Canada Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

After Flanders Fields

9th November 20259th November 2025 funtime65

Few who wear a red poppy today will give poet John McCrae a thought, but here is what happened after Flanders Fields to the man who gave the Fallen of the First World War its enduring symbol.

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae is rightly a hero in his home country of Canada.

Where his face and his words have become immortalised in coins, notes and stamps.

Still standing: The Ieper Tree which withstood the battles

And in his home town of Guelph, Ontario and his birth home of McCrae House.

Where this Scots-Canadian’s story is told and visitors can see artefacts of his life and pay homage at his memorial.

At the memorial cenotaph and gardens with its open bronze book sculpture with his immortal words.

On a pedestal

A statue of McCrae by Ruth Abernathy stands on Green Island (Rideau River) in Ottawa.

Dressed as an artillery officer and his medical bag nearby, as he writes.

The statue shows the destruction of the battlefield and, at his feet, the poppies and all armed conflict since.

While a copy of that statue was erected at Guelph Civic Museum in 2015.

Mapping McCrae’s life

Family bond: At my great-uncle’s gravestone

Our Canadian cousins, and Grandpa Murty served in the Canadian Army in the Great War, helpfully walk us through McCrae’s life.

Through Guelph Museums’ excellent map journal which takes us on a global journey treading in the Great Man’s footsteps.

McCrae packed a lot into his 46 years.

Fom Ontario to Baltimore, taking in the Boer War in South Africa, to Ieper in Belgium to his last resting place in Boulogne, France where he died of pneumonia in 1918.

And he is rightly commemorated across the world.

Lest we forget

And in Ieper where he wrote his stirring words.

On seeing poppies around the grave of his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer in 1915 and first published a century ago next month in Punch.

At the The Cloth Hall in its permanent war museum, the In Flanders Fields Museum,

And a short biographical memorial to the doctor, soldier and poet in the St George Memorial Church in the Medieval town.

While McCrae’s great friend Lieutenant Helmer’s name is inscribed on Panel 10 of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres.

One of the 54,896 soldiers who have no known grave in the battlefields of the Ypres Salient.

And it is those, all the Fallen, Great Uncles Willie and Patrick and John McCrae.

And rest assured we ‘hold the torch high’.

Canada, Countries

Canadian Thanksgiving, eh?

12th October 202512th October 2025 funtime65

And because every day’s a school day… Canadian Thanksgiving, eh?

Yes, there are other countries and citizens who like to give thanks for their blessings.

And the Canadians have their day. tomorrow, October 13.

When they too bark back to settlers from the Old World.

And Martin Frobisher and his fleet landing in Newfoundland in 1579.

With Holy Communion and a feast in thanks for their safe passage.

Although the Canadians have only marked it as a national holiday since 1879.

This being Canada, naturellement, the French have their own story too.

And commemorate explorer Samuel de Champlain and his expedition from 1604.

Harvest for the world

So what do Canadians do differently?

Well, firstly the Canadians like to hold their day on an early Monday in October to correspond with harvest.

And, yes, they too feast on autumnal produce, Christmas fare for the rest of us.

Roast turkey, beef, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn and squashes.

And pumpkin pie, apple pie, and glazed yams.

Canada’s day

Now if you’re looking for that regional variation and that particularly Canadian feel.

Then it’s salmon, wild game and Jiggs dinner with split-pea pudding.

And not that we have to elaborate.

But Jiggs dinner is a boiled corned beef and cabbage dinner, commonly prepared and eaten on Sundays in Newfoundland.

Which the comic strip character from Bringing Up Father would eat.

And to finish a bit of the West Coast and British Columbian Nanaimo.

With its three layers of wafer, nut and coconut crumb base; custard icing in the middle; and a layer of chocolate ganache on top.

Touch down

Of course, this being North America there’s always a gridiron game to go with Thanksgiving.

And for Canada that’s their version, a televised doubleheader, the Thanksgiving Day Classic.

America, Canada, Countries

Living again with dinosaurs

22nd May 202522nd May 2025 funtime65

They came, they saw, they brontosaurus then up and left… but now they’re back and we’re living again with dinosaurs.

It doesn’t take the release of Walking With Dinosaurs on Sunday, May 25 (BBC, 6.25pm) to release our inner Ross Geller… but it helps.

Ross, of course, plies his palaeontology out of the world-renowned American Museum of Natural History.

And devouring everything prehistoric (but not Ross’s sandwich) should be on your itinerary in New York.

Particularly when you need to occupy your overactive kids on a rainy (or sweltering) day in the Big Apple.

When you don’t even have to go overland, just hop out at the Subway Station and the doors are wide open for you.

A day and night at the museum

The Museum of Natural History (yes, that one out of Night At The Museum) is pay-what-you-want and you’ll want to big.

Now America’s rich prehistoric past is a counter to Yankaphobes who love falsely to point to the continent’s lack of history.

Despite dinosaur fans being able to walk in their footsteps coast to coast and everywhere in between.

Yale to Universal

We got a behind-the-scenes look at the free Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven, Connecticut.

Which dinosaur fans know was where the velociraptor from Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park was born.

And where they are brought back to life through the wizardry of Universal in Orlando and Hollywood.

And you can get up close and personal to Dino.

A Dino’s graveyard

Feeding time: Universal Studios Hollywood

Of course, here on this British island of ours we pride ourselves on our BBC being free too, apart from the £174.50 licence fee.

And while you’re waiting to get out to Dinoworld you can travel to the four corners of the earth while not leaving your sofa.

Such as Pipestone Creek in Alberta, Canada, featured on the prog.

Nicknamed the ‘River of Death’, Pipestone Creek is home to a mass grave.

Thousands of Pachyrhinosaurus, each the size of an elephant, were buried here, killed in one day.

The Calgary is here

See the discoveries first hand at Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum in Grande Prairie, where the bones are cleaned and analysed.

Tickets for adults (18+) cost from $15 CAD / £8.

Return flights (London to Calgary) cost from £570 pp with Delta.

Canadian Affair offers tailor-made trips to Grande Prairie and the rest of Alberta.
Alberta.

And a Dublin Zoorasic Party

While nearer to home our pals at Dublin Zoo are planning a Zoorasic Party takeover.

Hosted by Jurassic Park science advisor Dino Don Lessem.

The exclusive Zoorasic Trail Takeover ticketed events runs from June 26-29, on sale from tomorrow, May 23.

Canada, Countries, Flying, Sport

Canada party on dude

23rd March 202523rd March 2025 funtime65

Yes way, new prime minister Mark Carney is pulling out all the stops with Mike Myers as they assert independence and say… Canada party on dude.

Myers didn’t so much wrap himself in the flag in the promo vid than pad up in ice hockey top with a message for America.

And so Carney cheekily tested the great comedian’s authenticity as an American because he’s Hollywood’s based.

And set him a number of quick fire questions.

Which we presume are easy for Canadians.

You a Canadian, eh?

International man of mystery: Austin Powers

And so there was no stuttering when the PM asked him to name the puppets on kids’ TV show Mr Dressup… Casey and Finnegan.

Some other popular cultural references are posed.

And a geographical gimme, the capital of Saskstchewan… Regina obviously.

Puck stops here

Before the premier sets Mike the big money question, an ice hockey tactical riddle.

Which having covered hockey among my range of sports I and Mike know.

That when you’re a defenceman defending a two on one you take away the pass obviously.

And that the two seasons in Toronto are winter and construction.

Always be a Canada

What the Doctor ordered: In Austin’s world

After which PM Carney gives a mock approval and tells Mike… ‘Wow, you really are a Canadian.’

And Mike asks the politician.. ‘will there always be a Canada?’

And Carney assures them there will and they greet each other in hockey style with ‘Elbows up’.

It’s good to see a newly-peroxised Mike who has been under the radar, back, and with a new Shrek to promote.

Yes, way

Whatever Mike’s views on Donald Trump, and they share Scottish ancestry, his Shrek is a better Caledonian ccent than mine.

While he famously channeled his English roots for Austin Powers.

It was, of course, as Wayne Campbell thar we were first introduced to the comic genius.

And it is a scene where Wayne and pal Garth make fun with signs behind their sponsor’s back on their home TV show that we recall.

And wonder at the fun they could have if ever they were invited to the White House.

Canada Aer

And Mike could tell him that in his country they say Canada party on dude.

The best way, of course, to support Canada is to visit.

And we always advise to go through Ireland with Aer Lingus and pre-clearance at £566.52 as part of a return fare.

America, Canada, Countries, Cruising, Ships

A deal for Greenland

19th January 202519th January 2025 funtime65

It’s the kind of offer The Donald himself would be celebrating… a deal for Greenland.

And Oceania Cruises are pitching an Iceland, Greenland and Canada in the Fall 20-night package with savings of up to 20%.

You’ll fly from London Heathrow to the Icelandic capital Reyjkavik on August 25 and make your way on the cruise ship Insignia to the fishing village of Husavik for whale-watching.

Skjalfandi Bay boasts minke, humpback and blue whales and white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises.

Before heading for The Donald’s next real estate acquisition.

Green with envy

All the human life in Greenland is in the south in Qaqortoq (and you’re welcome for that Scrabble word).

Qaqortoq is known for its stunning fjord views and colourful buildings.

You’ll visit the Greenland National Museum and see the famous Stone & Man sculptures throughout the area.

You can also take a boat trip around the nearby islands and hike up the Sermitsiaq mountain.

Or enjoy the vibrant local culture and delicious Greenlandic cuisine.

Old Canada and New England

This year’s blond: ‘The Donald’ in New York

Now you’ll go back in time for the Canadian leg of your odyssey to Saint John, New Brunswick, the country’s oldest city.

Known for its rich maritime history, highlights include the Reversing Falls, historic architecture and the Saint John City Market.

The Oceania Cruise bills itself as Iceland, Greenland and Canada but you’ll also get to enjoy the charms of New England too.

And visit Bar Harbor, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts and President Trump’s home city New York where you’ll fly back to London.

Ship ahoy

Your Ocean View cabin will come in at £5,799pp, down from £7,519.

And we’re advised to book by 8pm on January 26 to receive a free case of wine.

Now a bit about the ship… and Insignia is midsize with an elegant yet contemporary atmosphere.

With all the features you would expect… baristas, Grand Bar, bridge, card room, boutique, casino, shuffleboard, fitness center and track and putting greens.

There’s a Grand Dining Room, library, lounge, dining experiences and pool.

A spa terrace, steam room, styling salon and sun deck.

Not that our friend The Donald would ever need any toning up.

It all adds up to a deal for Greenland and we should all jump on board.

MEET YOU ON THE SEAS

Canada, Countries, Deals

Nowhere more skater chic than Ottawa

4th December 2024 funtime65

And because Canadians take their first steps on the ice and there’s nowhere more skater chic than Ottawa.

Then we can only look on in envy from the pop-up Christmas rinks we visit in our towns at this time of year.

At the 5-mile Rideau Canal Skateway open 24 hours a day.

Particularly when you can stop along the way at a number of Beavertail stands and grab a treat and hot chocolate.

While if you’re confident on your skates then you can stop and refresh at Dunrobin Distilleries.

You’ll start, or end, downtown and wind along Dow’s Lake.

Or take a brisk walk

While if you’ve not yet mastered the skates then you can walk or shuffle along the edges of the Skateway, or pathways.

Now this becomes even more appealing for those of us on this rock in the north of Europe we call Britain.

Because Ottawa has now become even more accessible.

Come Spring British travellers will be able to fly non-stop to Ottawa with Air Canada.

We found a sample return flight from London Heathrow to Ottawa and return with a brief layover in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Travelling out on April 3 and returning April 8 from £739.99.

For all seasons

It’s hot and it’s cold: The Canadian capital

By which time it will, of course, be a whole new season.

Our Ottawan friends, of course, are keen to guide us to their seat of parliament which also houses a House of Commons.

And its Canadian War Museum which is of personal interest with Grandpa Murty having fought and been gassed out of World War I while fighting under the Maple Leaf.

Of course our Canadian cousins are an outdoorsy people.

And you can choose from rock climbing, hiking, spleunking (no, us neither), mountain biking, bungee jumping, snowshoeing, cross country skiing or whitewater rafting (been there, done that, stayed afloat).

Canada Day on July 1 is obviously the biggie but Ottawa also boasts a Canadian Tulip Festival and we’ll always be sold on the king of flowers.

As well as the best musical festivals and culinary treats.

So whether you’re a winter warmer and agree that there’s nowhere more skater chic than Ottawa

Or a man and woman for all seasons then put the Canadian capital on your list for next year, particularly with those direct routes from the GB.

Canada, Countries, Deals

The sound of Wedding Falls in Niagara

24th November 202424th November 2024 funtime65

It’s the ultimate big day rush, the sound of Wedding Falls in Niagara and it’s how our Canadian friends do it.

And when you boast ‘the eighth wonder of the world’ then it would be an oversight not to utilise it, eh, as our mountie friends would say.

Now our friends in Niagara like to keep us updated on their falls.

And to remind us that the best views are on the Canadian side.

Niagara Falls has long been the honeymoon destination of choice for Canadians.

Prospect good

Winter wonderland: Niagara Falls State Park

And we’re reliably informed that Prospect Point is where you want to go for your rush.

Where you’ll witness the nightly illumination of the Falls.

While for added romance winter fireworks light up the water on select evenings.

Sometimes the best way to take in the Falls is from indoors and the Niagarans advise couples to take in the Red Coach Inn.

Have boots, will travel: Niagara Falls winter photoshoot

Where couples can relax by the grand Tudor-style fireplace, enjoy local wine and take in the vistas of the Rapids.

Alternatively our hosts have this romance filled day set out for all you lovers.

Beginning with breakfast at Marketside before exploring Niagara Falls State Park.

With breathtaking views from the Observation Tower or an up-close experience at the Cave of the Winds.

If there’s snow on the ground, borrow a pair of snowshoes from the Cave of the Winds Pavilion and continue your wintry exploration of the park.

On the right trail

And because the Niagarans know that honeymoon couples love the flow of booze as much as they do the flow of a waterfall.

They’ve a day of wining and dining planned out too.

And suggest you head north to historic Lewiston, where a morning can be spent browsing boutique shops.

Before spending the day exploring the Niagara Wine Trail.

The trail starts at Bella Rose, then couples can plan their journey along the trail.

With the help of Niagara USA’s expert wine touring tips.

Your final evening has to be spent with a cosy Italian meal at Carmelo’s Coat of Arms, known for its locally sourced cuisine.

And all of this is made easier with Aer Lingus flying to Toronto from Glasgow (each way from £312.33pp).

And head down to the big water and wonder at the sound of Wedding Falls in Niagara.

Africa, America, Asia, Canada, Caribbean, Countries, Europe, Oceania, UK

Your train is early after 200 years

7th July 20247th July 2024 funtime65

What’s this… your train is early after 200 years?

Yes, the Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham has only stolen a march on the birth of the railways.

By announcing that 2024 should be the year to mark the bicentenary of the first train journey.

On account of the creation of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company.

Do the Locomotion

Only that it was not until the next year, 1825, that the first passenger train took off.

When George Stephenson’s steam-powered Locomotion No. 1 travelled 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton.

Which is what Railway 200 have begun planning.

It is no exaggeration to say that trains transformed Britain.

And that makes it all the more galling to see the state the service is in today.

So it is understandable that Mayor Burnham should want to claim the genesis of railways.

And push for a 35-minute super train journey between Manchester and Liverpool.

On the right track

Steamin’ ahead: Channel your Casey Jones

For the full story of how Britain’s trains used to work then the train has moved on from Darlington south to York.

And so should you to the National Railway Museum, a wonderland for all Casey Joneses and their train-spotting daughters.

If trains could connect this island and expanded our work and early travel horizons.

Just think what they could on a larger scale in the US, in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

America we know was built on the backs of Irish navvies.

And north, south, east and west there are towns and states celebrating how railroads were at the heart of their story.

Station to station

We all have our own romantic visions from cowboy movies of train tracks snaking through the Wild West.

All of which I saw for myself at the Colorado Railroad Museum with a nod to a far more patriarchal time.

Trains tell us so much about a society and we all have pictures in our mind of Indians hanging off trains.

Japanese crammed into theirs and eastern Europeans and mid-Asians making palaces.

Those, and the great train journeys of the world are in safe hands with, erm, oul’ Casey Jones’s recommendation, Great Rail Journeys.

Now whether you make rail journeys your centrepiece and tick off an Orient Express…

The Lake Titicaca in Peru, the Rocky Mountaineer in Canada, the Darjeeling Train in India, the Indian Pacific in Australia.

Or just get your tickets stamped on the way.

Whether it is up the highest rail route in Europe, the Jungfraujoch, a Bajan steam train, up the Norwegian fjords, or Amtrak it around New England.

Stephenson’s train on time

Enjoy and remember it all started in Old England with Robert Stephenson.

When 550 passengers were transported , making this the world’s first steam-powered passenger railway.

Put your back into it: A bit of fun in Barbados

From Shildon, Darlington to Stockton.

Although the opportunistic Mayor Burnham would like to assure you that your train is early after 200 years.

Canada, Countries, Flying, Music

Rainy Days and Songdays – Canada Eh Day

1st July 20241st July 2024 funtime65

And for the day that’s in it a welcome return for the occasional series and a dedication with Rainy Days and Songdays – Canada Eh Day.

A trip to see a Beatles/Sixties tribute band on the docked boat venue The Ferry in Glasgow brought me into contact with Canada Ken, as I’ll call him.

I’d wrongly identified him as an American as I earwigged on his conversation about Washington with another in the queue on the dock.

And related to him as I do all citizens I meet from that great city of my own perigrinations there.

Only for him to put me right on that and confirm his proud Torontonian roots and that he had come over to Scotland for six months 30 years and fell in love and stayed.

And that he had been having some bants with the Washingtonian in the queue and that DC was in fact a great city but greatly changed from when a Canadian led the last invasion of the Potomac back in 1814.

Canadian chanteurs and chanteuses

When one Rear-Admiral George Cockburn led the army from up north down to burn Washington in a reprisal for American incursions in their territory in upper Canada.

Of course, the best thing to do when you see a Canadian and an American in the bants is to leave them too it, much like you would a Scotsman and Englishman, Irishman and Englishman, or anybody really and an Englishman.

Now today belongs to Canadians as the anniversary of the creation of the Canadian Federation in 1867 so the Americans will just have to wait for Thursday, July 4, for their jamboree.

And so to mark Canada Day, and our own family’s links with the world’s second biggest country through a grandfather who fought for the Canadian Army, an uncle and brother who went out there to live and a Torontonian sister-in-law and goddaughter…

And because of all the great singers they’ve given us, I give you five of the best Canadian chanteurs and chanteuses for Rainy Days and Songdays – Canada Eh Day.

Joni’s japes

Fare play, Joni: She belts out Big Yellow Taxi

Joni Mitchell: And not just because I share with her the distinction (probably with thousands others too) of being thrown out of the Hebridean Bar in Edinburgh.

Joni is, of course the nightingale of Sixties pop and muse to millions with timeless standards such as Both Sides Now, The Circle Game and Big Yellow Taxi.

With a unique style and wordcraft… I mean: ‘They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum and they charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see them.’

Cohen the chanteur

Hat’s off Leonard: And is that the Chelsea Hotel?

Leonard Cohen: While Joni was underscoring hippydom and self-reflection French-Canadian Leonard was the chanteur of shenanigans, writing and singing some of the most intimate and saucy songs of ours or any age.

And sending scores of pop tourists flooding to the Chelsea Hotel in New York to see if they could channel what went on there in the celebs’ hang-out. And if they yelled Allelujah after it all.

Alanis’s jagged little thrill

Well yeah, Alanis: It does make you think

Alanis Morissette: Now what is it about Canadians that they capture a genre with Alanis, the Queen of Angst.

Putting aside that ‘raaaaain on your wedding day’ isn’t strictly ironic, more just bad luck, we still love that her lyrics talk about subjects we’d never put in a song.

Like taking a long hard look at my ass/And then played golf for a while. And you can find out the next lines for yourself!

E’er the Twain

Shaniah Twain: OK, so there is a rich seam of Canadian male singers from Neil Young through Bryan Adams to Justin Bieber and Drake but man, I feel like a Canadian woman says it better.

This Canadian trouper is touring right now and looking as spectacular at 50 as she has ever done. And that and her message and party-whooping songs does impress me much.

Raising the Celine

Celine Dion: And obviously saving the Queen of Las Vegas until last.

With the tres magnifique warbler promising fans that she will hit the Strip again when she her Stiffness ailment allows.

And, of course, we won’t have to Think Twice.

So meet you on the road to Canada and remember that you can fly to North America with pre-clearance from Ireland.

With Aer Lingus flying to Toronto with a sample fare for next month coming in at €901.14.

America, Canada, Countries

Pillow talk

2nd April 20242nd April 2024 funtime65

And haven’t we all done it as kids, and big kids, so let’s indulge in a bit of pillow talk?

No, not that, you mucky divils but pillow fighting, because this Saturday is International Pillow Fight Day.

We owe the flash mob, global participation day, to Kevin Bracken.

Kiddie Kev co-founded Newmindspace, an interactive public art group based in New York and Toronto.

With his pal Lori Kufner while they were students at the University of Toronto.

Lie back and laid-back

Imagine: Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal

Now it’s pertinent that the bedroom shenanigans should have been sprung in laid-back Canada.

With the most famous lie-in of them all happening just down the road in Montreal.

When John and Yoko had their lie-in for peace in the Sixties.

Now our pals Kev and Lori are clearly students who have never grown up, a bit like ourselves.

And have also championed bubble battles, capture-the-flag games and even a massive civil war with marshmallow bullets, held in Brooklyn.

More than 150 cities participated in the big pillow fight.

Which, I think we’ll all agree is better than bombing each other… if you’re listening Vladimir and Volodomir.

Celeb central

We remember you well: In the Chelsea Hotel

Now Kev’s pals, the Torontonians and New Yorkers have their share of high-end hotels.

From the Fairmont Royal Hotel where the celebs stay when in Canada’s biggest city…

To the Chelsea Hotel of Canadian poet laureate Leonard Cohen fame and anyone who was anyone really.

Where the feathers would have flown and much else besides.

And, oh, to have been a fly on the walk to hear the pillow talk.

Of course, on all things trans-Atlantic we advise through our own transport experiences.

To fly Aer Lingus with that crucial pre-clearance.