Canada Day - Trafalgar Square

**Chas** · 4th July 11, 06:31 AM

Friday 1st of July 2011 in Trafalgar Square, right next to Canada House was held the biggest Canada Day celebration outside of Canada itself.

Alex and I met up for it last year and arranged to do the same again this year. They advertised a 10 o'clock start, but they meant 10:30. I got there just after 10 and found Alex in the distance.

Note how empty everything looks - not for long! At 10:30 the official welcoming started.

The man in white is Canada's Consul General, and he gave a very good speech in both English and French, switching between the two with ease - some times in mid sentence!

Then there was the Big Screen welcome from Stephen Harper the Canadian Prime Minister.

And then the National Anthem sung by someone famous.

More to come.

Regards

Chas

**Chas** · 4th July 11, 06:46 AM

The bars weren't open at the start of the day.

But the queue for Tim Hortons never got any shorter.

We checked out some of the food stalls, but they weren't open yet. We would have to wait for our poutine.

Quite prominent in the Square is the Olympic Countdown Clock.

There was some laughing and joking, because the other side gives a different number of days. And some cries of "Way to go Omega". Until we read the small print, which says that it is the countdown to the Paralympic Games.

More to come

Regards

Chas

**Chas** · 4th July 11, 07:04 AM

What was really big this year were the temporary tattoos.

They weren't the ones I remember as a child. These were good quality and the promise was that they should last a week. The "I love Canada" in either English or French were free, but they were doing a good trade in 'Celtic Style' upper arm tattoos and some rather nice native art eagles for back or chest.

There was a stall, selling a speciality bread. Baked that morning in Canada and fast frozen. It goes into a combination oven and is backed/microwaved and ready to serve in minutes. The taste is supposed to be mouthwatering. I don't know - the price certainly was, so Alex and I gave it a miss.

In the Saskatchewan Tourist Tent they were giving away little flag pins. So it became a new kilt pin.

And close up.

More to come

Regards

Chas

**Chas** · 4th July 11, 07:23 AM

The totem carvers from last year had obviously finished their job and weren't there. In stead we saw some First Nation dancers.

This guy could not keep still. And as he danced and jumped and stomped, his whole costume shimmered and danced with him.

In his daytime job, he is a Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

This young lady represents a different tribe and her dancing style was, although still animated, more subdued. Her dance and throat singing was to plead with the Rain Gods to not visit us on that day. It must have worked as we had no rain.

This little girl is the daughter of one of the Consul Staff and is half First Nations. Her outfit was made for her by her grandmother and is typical of plains dress.

More to come

Regards

Chas

**CMcG** · 4th July 11, 07:38 AM

Up Canada!

**Chas** · 4th July 11, 08:21 AM

So finally the food stalls were open. Poutine time!

Alex has a shot of me actually eating. What can I say. It was OK, but nothing to write home about. Yes the flavours melded together, but to my mind was a bit too salty.

As we were eating a group of youngsters came up and asked in all seriousness "How's the poutine, today?" I said it was a bit salty. This set them off. One said that poutine should never be mass produced. Another that eight portions at a time was max. One wondered how long the onions for the gravy were cooked for and whether they had used both roast and boiled. The discussion raged as to whether the cheese should be vintage or just mature. They went off in deep discussion. This was all said in the same tone that one would discuss world politics or a major natural disaster. Alex and I were dumbfounded and were left to eat our poutine.

And all the time the queue for Tim Hortons never got any shorter.

Of course, one of the major events of the day is the street hockey. Here is last year's winning team.

The play is fast and furious and injuries are common. Here their opposition is taking a break as as one of last year' winners is helped off after a clash of sticks and shins.

More to come

Regards

Chas

**Chas** · 4th July 11, 08:38 AM

We met up with Chapmanredbourn (Brian). We met him at last year's Canada Day and he later came to Harpenden.

He and Alex are both wearing the Maple Leaf tartan and mine is Flower of Scotland.

I spotted this guy, wearing the Newfoundland flag, early on in the day. He was far away in the crowd and by the time I got to the lower terrace, he was gone.

I then spent the next few hours trying to track him down. When I finally found him, he had been 'enjoying' the day quite considerably and his flag was now either back to front or inside out.

All the while there were lots and lots of crowds, just watching it all happen.

More to come

Regards

Chas

**cessna152towser** · 4th July 11, 10:27 AM

Here are a few of my pics from the day:-

Chas eagerly contemplates the poutine.

Lunchtime and Chas finally gets to sample the poutine.

Chas took my photo below the bust of Admiral Cunningham.

We met this lady who was a veteran of the Ontario branch of the Farm Service Force.

We met a young Scots lass who was working for Canadian Affair travel company.

We met this lovely lady from Chillawack BC, which is where my cousin Gord lives.

There were lots of bonnie Canadian lassies who were happy to show us their tee-shirts.

Another group of proud Canucks

Street Hockey action

and concluding with the Ladies Paralympic Basketball players who arranged themselves into two teams and played a demonstration match.

**The Wizard of BC** · 4th July 11, 10:55 AM

Wonderful pics Alex and Chas, thanks for posting them eh.

When I first came up to Canada I was told about the National dish of Canada, Poutine but didn't believe it eh.

But I'm afraid Chas and Alex you were given some Englishized version of real Poutine as the dish here is served with cheese curds not grated cheese. I suspect that this was done so as not to offend your highly trained and sensitive palettes eh.

Here is one recipe eh:

"In the basic recipe for poutine, French fries are topped with fresh cheese curds, and covered with brown gravy or sauce. The French fries are of medium thickness, and fried so that the inside stays soft, while the outside is crunchy. The gravy used is generally a light chicken, veal or turkey gravy, mildly spiced with a hint of pepper, or a sauce brune which is a combination of beef and chicken stock, originating in Quebec. Heavy beef or pork-based brown gravies are rarely used. Fresh cheese curds (not more than a day old) are used. To maintain the texture of the fries, the cheese curd and gravy is added immediately prior to serving the dish eh."