Canada Day

I’ve now experienced Canada Day in 3 different Canadian cities!  I love this country.

My first 24 Canada Days were of course in Winnipeg.  And they were pretty awesome.  Winnipeg throws an incredible Canada Day, and the turn out is always incredible.  I have countless great memories of meeting up with friends and wandering around Osbourne and Corydon before making our way to The Forks to watch the fireworks.  One Canada Day stands out, when a bunch of us met up and eventually even got one of those gangster photo shoots.  A great memory.

I had 2 Canada Days in Edmonton.  Edmonton pulls out all the stops.  Whyte Ave is closed off to traffic and packed with people.  Then an artificial waterfall is created on the High Level Bridge over the valley.  Then the fireworks.  Very impressive, and no doubt incredibly expensive!  Some great memories as well!  Sadly no pictures though, but here’s one of the artificial waterfall from google images.

Last night I had my first Canada Day in Halifax.  Halifax being one of the oldest cities in Canada, it’s a pretty big deal here too.  There’s a bunch of parades in the morning (which I missed since I worked late the night before), then buskers and shops lining the waterfront.  I stopped to watch a fire-breather for a while.  The city felt alive and I wondered around downtown and the waterfront before meeting up with a work friend and his girlfriend for a few beers.  Was a good time.  I stopped by work for a bit to get some things done, and then met up with work friends again to catch the fireworks.  The fireworks were launched from a barge in the middle of the harbour between Halifax and Dartmouth.  It was pretty awesome.  Getting home was a bit of an ordeal since it was impossible to get a cab and the busses were packed.  It took me over an hour, 2 busses and eventually a cab, but I did make it home.  When I got home Heidi (my new room-mate) and I played some Black Ops PS3 online, each on our own respective PS3s, with 2 of her friends.  It was a great Canada Day!