I was asked a few days ago what foods I will miss from Canada. Interestingly enough, none really. The Canadian food experience is a multi-cultural one, from all over the world. I may miss a few restaurants that I love like the great little Indian place in Barrie, but other than that, nothing sticks out in my mind.

The one thing I may miss is the convenience. Within 15 minutes I could buy anything that I need. Not so in Britain. Due to every building being 400+ years old, there is a certain lack of urban planning which means that finding the store that you need is very tough.

Case in point: yesterday our air shipment arrived (the Sharp Aquos looks amazing). One of the cables on our son’s new bike had come loose and after much futzing, I could not put it back together. So we had to find a bike shop and after speaking to the neighbours and the security guy, it became apparent that the closest bike shop was 25 minutes away (We don’t have broadband yet, so we could not use the internet).

Off we went and 3 minutes beyond our house Narda exclaimed ‘wait, there is a bike shop there!’. Now, obviously, this arose from the fact that we do not know the area and because we did not have an effective way to find information. However, in speaking with the bike shop owner on the topic he provided some insight.

The area where we live consists of many interconnected but independent villages and many people do not know what is in two or three towns over, because there are so many and it is a maze.

This is also very exciting. Going 5 minutes further means a whole new experience …