Dude Nomad
Canada
First steps
It was my first visit to the American Continent on the land of the Indians. I am excited to travel through this large expanse of land, to observe the nature and experience the cities. But I opted for an easy start through Quebec, the French land.
That happiness – my first experiences with Couchsurfing, to see my buddy Gaëtan with whom I shared the benches of university with, and caught up with my friend Laila and her family that I lost touch with for 14 years. It was emotional.
My city map contained the addresses copied from an architecture website (ArchiGuide). I did not stop to roam the city while searching for these buildings, and I spent my time taking pictures and trying to understand how they operated. Fortunately, sometimes, they’d let me take a look inside the buildings. But more often than not, it’s simply a tour along the exterior of the buildings.
Montréal is magical, and the road by car to the Niagara Falls in September is magnificent.
Crossing the bridge, and welcome to the United States of America.
September 2008
Moments
Did you know
1. Canada’s Yonge Street is the longest street in the world. It is spread over 1, 896 kilometers.
2. Basketball was invented by a Canadian-American James Naismith.
3. Canada got its name by mistake. French explorer Jacques Cartier came in contact with the local natives of the region who invited him to their village, known in local terms as kanata. He mistakenly thought that the name of the country was Kanata or Canada.
4. Quebec's Hôtel de Glace is the only Ice Hotel in North America.
5. In 2011, the national treasury of Canada released a new $100 bill, which people complained had the scent of maple syrup.
6. A.A. Milne’s stories about Winnie-the-Pooh were inspired by a black bear cub from Canada named Winnipeg (or “Winnie,” for short).
7. Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia.
8. Quebec is Canada's largest French-speaking province.
9. The Canadian town of Churchill is home to the world’s only prison for polar bears.
10. The postal code of Santa Claus is H0H 0H0. The mailing address is assigned to Santa by Canada Post. Every year, the postal service responds to millions of children's letters from around the world addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.
11. The 5,525 mile long US-Canada border is the longest undefended international border in the world.
12. The moose and caribou are Canada’s most recognized national symbols.
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Artist
by Mathieu St-Pierre, Canadian artist who focuses on visual artifacts created by various computer programs and from the more traditional analog video signals. The consequence of those imperfections and corrupted files are his landscapes and narrative images (stills).
Also, having a film background helps him to compose with emerging medias and explore new possibilities of the digital canvas.
