7.) There were no billboards. Zero. Even when we drove into Ottawa, the nation’s capital. I’ve never seen (or not seen) anything like it.

6.) No one appeared to be in a mad rush. From what we could tell, Canadians seem to embrace a healthy, sustainable pace of living.

5.) We felt entirely safe walking around a city of 900,000 people. The thought didn’t even occur to us that something unsavory might happen. That’s how peaceful it was.

4.) No one we met seemed to resent us, despite the fact that our president has in the past month impulsively levied stiff tariffs on their nation and petulantly excoriated their prime minister.

3.) We witnessed zero aggressive drivers. Heck, we witnessed zero aggressive anything.

2.) The landscapes we hiked in and drove through in rural Ontario were clean, serene, and bountifully green. Preservation of nature seemed to be a national value.

1.) Without exception, every single person we met was warm and welcoming. This includes not only those whose friendliness could be construed as having a profit motive (B&B owners and restaurant servers), but also random strangers with no such motive. Like a farmer who let us tour her property simply because she liked showing her animals to children. And multiple restaurant patrons who struck up affable conversations with us out of the blue. And fellow B&B guests from Quebec and New Brunswick who were chummy with us at breakfast.

Every. Single. Person. We. Met.

The looks on our faces here nicely encapsulate our sentiments about Canada. We can’t wait to go back someday.