I’ve always been amazed by the fact that despite the country’s gargantuan proportions (something I was all too aware of on the endless flight out west last Thursday), all English Canadian cities have a common feel to them. There’s a certain laid back hipness to them, and they all seem to have pedestrian streets lined with colorful little eco-friendly shops and cool, airy cafés full of artists. Think Ottawa’s Byward Market, or Granville Mall in Halifax. The other thing Canadian cities have in common is that they always give me the feeling that though I’m in an urban center, nature isn’t far.

With its superclean but deserted downtown area, its one hip shopping street, and its large, wild wooded ravine that cuts right through the city, Edmonton has that distinctly Canadian feel. Even though it’s been years since I’ve been anywhere in Canada outside Quebec, the familiarity was unmistakable.

Edmonton told me that I was home, and to take a load off and chill. I didn’t visit the Phone History Center proposed by Dr Wank, and didn’t even see the West Edmonton Mall (for the uninitiated, it’s what Kevin Smith calls the Big F***ing Mall, complete with indoor water park and roller coaster). But I did drink a lot of Chai latté and played several video games.

(Edmonton does have one eccentricity, though:
Price for a beer “imported” from Québec (Blanche de Chambly): 13$
La Maudite: 14$
La Terrible de Unibroue (never heard of it): 21$)