Canadians may get offended. But the truth is that Canada is super boring. Canada looks good on postcards. It is great that several of its cities get included in the lists of ‘best cities of the world’ etc.
And yet, Canada is one huge boring country.
No wonder that we have a bunch of Canadians who have migrated to the US or who live as snowbirds [most of who eventually settle down in the US].
When I went to Canada, I was struck by how dull the entire place is. Why is there no bustle, no excitement, no energy, in any of its cities? Very sedate, quiet place with people moving about like expressionless robots, hopping into a nearby Tim Horton’s to grab a cup of steaming hot coffee, to add some pizzazz, some razmataz, to their otherwise nondescript Canadian existence.
The one question that kept popping in my mind as I traveled across several Canadian cities was, ‘Why on earth are there so many large buildings and road/rail networks, and massive infrastructure all around, when there barely are any people to be seen in these Canadian cities [except may be around the downtown areas]?
Toronto is the largest Canadian city and one of the biggest in North America. Even so, Toronto itself is the poster child of the quintessential boring Canadian life. Toronto has these massive ugly boring buildings. Concrete monstrosities in the shape of massive square blocks laid out in the most vapid architectural style. Woefully uninspiring. Architecturally speaking, other Canadian cities like Vancouver and Montreal may have some redeeming attributes. Toronto on the other hand will kill you with architectural boredom.
Despite its large Population [Almost 6 million live in the greater Toronto Area], Toronto is a sedate, dull, city. Once you get past the concrete jungle of downtown Toronto, what awaits you is boring, barely-creaking life, spread across a seemingly endless languid suburban sprawl.
And yet Toronto is infinitely livelier than so many other Canadian cities. Like Calgary, Alberta. Don’t even get me started on Calgary. You can actually stand someplace in downtown Calgary and shout. And you’ll likely hear your own voice echo through the vast emptiness of downtown Calgary.
Calgary again is another important Canadian city. With an impressive infrastructure which at first glance will leave you bedazzled. But soon you’ll realize that in Calgary you have more buildings than people keeping you company. And that Calgary has this distinctive drab and dreary grey tone everywhere. Grey buildings, grey streets, grey sidewalks.
Those panoramic photos of Canadian cities, taken from afar, can be deceptively attractive and colorful. Especially those postcard perfect pictures clicked at dusk or at night, when a million lights come to life, rustling and rousing these sleepy Canadian cities and towns out of their slumber.
But when you are physically there in Calgary, or in most any Canadian city or suburbia, the anticipated razzle-dazzle will crash-land onto this languorous, slow-paced, boring, sedate, mechanical, monotonous and robotic crawl that is the ‘Canadian life’, set against the backdrop of an equally uninspiring and unexciting urban landscape.
To summarize: Canadian cities and towns are like Canadian prime ministers - past and present. Easy on the eyes. But generally dull, uninspiring, inconsequential, aloof and cold. And largely unknown outside Canada. Or within.
No comments:
Post a Comment