Oh, Canada!

My train of thought--and thoughts on a train--on Day 4 of a 12-day trip north of the U.S. border.

Enjoying time with my wife north of the U.S. border, currently taking a train from Quebec City to Montreal, so this week’s column will stay on track with that leisurely pace…

It's not the sole reason we’re here, but what clinched our decision for a three-city vacation in Canada was the needlessly antagonistic tone and behavior of the U.S. President towards these good neighbors across our northern border.

With our dollars (including loose loonies and toonies we'd held onto from our trek to Calgary over a quarter-century ago), we wanted to cast a vote for Canada’s sovereignty and longtime alliance.

Tattoos all over arms and legs are prevalent up here. Do most Canadians have tattoos? Perhaps not yet, but in the coming decade or two, I suspect those with body art will constitute a majority.

As someone sans tattoo, at first it felt like my lack of one was a statement unto itself—and part of it declared “this guy's likely an American.”

Then I looked a few things up and got both confirmation and correction: one-third of Canadians have tattoos, according to a recent survey by The Logit Group, including 51% of millennials.

But the Pew Research Center reports that the level of tattoo-hood is about the same in the U.S. with 32% of Americans opting for at least one tattoo and, as in Canada, it’s more common among younger adults.

So, maybe it’s not so much the number of folks with tattoos as the number of tattoos on each of these folks.

(I also realize that I’m mingling up here with fellow Americans and people from other countries—this is not a scientific survey.)

My five years of French language study in middle school and high school was already rusty the last time I was in Canada in 1999. Now it's even more shaky (“plus mal”?), but folks here have been indulgent and kind in their support of my sincere attempts.

Quebec City is especially French speaking but in the service industry it's impressive to see the array of languages that employees speak fluently to foster commerce.

The Old Quebec section of Quebec City, where we spent our first three days, is extremely hilly. This quaint place is the San Francisco of North America’s Northeast.

Or perhaps San Francisco, where Bridgett and I spent our honeymoon 31 summers ago, is the Quebec City of the West.

Over the first 72 hours of this excursion, I’ve checked my smartphone far too often—allowing too many of the worries of the world to intrude on our hiatus.

I will strive to be even more unplugged in the week to come.

Bridgett has taken lots of photos of our meals, largely in case she finds the time and inclination to post reviews of restaurants along our path. We found these types of reviews very helpful on our trip to Italy two years ago and she is interested in giving back to that ecosystem.

No, this isn't a clumsy segue to share a bunch of these (quite artistic) images; rather, it's to pose a second and final poll question.

A few days ago, I thought of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono “Bed-In For Peace,” part of their extended honeymoon. I was unsure which Canadian city hosted their unorthodox stay in 1969 that produced “Give Peace a Chance.” Turns out it’s the next stop on our journey: Montreal.

Because I am such a Beatles nerd, we will surely be checking out that venue, the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. By the way, the hotel has gone to great lengths¹ to commemorate John and Yoko’s stay, which began 56 years ago this week.

1. Check out this story on the hotel's efforts:

https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/luxury-travel/fairmont-queen-elizabeth-montreal-john-lennon-yoko-ono-suite