The True North, Strong and Free (AKA Canada Day in London)

Turns out there is no such thing as a 4th of July bash in London, with the exception of a few ex-pat events, the largest of which was a 4th of July BBQ held on June 29th.  Lame.

All this is understandable, of course.  I suppose it would be strange to celebrate the beginning of a bloody war of independence in the country of the loser of said war.  But more than that, I think if there were some big to-do in London where a bunch of Americans were gathered, it would a) probably have to have such tight security that the point would be lost, being a perfect t@rg*t for a t*rr0r!st @tt@ck (I'm slightly worried about putting that in print because MI-5 is probably reading my blog), and b) we'd probably just get glared at and boo'd continually.  It has gotten easier to be an American abroad in the past 4 or 5 years (funny that timing), but there's still not a big welcome party, if you know what I mean. There's still a strong temptation to sew a Canadian Flag on your bag and avoid the scorn, as this article suggests:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/01/travel/fake-canadians-canada-day-travel

or this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Fakin-Eh-How-Pretend-Canadian/dp/0973911638

I'll go ahead and get this out there:  I love Canada.  When I was 9 years old, my parents converted an old, rotting pop-up camper into a utility trailer, packed it full of tents and tarps, and embarked on a six (or so) week journey with three young children in tow to the Atlantic provinces.  We battled blackflies and mutant mosquitoes and inconveniently-timed downpours in most of the provincial and national parks in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia (mostly Cape Breton), and pre-bridge Prince Edward Island.  We were tourists, I suppose (O, the agonizing search for the perfect Anne of Green Gables doll!), but it seemed like our van broke down.  A lot. So we ended up spending a lot of long hours in the local CO-OP and Tim Hortons.  We ate a lot of Fries with the Works (Fries with cheese and gravy and peas and ground beef and onions and other disgusting things) and drank a lot of bagged milk.  We met a lot of locals and quickly decided that Canadians are basically the friendliest people in the world.  We also got a great taste of the Canadian health care when my sister and mother (having gotten lost on a hike) were picked up by some friendly Canadians in a dune buggy.  My sister grabbed the exhaust pipe and burned her hand off (not off, but really bad). The clinic called us at the campground (pre-cell phone) to see how she was doing!

We went back six years later, having upgraded to a pop-up camper and less one child, and spent another six weeks, this time in the venerable provincial parks of Ontario (just the Thousand Islands, really), Quebec, the Acadian parts of Nova Scotia, and a quick recap of P.E.I (which is less great now that there is a bridge) at my insistence. This time, our camper lost about seven tires and probably broke down a few times as well (I may be making this up). More confirmations that Canadians are the nicest people in the world. We had another run-in with the health care system, this time for a toe injury at the ER.  If we had been in America, that visit would have been billed at, I don't know, a million dollars (or, like $3000 or so), and I think my parents just had to pay a small doctor's fee.  It was on this trip that I began to calculate how many points I would have as a prospective emigrant.

Such is the draw of Canada in the summer time.

So, anyway, I like Canada.

I like America, too.  And distance makes the heart grow fonder.  I really like air conditioning and iced drinks, and cheerful librarians, and nosy people in the check-out line, and cheap gas so I can easily get to pretty places, and my family, and singing "America, the Beautiful."  So, not being able to celebrate 4th of July with those lovely strawberry and blueberry cakes and mustard BBQ and sweet tea and fireworks (and related injuries). I decided to head down to Trafalgar Square for a lovely (and super-crowded) Canada Day festival with free music and friendly folks. It was really nice.  The Arkells, Jann Arden, and The Tragically Hip played, and there were lots of "shiny happy people holding hands." (See what I did there?

So I took pictures with my phone until it died.  I brought my other camera, but forgot that I had taken out the SD card.

I believe that it was actually in Canada that I was first
introduced (and lusted after) the umbrella hat. It may look silly,
but it's a damned good idea.  

Cowgirl Canuck

A somewhat feeble attempt at poutine...or maybe
not trying to be poutine.  Fries with gravy and some sort
of shredded cheese (not poutine). Not the most
appealing national dish, though more appealing, I think,
than Rappie Pie.  

Good smells coming from this one.

And some pretty Canadian babies:

This one is "Made in Canada," How cute is that?

And The Tragically Hip: