Saturday, December 2, 2006
P-I STAFF
Sure, we love to make fun of Canada. It's easy, eh? To wit: Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn't need to pose for Madame Tussaud's. He already is a wax figure.
But, deep down, Puget Sounders adore the place that makes international travel affordable, even if the exchange rate means a trip from Seattle to Vancouver isn't exactly a bargain anymore.
Art Illustration
Wendy Wahman / P-I
Why do we love going north of the 49th?
Let's start with Smarties.
Not those sweet-and-sour candies found in the U.S. Canadians call those Rockets.
We're talking Nestlé Smarties. Try 'em next time you're in Canada. If you like a crunchier candy coating on your milk chocolate, Smarties beat M&M's by a mouthful of colorful shards. If you're lucky, you may even get a Canadian pal to sing the jingle that pretty much every Canadian knows:
When you eat your Smarties, do you eat the red ones last?
Do you suck them very slowly, or crunch them very fast?
Eat that candy-coated chocolate, but tell me when I ask:
When you eat your Smarties, do you eat the red ones last?
What else do we love?
Well, they have Roots stores up there. Yeah, there are Roots stores in the U.S., too, but not in Seattle, probably because we're so close to Vancouver. We really like Roots stuff. So does the U.S. Olympic Team, which would rather have a Canadian company than one from the U.S. outfitting its fashion-challenged jocks.
Canada has better money, too. Loonies and toonies make so much sense. Why U.S. citizens can't wrap their heads around the concept remains a mystery. And the paper currency rocks. What's not to like about bright colors and big portraits?
What else?
# Tea at the Empress. Scones with clotted cream taste better in Victoria. It's a trip to England without jet lag.
# 222s (aka A.C.&C.'s) over the counter. Get your aspirin with codeine and caffeine, no questions asked.
# NHL hockey. It's an acquired taste for many of us in the colonies. But it's one of the few sports that plays better in person than on TV. Maybe it's the sound of blades cutting and gliding on the ice while the sticks click and clack. Or maybe it's getting to hear one of the better national anthems at no extra charge.
# Booze. (Or so we've heard.) The legal drinking age in much of Canada is 19 (it's 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec). Last call in Vancouver goes well past 1:30 a.m.; heck, many clubs stay open till 3:30 or 4, and finding 24-hour lounges and restaurants is a breeze.
# Strip clubs. (Or so we've heard.) Imagine this. You can get adult entertainment and an adult beverage in the same establishment -- at the same time! -- in Vancouver. We're told the clubs there are swankier, too. Hollywood types (Ben Affleck, Christian Slater) seem to like Brandi's Exotic Nightclub. If you're not in the mood for super fancy, there's always the Number Five Orange, where Courtney Love did some, uh, performing. The Five is also a celeb magnet. Over the years it has entertained Bill Murray, John Candy, Ted Danson, Judd Nelson, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman and Wayne Gretzky.
# Absinthe. (Or so we've heard.) It's legal up there. Ditto Cuban cigars.
# B.C. bud. (Or so we've heard.) It's not exactly legal but you'll still see people openly toking and joking in Vancouver.
# Stanley Park. In their wildest reveries, Myrtle Edwards and Elliott Bay parks dream of being this gem.
# Going metric. It's so European. And educational, too.
# Shopping. Sure, at the end of the day it's all just your money for some stuff, but in Vancouver you can find affordable European brands, such as Zara and Morgan de Toi, that you won't find in Seattle. And sculptor Martha Sturdy's trendy stores. If you're a high roller, you can't beat Holt Renfrew and Leone. Stopping at Leone's cappuccino bar to ponder the stupid prices of the couture upstairs is always a kick.
# Asian food. From Chinese to Indian, Vancouver is major league. Seattle is Triple-A.
# Sunblock. The U.S. FDA finally approved Mexoryl, the super UVA-busting ingredient in Canadian and European sunblocks, but tubes of the good stuff are still hard to come by down here.
# Whistler Blackcomb. The only ski resort in the Pacific Northwest to make the list of top 20 North American ski resorts in this year's readers poll by Condé Nast Traveler magazine.
# Nanaimo bars. The ones around here always seem kinda lardy.
# The Royal Canadian Mounted Police: True, a Mountie doesn't usually wear his dress uniform on the beat, but that doesn't make him any less special. Just knowing he (or she) can change into Dudley Do-Right at the drop of a maple leaf makes our hearts go pitter-pat.
# Sandwiches at the Bread Garden. The first outlet opened in 1979, when "the Canucks only had one jersey and parking in Vancouver didn't require a meeting with your bank manager," according to its Web site. Things have changed in 27 years -- now there are a dozen locations -- but the sandwiches are still "all-around good," in the words of one devoted fan from Seattle.
# Poutine. Yes, it's a heart attack in a bowl, but how can you not love a concoction of French fries, gravy and cheddar-cheese curds?
# The "nice" factor. It's real. It's palpable.
# That whole bilingual thing. We actually bought some Captain Crunch cereal simply because the French side of the box said "Capitaine Crounche."
Like many things Canadian, it just makes us smile.
P-I staffers Athima Chansanchai, Kristin Dizon, Regina Hackett, John Marshall, Curt Milton, D. Parvaz, Susan Phinney and Ruth Teichroeb contributed to this compilation.
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