day, becuse the skiiing
is gong to get absolutely sick.
Elmira Maple Syrup Festival
If your kids are into
incredibly sticky and sugary-sweet things mark your calendars for April 1, 2006. Recognized in the Guinness Book of
World Records as the world’s largest maple syrup festivals the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival is held once as year and is
considered a true sign of spring for Canadian residents and for visitors from all over the world. Located just a
wee-bit outside of urban Ontario, the Elmira area
is rural, laid-back and provides an abundance of outdoor activity like hiking and canoeing aside from a day harvesting
syrup. As a family you’ll want to roll into the event as early as possible so the kids can experience the MegaMutts Dog
Show, Old MacDonald’s Farm and stack up their tasty breakfast pancakes to cover them in the delicious maple syrup. For
mom and pop activities include an antique and collectible show, Sugarbrush tour and pancake flipping contest.