More beer and transit

- Ontario is a disappointment. Outside Ottawa (where the Beau's Lug Tread is a true delight) there are no non-southern ontario microbrews that I could find. On asking in Thunderbay I was told the only one in the area closed down five years ago. Lesley says that the major breweries dominate the beer stores and this makes it hard for new micro-breweries in Ontario. Damn you Capitalism!


Winnipeg - great city for beer. We had a lot of the Half -pints, their amber is excellent, and their IPA close to the best i've had. Saskatchewan has the great western, pretty good but I wouldn't write home about it (opps i just did). Now we're in calgary where i hope to get past the big rock - they even served big rock at the winnipeg folk fest which i think, given their commitment to serving local food, is a damn shame.


Transit - Thunder bay - ok, slow, not a lot of bus lines, coverage is limited. Pretty good if you are doing the part arthur- fort william to port arthur routre but otherwise slow and scattered

winnipeg is definitely got the ottawa angst - ready for something bigger than buses but not ready to spend the money (ottawians - don't even talk to me about the O train). Hence that thing where you make bus stops that look like little subway stations, dedicated lanes, etc - all of which are good. In particular, the displays showing the times for the next buses are nice (though lesley did point out that the same money spent instead on more buses might be better). however, they do charge a lot for a six year old

regina - strange bus system - not on a grid, very focussed on bringing people downtown from the suburbs. Very long wait times outside rush hour. Not recommended, fortunately you can walk everywhere

will write soon about calgary!