Victoria in British Columbia

15 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

The Empress © Miladlaferrari/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Empress © Miladlaferrari/cc-by-sa-3.0

Victoria, the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, is on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada’s Pacific coast. The city has a population of 86,000, while the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria has a population of 383,000, making it the 15th most populous Canadian metropolitan area. The city of Victoria is the 7th most densely populated city in Canada with 4,405.8 people per square kilometre, which is a greater population density than Toronto, Ontario. Victoria is the southernmost major city in Western Canada, and is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from British Columbia’s largest city of Vancouver on the mainland. The city is about 100 km (60 mi) from Seattle by airplane, ferry, or the Victoria Clipper passenger-only ferry which operates daily, year round between Seattle and Victoria, and 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Port Angeles, Washington, by ferry Coho across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.   read more…

Bella Coola in British Columbia

26 February 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

The docks at Bella Coola © flickr.com - Colin/cc-by-2.0

The docks at Bella Coola © flickr.com – Colin/cc-by-2.0

Bella Coola is a community in the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia. Bella Coola usually refers to the entire valley, encompassing the settlements of Bella Coola proper (“the townsite”) (population approximately 148), Lower Bella Coola, Hagensborg, Saloompt, Nusatsum, Firvale and Stuie. It is also the location of the head offices of the Central Coast Regional District. The entire Bella Coola Valley has a population of 2,000. The primary geographical structure of the community, both in terms of physical structures and population distribution, is the long, narrow Bella Coola River valley.   read more…

Canada: Bon appétit!

2 November 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Editorial, Bon appétit Reading Time:  51 minutes

© George F.G. Stanley

© George F.G. Stanley

Canadian cuisine varies widely depending on the regions of the nation. The three earliest cuisines of Canada have First Nations, English, Scottish and French roots, with the traditional cuisine of English Canada closely related to British cuisine, while the traditional cuisine of French Canada has evolved from French cuisine and the winter provisions of fur traders. With subsequent waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th century from Western, Central and Southern European, and Eastern Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Caribbean, the regional cuisines were subsequently augmented.   read more…

Montreal in Quebec

15 September 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  23 minutes

Old port of Montreal by night © flickr.com - Mickael Pollard/cc-by-sa-2.0

Old port of Montreal by night © flickr.com – Mickael Pollard/cc-by-sa-2.0

Montreal is the most populous municipality in the province of Quebec and the second-most populous in Canada. Originally called Ville-Marie, or “City of Mary”, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal. The city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Montreal had a population of 1.7 million. Montreal’s metropolitan area had a population of 4.1 million and a population of 2 million in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city, 60.5% of Montrealers speak French at home, 21.2% speak English and 19.8% speak neither. Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris.   read more…

Lunenburg in Nova Scotia

14 August 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  10 minutes

© Jvienneau/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Jvienneau/cc-by-sa-3.0

Lunenburg is a port town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Situated on the province’s South Shore, Lunenburg is located on the Fairhaven Peninsula at the western side of Mahone Bay. The town is approximately 90 kilometres southwest of the county boundary with the Halifax Regional Municipality. The town was established by the three founding fathers, Patrick Sutherland, Dettlieb Christopher Jessen and John Creighton during Father Le Loutre’s War, four years after Halifax. The town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia intended to displace Mi’kmaq and Acadian Catholics. British settlement posed a lasting, grave and certain threat to Mi’kmaw hegenomy over their traditional territory. Considering that British conditions for peace required surrender of Mi’kmaw sovereignty to the Crown, the Wabanaki Confederacy raided Lunenburg nine times in the early years of the settlement in an attempt to reclaim their loss.   read more…

Stanley Park in Vancouver

21 June 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  11 minutes

Vancouver Rowing Club © Daderot

Vancouver Rowing Club © Daderot

Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1,001-acre) public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver in Canada and is almost entirely surrounded by waters of Vancouver Harbour and English Bay. The park has a long history and was one of the first areas to be explored in the city. The land was originally used by indigenous peoples for thousands of years before British Columbia was colonized by the British during the 1858 Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. For many years after colonization, the future park with its abundant resources would also be home to nonaboriginal settlers. The land was later turned into Vancouver’s first park when the city incorporated in 1886. It was named after Lord Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, a British politician who had recently been appointed governor general. Unlike other large urban parks, Stanley Park is not the creation of a landscape architect, but rather the evolution of a forest and urban space over many years. Most of the manmade structures we see today were built between 1911 and 1937 under the influence of then superintendent W.S. Rawlings. Additional attractions, such as a polar bear exhibit, aquarium, and miniature train, were added in the post-war period.   read more…

Burnaby in British Columbia

2 December 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Highrises across Deer Lake © Vranak/cc-by-sa-3.0

Highrises across Deer Lake © Vranak/cc-by-sa-3.0

Burnaby is a city in Canada, located immediately to the east of Vancouver. It is the third-largest city in British Columbia by population, surpassed only by nearby Surrey and Vancouver. It was incorporated in 1892 and achieved City status in 1992, one hundred years after incorporation. It is the seat of the Greater Vancouver Regional District‘s government, the board of which calls itself Metro Vancouver. Major parklands and waterways in Burnaby include Central Park, Robert Burnaby Park, Kensington Park, Burnaby Mountain, Still Creek, the Brunette River, Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake, and Squint Lake.   read more…

Vancouver in British Columbia

7 March 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  < 1 minute

© flickr.com - High Diver/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – High Diver/cc-by-sa-2.0

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia in Canada. he population is at 604,000 in the city, making it the eighth largest Canadian municipality. The Greater Vancouver area of around 2.4 million inhabitants is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country, the second largest city on the , and the most populous in Western Canada. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English. Vancouver is classed as a Beta global city. The City of Vancouver encompasses a land area of about 114 square kilometres, giving it a population density of about 5,249 people per square kilometre (13,590 per square mile). Vancouver is the most densely populated Canadian municipality, and the fourth most densely populated city with over 250,000 residents in North America, behind New York City, San Francisco, and Mexico City. Vancouver is consistently named as one of the top five worldwide cities for livability and quality of life, and the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged it as the first city to rank among the top-ten of the world’s most liveable cities for five consecutive years.   read more…

Montreal International Jazz Festival in Canada

26 February 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Jocelynhade/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Jocelynhade/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM) (English: Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world’s largest jazz festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 artists from 30-odd countries, more than 650 concerts (including 450 free outdoor performances), and welcomes close to 2.5 million visitors (34% of whom are tourists) as well as 400 accredited journalists. The festival takes place at 10 free outdoor stages and 10 indoor concert halls.   read more…

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