by Rob Dacosta

Created on: February 23, 2007   Last Updated: April 17, 2007

As a transplanted Canadian living in Germany - four years now - I'm often asked about Canada. The following is a sampling of what I answer daily.

The first thing you should know about Canada is that any picture you find showing a scene is real. The image doesn't change a little to the left or right of what you're looking at. The mountain vistas really look that way. The clean cities are in fact clean. Smiling faces; not actors posing for an advertisement. See a mighty 'Indian summer' forest ... believe it, it really looks like that! Waterways and lakes; this is the one place where you can find a change, but only because I've never found a camera that can accurately capture spectacular water scenes.

With that in mind I am often asked what to recommend for a visitor. This is what I say: (Sorry, but this article is a little bit longer than normal.)

Best large city: Vancouver. You can do everything imaginable here in one day. Skiing, mountain-biking, golfing, whale watching. / Stanley park is everything people say it is! A large, multicultural city that rates consistently at the top in international surveys (year after year after year).

Best scenic highway: Highway 93 on the Alberta, British Columbia border. The 200 mile (320 km) drive north from (roughly) Banff to Jasper cuts right up the middle of the Rocky mountains. No buildings, no gas stations, no fast food restaurants, no billboards. Just long views into the mountain scenery. Wildlife (yes, it does exist), glaciers, snow capped peaks, crystal clear water. Unspoiled nature at it's finest. Topping off this excellent drive are two equally spectacular towns - Banff and Jasper.

Best province: Nova Scotia. From the internationally famous picture postcard fishing village of Peggy's cove to the tiny hamlet of Baddeck (Cape Breton Island) and back to the shores of the Bay of Fundy, where you can experience natures rhythm at every changing of the tides. The largest and easily the most impressive in the world! (honestly)

Most interesting surprise location: Saskatchewan. Prairie landscapes may not be everyones cup of tea, but I am endlessly fascinated by the way a farmers house and building(s) stand out against the seemingly empty landscape. Look a little deeper though and you realize that it sits on a farm big enough to be a large city. And all around it are the colors of the wheat, rapeseed or barley fields. It also has the distinct character of describing how the family lives. You can see a structure to the arrangement

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