International sports enthusiasts can visit the history of the Olympic Games in Canada, and get a glimpse of the future.

Canada hosted its first Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec in 1976. 

The Olympic Stadium in Montreal features the world’s tallest inclined tower—it is 574 feet (175 m) high.  The vision of the architect who planned the stadium was nearly impossible to achieve, however.  The stadium’s retractable roof was not completed until 1987, more than 10 years after the event for which it was designed.

The velodrome built for the 1976 Games was re-purposed for education in 1992 and is now known as the Biodôme.  Visitors to the museum will experience four typical indigenous American environments: the polar region, a tropical forest, the St. Lawrence marine, and the Laurentian forest.

In 1988, Calgary, Alberta hosted the 15^th Winter Olympiad and profited mightily from it (unlike Montreal, which is still paying for that stadium roof!).  The Olympic Oval is a fully equipped training facility used by skaters, runners, hockey players, and athletes of all stripes.  Nearby Canada Olympic Park is the home of North America’s largest Olympic museum, the Olympic Hall of Fame.  The Park is also home to Canada’s only Olympic bobsled/luge track.  Adventurous visitors willing to sign a waiver can even buy a trip down the track in a sled driven by one of the park’s trained drivers.

Canada will again be hosting the Winter Olympics, this time in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2010.  The city has already begun preparations for the big event.  Omega, Official Timekeeper of the 2010 Games, unveiled a three-year countdown clock in downtown Vancouver on February 12, 2007.  Construction of the Vancouver Olympic Village will begin in the summer of 2007.  The Games facilities will be made available to athletes for training by Winter 2007/2008.

Prince Edward Island, Canada, known for its scenic vistas and rich agricultural tradition, is best known to literary fans as the home of a little orphan named Anne Shirley. 

Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables series, was born on Prince Edward Island and used the island as the setting for 19 of her 20 novels.  Tributes to Anne, her world, and her author, are all over the island. 

During the annual Charlottetown Festival a musical version of Anne’s story is presented twice daily, June-September.  Check the festival’s website to confirm show times at http://www.confederationcentre.com/festival.asp.

Every August the L.M. Montgomery Festival takes place in Cavendish.  The festival is a three-day tribute to Anne and her creator featuring events like an old-fashioned variety show, craft classes, carriage rides, writers’ workshops, barn dances, and more.  For information on the current festival, send an email to info@lmmontgomeryfestival.com .

In New London, the Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace is open to visitors May-October annually.  This small historic location is where the author was born.  Special exhibits feature a replica of her wedding dress and scrapbooks containing some of the author’s poetry.

The Anne of Green Gables Museum is at Silverbush, the home of the author’s aunt and uncle.  Montgomery was married here in 1911 and the museum features a number of family heirlooms as well as a collection of first editions of her works.

The ultimate site for fans of the series is, of course, Green Gables House in Cavendish.  The house, built in 1830 and where the author spent many happy childhood visits with her cousins, was restored after being damaged in a fire in 1997.  Managed by Parks Canada, it now features re-creations of scenes from the novels.  Visitors can also stroll down Lover’s Lane or explore the Haunted Wood, both are sites featured in the books.

Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada is aptly named.  Its name derives from the Mi’kmaq Indian word gespeg, meaning “end of land”.  It is the end of an eastern Canadian peninsula, and, more interestingly, just off the coast lies Percé Rock, the far northern end of the Appalachian mountains.

Percé Rock is one of nature’s true wonders, and one of the most photographed places in Quebec, possibly in all of Canada.  The 375 million year-old rock is an enormous limestone slab, 295 feet (90 m) wide, 279 feet (85 m) high at its highest point, and an awe-inspiring 1476 feet (450 m) long.  The rock’s name comes from the French word percé, “pierce”, so-called for the large opening that pierces the slab near the seaward end.

Legend maintains that at one point the rock was pierced in as many as four locations, but historical records only mention two holes.  The second cave, to the east of the one visible today, collapsed in 1845.  The sea stack L’Obelisque at the end of the monolith is an artifact of this cave-in.

For four hours each day the tide recedes enough to allow people to walk across to the rock.  Tourists can walk to the cave, but it is an arduous trek.  A better way to see the majesty of Percé Rock is to take one of the many boat tours that go around the rock.

The village of Percé was once the largest fishing port on the Gaspe Peninsula.  It is now devoted to catering to the tourists who come to see the rock and visit the bird sanctuary on Bonaventure Island.  It is also a haven for outdoor enthusiasts with hike and bike trails, camping nearby, and even scuba opportunities for those willing to brave the cold waters of Gaspe bay.

Are you a wildlife enthusiast looking for something a little different?  The a trip to Churchill in Northern Manitoba, Canada is just the thing.

Indulge yourself in a little retro luxury with a sleeper ticket on VIA Rail’s Hudson Bay, a 2-day and night trip from Winnipeg to Churchill. The indulgence is worth it, since the destination, Churchill, is a no-frills sub-arctic town.  This train is another of VIA Rail’s outdoor enthusiast routes and offers their unscheduled stop service to passengers who make advance arrangements for it.

Churchill, a tiny village with a permanent population that fluctuates between 800 and 1100, is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.  The town, sitting between the Churchill River and Hudson Bay, is on the polar bears’ annual migration route.  Peak season for polar bear sighting is from mid-October to mid-November each year.  Polar bear viewing is best done by arrangement with one of the many tour operators in Churchill who will take out in a tundra buggy, vehicles specially designed for the safety of people, polar bears, and the local tundra.

Manitoba’s beluga whale population migrates to the Churchill River and Hudson Bay every summer during July and August.  There are approximately 20,000 whales living in the area, and about 3,000 of them summer in the river estuary to give birth.  Visitors have a chance to view, and, with many tours, swim with, these beautiful creatures.

Bird-watching enthusiasts should try to make the trip to Churchill sometime between mid-June and mid-July.  According to the Churchill Northern Studies Institute, birdwatchers can expect to see approximately 100 species, easily, over the course of a four- to seven-day trip.  For more information on species commonly seen, or at least heard in some cases, check out the birdwatching page on the Instute’s website at http://www.churchillscience.ca/index.php?page=ab_attrac_birds.