One of the great things about traveling Europe is getting together with friends from home who are also in vagabond mode. An old friend and co-worker from Halifax, Jennifer (see photos) happened to be passing through England and the logical place for us to meet was The Maple Leaf Pub. Owned by Northern brew giants, Molson, there's plenty of Molson Dry and Canadian Lager on tap at the "Leaf". Flags, Blue Jays paraphernalia, hockey gear and license plates adorn the walls (the Nova Scotian plate is only a few numbers off of an old one of mine!). During hockey season, a tape of the key games and playoffs are couriered in to keep the hockey hungry fans satiated. Canadian Baseball games and Monday Night Football are other sports specialties here.
The only thing missing from The Maple Leaf's Canadian experience are Canadians. Oh, there are usually lots of curious visitors downing a "draft" and reminiscing about the homeland, but there are no homeys doing the pouring. Most of the staff seem to be of Australian descent and have little clue as to why there are no true ambassadors of Canuckdom with Maple Leaf staff shirts. Not that bartending is too sought after a profession in a land where tipping is something you do when you've had too many beer, not when you've just purchased one. It would be kind of a bonus though to find an expatriate among the gainfully employed in London. For that, we had to head to The Hard Rock Cafe !
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Updated Dec. 16, 1997