In Canada, my home town is called Oshawa. Some people call it like a suburb of Toronto (it is 30 minute drive to a highway), but it has 150,000 people (more than most of the cities in Macedonia
). There is nothing much to see in this place. Everything looks pretty much the same. If you go there for a first time, you could easily get lost (even with a map).
That is due to the fact there are a lot of houses (many look the same) and there are few tall buildings. The city has an access to lake Ontario. Near the lake, there are many fields for soccer, baseball and rugby (so people can play there for fun, or play in the local leagues).
This is the General Motors Centre. It is a place where hockey games are played (usually local ones or Ontario based league). One of the first games in the arena was between the young squads of Canada and Russia. Some basketball games get to be played there and the arena is also reserved for concerts. This year Akon had a concert there.
Bellow is the library in UOIT (University of Ontario Institute of Technology). Despite a college, Oshawa also has a university. This place is 15 minutes walking distance from my home, though I do not go there.
I also have another home town, Ottawa.
It is the place where I attend university, so being there for four years does make it a second home. And I love the place, because it reminds me of Skopje.
As you know, Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. There is a lot of interesting things about Ottawa. It is located in easternmost Ontario and it borders Quebec. There is a suburb of Ottawa that is part of Quebec and it is called Gatineau (though it is counted as a separate city). It is a typical party place for all freshmen (18 year old kids who want to smoke and drink in their first year of college/university
). Only in Quebec the drinking/smoking limit is 18+, while in the other provinces is 19+.
During the winter (usually January-February), you can skate on the canal. It is one of the biggest naturally frozen skating places in the world. You can also go visit the Parliament Hill, as a nice attraction. Also, close by is the ByWard Market. This place reminds me much of the Market/bazaars in Skopje.
You can buy lot of fruits and vegetables there, honey, there are also stores where you can buy cheese (variety of feta cheese, and many different types of cheese). You can also buy some suveniers over there. Around, there are a lot of cafe's, night clubs, also some strip bars.
Every may, there is a festival going on in Ottawa called "Canadian Tulip Festival". This festival is accompanied by an International Pavillion that features food, culture, arts, music from more than 20 different countries. This festival goes for about 20 days.
Some nice pictures from Ottawa:
This one is the Parliament Hill!
Here on this picture you can see the Rideau Canal during the winter. A perfect place to skate.
In Ottawa there is something called O-train.
It goes through 5 stations and it is really nice if you go to university (and live somewhere close to the stations) and you want to skip traffic. This picture is actually shot near by my university.
Not to forget, there are 2 universities in Ottawa: Carleton University and University of Ottawa (the latter being larger in terms of more buildings and more students, the first one is much nicer
). Also there is one college called Algonquin.
The only not so good thing about Ottawa, is the cold weather in the winter. The temperature easily goes bellow -20 Celsius degrees in January and February. Also, Ottawa is a windy place. If sometimes the temperature happens to be -15, it will feel like -30. :? :twisted: The urbanization plan of the city also affects that, as wind prevailance can make you catch a cold.
