Try squishing it into all three, and still leaving room for sour grapes.

We'll wager there are few things more satisfying on a glorious late summer's day than squashing ripe, red fresh field tomatoes between your toes until you're well over your waist in spaghetti paste. Every year, the folks in Oliver, BC bet a whole tomato throwing festival on doing just that. Now, everyone else is playing ketchup.

Red, of course, is also the color of wine. You know, that other substance created by squishing fruit between your toes. Some of the finest is made from locally grown grapes in Canada's wine growing regions. Spending a sun-kissed afternoon enjoying a signature tasting hosted by a world-class Canadian vineyard. Now that's a vintage way to drink up the good life.

Vintage experiences also await you in Canada's amazing museums. Anthropology, civilizations, natural history, and even wars - all waiting for you to rediscover. Explore the miraculous wonders of ancient North America through the eyes of its first inhabitants. Relive the drama of a nation's birth. Feel the terror and exhilaration of exploring the vast unknown expanses of the New World. Then savor it all over a glass of homegrown merlot. What could be better? Other than a good old-fashioned tomato fight, of course.

Go ahead, keep exploring.

Forever, if you're the next big Tyrannosaurus Rex waiting to be discovered.

Somewhere in the primeval dust beneath your desert boot hides history's most fearsome predator. Will it be your paleontologist's brush that excavates his bones of extinction, and ignites your own? No, you haven't stumbled onto on the set of Jurassic Park V. You're just outside Drumheller, Alberta, with its dinosaur gallery smack in the middle of one of the world's most prolific dinosaur fossil sites. Tens of millions of years ago, right about where you're finding dino bones, an Albertosaurus snacked on hapless lesser lizards thrice your size. Without flossing.

But that's ancient history. Today, in nearby Calgary, old west meets new, and it's wilder than ever, only now all spit and polished. No need to bring your cowboy hat. A tuxedo will do. Canada's youngest, hippest, fastest growing city has a booming arts, dining, and nightlife scene. In fact, some of the hottest chefs and impresarios are stampeding to set up shop here, on the doorstep of the Rockies. And not simply for the view.

Over on the far side of Canada, Newfoundlanders share another point of view entirely. Out here among the townies and fishers alike, the salty tang of maritime lore is bred in the bone. 'Beatin the pat' through the historic towns and fishing villages of Newfoundland and Labrador's guts, inlets, coves, and bays, feels like parachuting into a culture as deep and jagged and mysterious as this same spectacular coastline that greeted gobsmacked Norse adventurers a thousand years ago.

Go ahead, keep exploring.

If you ever get close enough to find out (and live to tell) do let us know!

As your Tundra Buggy® rounds a corner, there she is - two tons of white fur bearing down on you across the arctic iceflow. Nostrils twitching in a cloud of steam, nature's mightiest predator rears up on her hind legs, paws swiping the air. Just another heart-stopping way of saying hello in Churchill, Manitoba, polar bear viewing capital of the world on the rugged shore of Hudson's Bay.

Think polar bear viewing is thrilling? Try facing a ferocious Pacific Ocean gale as hurricane strength winds howl and enormous waves pound the rugged shore where you stand. Then later, as blue skies break, strolling back along miles of blissfully deserted beach to your luxurious glass-encased resort and a gourmet salmon dinner overlooking the edge of the world. Storm watching on the rugged British Columbia coast is not for the faint of heart. It will quite literally blow you away.

So too, will the unique styles of innovative Canadian designers like Arthur Mendonca, Nadya Toto and Dennis Gagnon (to name just a few) as you navigate our fashionista-friendly streets. Like that eco-friendly organic yoga gear you couldn't resist in Vancouver. Or the Inuit inspired faux fur-lined aviator hat and matching boots you spotted in Montreal. Perfect for polar bear encounters.

Go ahead, keep exploring.

It probably won't. But it will make your hair stand on end and your spine tingle.

When the salt spray settles and that glistening black fin vanishes beneath the surface barely fifty feet away, you in your boat will never be the same again. Why? Because one of the most majestic creatures in the seas - an Orca Whale - has just deemed you worthy of a friendly flick of her tail. Today, you'll paddle alongside these giants as they patrol the waters off British Columbia's rugged West Coast. Tomorrow, you'll breathe.

And the day after that? Now that you've lived on the edge, why not stray even further into the Fringe? In summer, Canadians don't just hit the streets running - we throw parades, like the one that kicks off Edmonton, Alberta's world-renowned Fringe Festival, where all kinds of performers gather to act up and ignite the night with laughter.

Next morning, after all the frivolity, you'll want to set aside some quality time for more practical activities, like power shopping. Or perhaps a visit to a sumptuous spa, where the pampering won't stop until you are completely blissed out. Haven't you earned it after braving the hair-raising adventures of whale watching and Fringe festivals?

Go ahead, keep exploring.

It depends on how fast the hot springs transform you from mineral to vegetable.

Just about anyone can take a hike. Where and how you decide to take it makes all the difference. Canada's Rockies, for instance. As your luxury heli-hiking adventure delivers you to your own remote corner of pristine wilderness, you'll be praying this day will never end. Ahead are hours of pine-scented serenity and exhilarating exploration, capped with the most luxurious soak of your life in the waters of a tranquil alpine spa.

Different waters greet you aboard the Bluenose II, born of the world's most famous fishing schooner, which sails out of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to ports worldwide. Careful you don't get caught admiring the largest working mainsail in the world, though, lest you're pressed into service as a deckhand on the fastest tall ship there ever was.

Stagehands, however, Canada has no shortage of, due to our thriving performing arts scene. Just about every evening, in every city, curtains rise on world-class dramas, operas, symphonies and musicals. Make no mistake, we're passionate about telling our stories up here. And yes, we have a Queen. But that doesn't make us drama queens. Just very skilled at making you laugh, cry and feel like dancing.

Go ahead, keep exploring.

More importantly, is it really roughing it if the tent comes with a chaise lounge?

Everyone has their own idea of a wilderness experience. Roughing it in the bush, close encounters with elusive predators, communion with unspoiled scenery, raw adventure. How about following pan-seared scallops with campfire marshmallows? Or sipping 40-year-old brandy in the rainforest? In Canada, you can answer the call of the wild in any number of luxurious locales, like the floating resort in spectacular Clayoquot Sound off Vancouver Island.

Roughing it certainly doesn't extend to Canadian rail travel. Not while you're aboard one of Canada's world famous luxury trains. Decadence is more like it. But then, you might not even notice the fabulous dining, posh digs, and pampering with your face plastered to the window as you try to absorb unbelievable panoramas.

It's enough to make even the most intrepid adventurer hungry. Good thing, then, that Canada's celebrated gourmet cuisine is the stuff culinary adventures are made of. Think freshest-imaginable PEI mussels, delicate Arctic char, velvety caribou braised in cabernet, precious Dungeness crab, AAA Alberta beef, and lavender ice cream, washed down with artisan apple icewine. Think Relais & Chateaux and Michelin caliber fare. Then think about which wine goes with what wood.

Go ahead, keep exploring.

When three thousand of your closest friends decide to come along.

Everyone loves a good party. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, they actually set a world record throwing one. During the annual Halifax Pub Crawl thousands of revelers transform this historic port city's streets into one giant brew-ha-ha. Everyone's welcome to join in, and before you can say fishcakes, the salty jokes are flying and rowdy Maritimes songs are being sung.

It's true, Canadians everywhere love to light up the night. Take our tradition of holding lantern festivals, for instance. Like Toronto's Luminato, Vancouver's Illuminaires, with its lakeside procession of fire-breathers torch-dancers and stilt-walkers, and Ottawa's Lumière Festival, where fairy wings outnumber the jam jar lanterns. But only just.

All that glitters in Canada is not made of wax, paper or gold. In northern places like Churchill, Manitoba, you can view the fabled kaleidoscopic light show called the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis), which peaks in the winter months. When that solar saliva trickles into the upper atmosphere and excites oxygen and nitrogen, the results are colourful, to say the least.

Go ahead, keep exploring.

By putting you smack in the middle of it, for starters.

Fashion? French? Did someone say, Québec?
Imagine an alluring mix of wilderness, history, poetry, Euro elegance and urban flair. C’est Québec. 
Montréal and Québec City dish out some of the best in couture and culture.

Take Montréal, for instance, where 360 years of passionate history have left indelible marks on every street, attraction and restaurant in the second-largest French speaking city in the world. Here, old World charm isn’t past but present, and exuberantly lived like nowhere else in North America. From the cobblestone streets of Old Montréal to the modern Quartier international, your view of history will change as dramatically as your definition of “joie de vivre.”

Québec City, with its lofty ramparts and storied citadel, brims with the rich history of New France. No wonder it’s been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. A step inside it’s fortified walls is a step inside the charm of Old Europe.  Say “bonjour” to the cradle of French civilization in North America. 

Go ahead, keep exploring.