… Oh Canada. Lovely place, fantastic people (well the half that don’t count the French as their true lineage anyway), clean cities and awesome mountains. But that National Anthem – frankly, it’s rubbish. Still, it could have been so much worse, our major supplier could have been in the US and that’s not a trip from hell, it’s a trip to hell. Four hours in customs, full rubber glove body search and a whole bunch of attitude that forgets we were the victims too.

Three days of meetings await, with non optional waffles, possibly a couple of small beers and a bit of late sightseeing in the rather fetching city of concrete that is Ottawa. I was delighted to learn that the Canal system was not only built by British Victorian engineers but it’s express purpose was to shield the city from hostile American takeovers. The hotel we stay in resembles some kind of Disneyworld monstrosity housing fake gables, turrets and the odd crenulated gargoyle. But any country that has the beaver as a national emblem gets my vote every time. I never tire of endorsing those proud Canadians sporting their double entendre’d aquatic rat with a simple “Nice Beaver“.

Anyway enough of this, the hedgehog shall remain unpickled until the end of the week unless time allows for an entry cataloguing the horror of a four puncture commute. I may need a couple of stiff drinks first, I honestly thought that a tree in Hyde Park was going to be my bed for the night.

But I’ve written loads lately so read that nonsense, it swells my shallow ego no end to see the hit counts 🙂