Canadiana Backpackers Blog

We have over 50 rooms here at the hostel Each room is named for a Canadian luminary. For instance, rooms 1-6 are named for famous Canadian Comics – from Dan Ackroyd to Jim Carrey; from Mike Meyers to Dave Broadfoot.

Room number six is named for Dave Broadfoot a Canadian comedic talent that has found success on both sides of the ocean. In fact, a tall young man approached him long ago and told him that seeing him perform had given him the impetus to pursue a career in comedy.

The young man’s name was John Cleese, later of “Fawlty Towers” fame. That, you’ll have to admit, is quite a stellar endorsement.

This is the second time that a room named for a celebrity has met head-on with reality.

Some time ago, a young lady checked into the hostel and was given the key to her room (#27) located in our Hall of Heros. As it turned out, the room was named for her father General Romeo Dallaire, the former UN Commander in Rwanda during the genocide. He was the man described by Time Magazine as “The Last Just Man”.

(See post: “The General’s Daughter” under favorite posts.)

Canada has produced more than it’s share of famous comics. From those mentioned above as well as stars such as; John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Rick Morainas, Dave Thomas to name but a few. But even among such an exalted group, Dave Broadfoot remains an icon.

It really is a small world; so stay tuned to our blog and we’ll keep you posted on the next celebrity that we can inveigle into having his or her photo taken by their “rooms”.

Canadian comedy icon Dave Broadfoot posing in front of his “room”.

Catherine Dallaire (right)in front of room #27 named for her father, Gen. Romeo Dallaire. With Sharon (staff member)

Some people say that New Zealand is a bit behind the times. But I’ve heard a lot of good things about the place. It has a pretty agreeable climate for one thing and they get a heck of a lot more vacation time than we do!

Here in Canada we feel fortunate to get three weeks leave a year; that’s after several years of service too. The norm here is a paltry two weeks a year.

Take Boyd Taylor for in instance. He’s a Kiwi who a charge of wine production with a major vintner back home. He has accumulated more than two and a half months leave this year – something that is unheard of in North America.

This has allowed him to come to Canada to pursue his passion of whitewater kayaking. The Ottawa and Madawaska Rivers near our nations’ capital city are both world renowned for the sport and the recent world championships were held on the Ottawa River.

Boyd also plans to travel across Canada to the west coast, then up to the Yukon to see what other rivers he can can find that offer a kayaker a challenge.

If he wants the ultimate challenge Canada has to offer a canoeist, he should try the Fraser River in lower British Columbia. There are rapids there called Hell’s Gate. The only problem is that Hell’s Gate would likely prove lethal to anyone in any kind of boat!

Hell’s Gate was chronicled two centuries ago by the explorer Simon Fraser who mapped the region for the Hudson’s Bay Company. The place he wrote was on of his greatest challenges on his epic trek.

So Boyd, enjoy your kayaking here in Canada; but, stay the heck away from Hell’s Gate!

Here’s an interesting fact that at first glance might seem odd; but, if you think about it it is eminently logical.

Its merely a fact that visitors to a country see a lot more of the land than the vast majority of the locals.

Arabella and David came to Canada from Downunder in Oz abut 18 months ago, landing on the West Coast at the port of Vancouver. Both hold Canadian working-holiday visas.

Matt is a short-order cook and Arabella is a hairstylist. They worked 8 months in Victoria on Vancouver Island in their respective professions before moving on to the Whistler Mountain Ski Resort just north of the city of Vancouver.

Arabella began working as a server at the famous resort for the winter ski season. She decided to work as a server where a hundred and fifty dollars in gratuities is quite usual during a shift. They learned to snowboard in their off hours.

At the end of the ski season, the pair were joined by Arabella’s mom who spent the next six weeks traveling with them across the North American Continent. They explored Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Whistler, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Quebec City, Tadussac and New York City.

Most of my Canadian friends have not been to Vancouver, Victoria or Whistler and were it not for the Beluga whale watching the place is renowned for I would probably have never heard of Tadussac.

Arabella and David aren’t finished yet. She has landed another serving job (those tips are compelling) at the Hard Rock Cafe at the Skydome where she can see all the baseball games. David had found work at the Scotland Yard Pub on Toronto’s Esplanade.

So for them, it’s work, save money and then continue exploring. Its a small wonder why visitors see more of the country than locals do.

Toronto is home to one of the finest Universities our country has to offer. The University of Toronto has been the intellectual spawning ground of many great thinkers.

The list includes such luminaries as Marshal McLuhan (“The medium is the message”); Frederick Banting (the man who isolated insulin); and John Kenneth Galbraith (the Canadian who became adviser to four American Presidents); to name but a few of its’ distinguished alumnus.

A lot of our hostel guests have come to Toronto to study at the U of T. (both at the undergrad and grad-student level).

Want to know why? Glad you asked:

The city is justifiably proud of the university which was chartered in 1827, fully four decades before Canada became a nation. It consistently ranks highly in independent world rankings.

Newsweek Magazine (an American publication, I hasten to add) ranks the institution 18th worldwide and in the top five of institutions outside of the United Sates. I suppose that means that all of the worlds best universities are in the U.S. – go figure?

The university has the third largest Research Library in North America (behind only Harvard and Yale). The library is housed in a 14 story architectural indiscretion the students nicknamed “Fort Book”. Its not the prettiest building you ever saw; but, it holds well over 10 million volumes.

Research at the U of T has resulted in an impressive record of innovative “firsts”. The electronic heart pacemaker; the artificial larynx; single-lung transplant; artificial pancreas; chemical laser; the G-Suit; the electron microscope; the cloning of T-Cells; and the extraction of insulin.

The Scientist, an influential on-line journal concerning biology and life sciences (an American publication) rates the U of T as the best place to work in Academia. (outside of the United States, of course).

All in all, the University of Toronto as more than 63,000 students at the undergraduate level and more than 10,000 graduate students. It is also Canada’s wealthiest university with endowments totaling almost 2 billion dollars.

It’s situated in the heart of the city so a small wonder that we get a lot of foreign and out-of-town students attending the school and staying at our hostel.

Spring has come to the hostel in all its glory. The lilac trees have sprouted their flowers on the patio which is actually in use now! Spring signifies a welcome change. From cold and miserable to warm and pleasant.

But it also a time for transitions at the hostel. We get a lot of foreign students who have spent the winter with us while they pursue their studies in Toronto. They hail from France, Switzerland, Japan and Latin America.

Most have come to upgrade their English skills. Most have also been here long enough to become as familiar as the fixtures in the hostel. They do a lot towards setting the character of the hostel.

This past weekend, a lot of the students left for home. And as you might expect the hostel feels a little different. It’s not better; it’s not worse; it’s just different.

Toronto is arguably the most ethnically diverse city in the world. And of all of the hostels in Toronto we are likely the one with the widest cultural mix. This is mostly due to the fact that we are one of the largest backpacker’s inns in the city as well of the fact that we are one of the only “family friendly places.

It is always interesting to see the “farewells” at the hostels. People from as far flung places such as Brazil saying a maudlin “see you later” to a new found friend from Botswana.

Lifelong friendships begin at the Canadiana. There is even a “Facebook” group of former guests who keep in touch with both the hostel, friends and aquaintances.