How Long is a Long Weekend--11 days?

The first big long weekend of the summer will be starting next week --the Canada Day Weekend starts on Thursday, the day most kids get out of school. The weekend for many will continue through until late Monday night. There are many celebrations throughout Canada especially on Sunday July 1. For more Canada Day Long weekend activities see Canada Long Weekends.

Many Canadians have been celebrating since June 21.

Imagine an 11 day long weekend celebrating our Canadian Heritage. A good excuse for an early start to the summer "holiday spirit" or "joie de vive" where you can enjoy one or two long weekends. "Celebrate Canada!" activities during the "Celebrate Canada!" period from June 21 to July 1, (including National Aboriginal Day, on June 21, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24, Canadian Multiculturalism Day on June 27).

Canada's Seven Wonders-Natural or Man Made?

With Canada Day just around the corner and summer vacation time starting I have certainly been motivated to get out and see more of Canada.

Congratulations go to CBC for renewing and revitalizing interest for all Canadians in exploring and discovering our own country, Canada. The top wonders chosen by the CBC judges were, The Canoe, The Igloo, Old Quebec City, Pier 21 Nova Scotia, The Rockies, Niagara Falls, and Prairie Skies.

The seven wonders chosen through audience voting had some variations with the addition of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park near Thunder Bay in Ontario, The Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, Bay of Fundy (both NS &NB), Northern Lights, and Nahanni National Park in the Northwest Territories.

Now there are more opinions about what the chosen 'Seven Wonders' should have been. In the Toronto Star Travel section on Sat. June 9, Christopher Hume, normally the architecture critic gives an opening dissertation about the human capacity to build things....a nation evolving from the wilderness with our human engineering and vision to forge a nation. Hume's seven wonders are The Transcontinental Railway, Rideau Canal Ontario, Confederation Bridge PEI, CN Tower Toronto, Expo 67 Montreal, the Citadelle of Quebec, Quebec City, with honourable mentions going to the Trans Canada highway, and The St. Lawrence Seaway,

Hume forgets however, we still have a lot of wilderness where human intervention is at a minimum. This is also a wonder, that we have realized the importance of conservation and preservation in our human conquest.

Hume is still of the "old boy" school, which is fine as long as we do not lose sight of our geographic riches, topography and vast systems of lakes and fresh waters. Hume does not appear to recognize the canoe as a unique engineering feat, one that allowed generations of First Nations people and explorers to effectively communicate throughout our vast wilderness. Hume's definition of 'civilized' as a result of human intervention in the wilderness can also be challenged.

Perhaps we should be looking at seven hundred and seventy-seven wonders 777 in this spectacular country of ours. Or, 30,777 wonders if you include the 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay

Canada Tourism Week in Ontario North of Toronto

Canada Tourism Week June 4-June 10

400ELEVEN encourages visitors to get out during tourism week and experience a taste of resort destinations north of Toronto. Links to events, festivals and getaway package options follow:

Ontario Golf Getaways www.400eleven.com/getaways-golf.html

Ontario Fishing Getaways www.400eleven.com/getaways-fishing.html

Ontario June Events and Festivals www.400eleven.com/events.html

Ontario Romantic Getaways www.400eleven.com/getaways-romantic.html

Toronto Arts Scene-So Hip it Hurts

The Toronto Arts Scene is highlighted on page three of today's Globe and Mail. This coming weekend marks the beginning of a Re-Renaissance for the Toronto Art Scene (it was supposed happen with Lord of the Rings). McLaren gets excited about spelling Luminato and the festival installations of light, aerobics and sex. Val Ross talks about the opening of the new addition to Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum "Crystal", and highlights a jousting match with the Architect Daniel Libeskind. Controversial to the last minute, the design of Crystal and the discussion even makes it to the Globe's editorial page with Rick Salutin. The combination of the above with The Leonard Cohen-Philip Glass musical collaboration 'The Book of Longing' makes Toronto, as the sign on Queen Street West reads "So Hip It Hurts".
As a Torontonian now from Barrie, Toronto is great and continues to improve in every way as McLaren says, "we're getting brighter".........Book your Toronto Hotels On-line Now before the word gets out.