The Five Best Experiences in Canada...

I was reading this article Top 5 Canadian experiences, and thinking: those are West Coast experiences, and they aren't things I even want to do. I've been to Whistler, but I don't like to ski. I want to see whales, but I'd rather do it from the Gaspé peninsula. And tidal bores are... forgive me... a bore. (Not that the Severn Bore and the Bay of Fundy, which I've seen, aren't incredible and amazing. But I'm not going searching for more bores.)

So what would I consider the top five Canadian experiences? I'll stick to things I have actually done:

1. Reading a really good Canadian author. Read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, or The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, or Warchild by Karin Lowachee, or Don L'Orignal by Anotnine Maillet, or anything by Jane Rule. Good Canadian fiction. It's terrific. But I would add a caveat: stay away from anything that ever won a Governor General's Award.
   
   
2. Have a picnic on Limestone Island, Georgian Bay.
   
   
3. Have High Tea at the Chateau Laurier. If you want the West Coast thing, have tea at The Empress in Victoria BC.
   
   
4. Go to a play in Stratford, Ontario.
   
   
5. Visit The Fortress at Louisbourg, which feels like stepping into the 18th century. Warning: don't expect sunny skies like in the picture. It's real North Atlantic weather. Lots of wind and fog. That's part of the experience.
   

And just for the heck of it, the Five Canadian Things I want to to but haven't got around to yet:

1. Go whale-watching in St. Andrew's, New Brunswick.
   
   
2. Go to the Viking settlement at L'Anse-aux-Meadows, Newfoundland.
   
   
3. Visit Haida Gwaii off the coast of British Columbia, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.
   
   
4. Hike the Bruce Trail, in southern Ontaroi.
   
   
5. Wander the Gaspé Peninsula.