Post by mooseontheloose on Feb 25, 2004 16:26:52 GMT -5
Hey, not sure where this belongs but just thought I would share it cause I had a pretty fun afternoon.
So I'm out and around today in downtown Ottawa. I'm out picking up a few things for a weekend trip my girl and I are taking to Montreal. So I finish it all up and hop on the bus to head home. A few stops later a man steps on and stands a few feet from me.
I didn't look up at first but when I did I smiled. He was carrying backpackers backpack (locked zippers and all). Since this bus eventually stopped at the airport I wasn't exactly sure if he was leaving Ottawa to start a trip, or heading out to end his trip. I decided he was probably ending a trip as he also had a small bag which seemed to hold things he may have bought. Later this was confirmed when I saw him flipping through a Hostels in Canada hand book.
To be honest I was quite surprised. I mean, to me Canada is a dull place to visit. I've seen a lot of the country, from the middle of nowhere to Vancouver and Toronto. I guess I never realized someone would actually want to backpack Canada rather than visit one city.
I decided to find out and asked him, "Hey, you're a backpacker?" he responded with a nod and we struck up a conversation. His name was Pierre and he was from France. He mentioned where but he said it too quickly and since I'm not good with French I really didn't pick up the name.
He told me he was on his way to the airport. He was just finishing his trip and was flying to Toronto before heading home. His plane didn't leave for 10 hours and he told me he was just going to relax at the airport. I asked if he'd seen anything in Ottawa and he told me he hadn't. He'd only walked around the Rideau Centre because he wanted to grab some things to bring home (big gift ship there). I told him I'd take him to the Parliment buildings if he wanted and off we went in the other direction.
I showed him around downtown for a few hours before we got him his first donut + coffee from Tim Horton's (backpacked Canada and he hadn't had any yet!) We ended up sitting in Timmy's for a few hours and had a nice conversation.
I ended up explaining a few things about Canadian society he wasn't exactly sure of and told him a bit about the war of 1812 and he had only heard small parts about the French side of Canada.
Time came to an end and he boarded and bus and he was off to the airport. All in all it was a great experience. He was 25 and seemed like a great guy. I had a ton of fun just rambling on about Canada and he in turn told me how things worked in France.
He must have lived very close to Paris as he said he visited often. It was quite neat to see how he felt about Canada. His exact words at one point were "Paris is huge, but the atmosphere in your big cities makes Paris feel so small!"
I never did find out exactly where he went or how long he'd been here (I only know for sure he started in Vancouver and came across to end in Toronto) but I was still somewhat shocked that someone would venture here from Europe. We all drool over the idea of travelling there, but it was interesting to meet someone coming the opposite way. He told me even though the architectural state of Canada isn't what Europe's is, he really enjoyed being here and says that we were an incredibly friendly country.
His final words were "Next time I'll come in summer though" as he stepped off the train and put his Canadian bought toque back on
So I'm out and around today in downtown Ottawa. I'm out picking up a few things for a weekend trip my girl and I are taking to Montreal. So I finish it all up and hop on the bus to head home. A few stops later a man steps on and stands a few feet from me.
I didn't look up at first but when I did I smiled. He was carrying backpackers backpack (locked zippers and all). Since this bus eventually stopped at the airport I wasn't exactly sure if he was leaving Ottawa to start a trip, or heading out to end his trip. I decided he was probably ending a trip as he also had a small bag which seemed to hold things he may have bought. Later this was confirmed when I saw him flipping through a Hostels in Canada hand book.
To be honest I was quite surprised. I mean, to me Canada is a dull place to visit. I've seen a lot of the country, from the middle of nowhere to Vancouver and Toronto. I guess I never realized someone would actually want to backpack Canada rather than visit one city.
I decided to find out and asked him, "Hey, you're a backpacker?" he responded with a nod and we struck up a conversation. His name was Pierre and he was from France. He mentioned where but he said it too quickly and since I'm not good with French I really didn't pick up the name.
He told me he was on his way to the airport. He was just finishing his trip and was flying to Toronto before heading home. His plane didn't leave for 10 hours and he told me he was just going to relax at the airport. I asked if he'd seen anything in Ottawa and he told me he hadn't. He'd only walked around the Rideau Centre because he wanted to grab some things to bring home (big gift ship there). I told him I'd take him to the Parliment buildings if he wanted and off we went in the other direction.
I showed him around downtown for a few hours before we got him his first donut + coffee from Tim Horton's (backpacked Canada and he hadn't had any yet!) We ended up sitting in Timmy's for a few hours and had a nice conversation.
I ended up explaining a few things about Canadian society he wasn't exactly sure of and told him a bit about the war of 1812 and he had only heard small parts about the French side of Canada.
Time came to an end and he boarded and bus and he was off to the airport. All in all it was a great experience. He was 25 and seemed like a great guy. I had a ton of fun just rambling on about Canada and he in turn told me how things worked in France.
He must have lived very close to Paris as he said he visited often. It was quite neat to see how he felt about Canada. His exact words at one point were "Paris is huge, but the atmosphere in your big cities makes Paris feel so small!"
I never did find out exactly where he went or how long he'd been here (I only know for sure he started in Vancouver and came across to end in Toronto) but I was still somewhat shocked that someone would venture here from Europe. We all drool over the idea of travelling there, but it was interesting to meet someone coming the opposite way. He told me even though the architectural state of Canada isn't what Europe's is, he really enjoyed being here and says that we were an incredibly friendly country.
His final words were "Next time I'll come in summer though" as he stepped off the train and put his Canadian bought toque back on
