things that are awesome about canada

blood orange gelato
mountains
salmon (oh, the salmon)
smart cars
the cutest bums ever! canadian accented "excuse me, but are you going to eat those leftovers?"
the cutest bum-deniers ever! canadian accented "i'm so sorry, but i have a teenage son who wants that. very sorry."
eh?
aboot.
the largest, most manicured hedges EVER
a mass transit system that spans trains, buses and sea-buses (vancouver) on one ticket
the adorable suggestion by vancouverites that the reason they don't have a mass transit map is because "there are just too many buses" (really? but we can do it in chicago?)
taking a public bus to the wilderness (grouse mountain hiking)
coffee, and its everywhereness, and its goodness
loonies and toonies (how can canada take itself seriously?)
the fact that all service workers in whistler can tell us with no trace of irony that the best local hike is along the river of golden dreams (snicker)
more salmon
watching downhilling mountain bikers flying over our heads while drinking a pitcher of kokanee gold beer
chair lifts that enable us to only hike downhill
hotel hot tub with lake view where we drink straight rum from plastic bottle (classy)
large signs welcoming us to the wilderness
sitting on top of a mountain looking at a glacier, and leaving with new shiny rock. :)