{"id":774221,"date":"2026-07-01T22:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774221\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T22:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:50:09","slug":"sarnia-area-cyclist-recalls-heartwarming-enthusiasm-for-canada-during-recent-austrian-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774221\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarnia area cyclist recalls ‘heartwarming’ enthusiasm for Canada during recent Austrian holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

A Sarnia area woman who went on a cycling trip in Austria in May, says she travels regularly, but she\u2019s never encountered the kind of enthusiasm for Canada that she encountered on her recent trip.<\/p>\n

Barbara Dobson said she\u2019s received positive feedback during previous travels when people spotted the Canadian flags on her jackets and hats.<\/p>\n

But she said the reception on the latest trip was on another level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that people were calling out to us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018We love you.\u2019 \u2018We love Canada.\u2019 It was overwhelming. \u2026 It gave me a lot of Canadian pride because it showed me how much our flag is known and respected and people admire us everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobson\u2019s latest trip took her from Passau, Germany, to Vienna over six days, she said.<\/p>\n

‘Heartwarming’ response<\/p>\n

She and her husband rode cherry-red bicycles and had six-by-ten-inch Canadian flags tucked into the panniers, she said.<\/p>\n

She last visited Austria just a year and a half ago and had been in Portugal a year before that, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt any other time, [with] my flags on my back, you know, somebody might say, \u2018Where are you from?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut these were like \u2014 quite the response from people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DobsonBarbara Dobson stands with her bicycle during a cycling trip in Austria in May 2026. (Submitted by Barbara Dobson)<\/p>\n

Dobson called the reaction “heartwarming.”<\/p>\n

Asked why she thought the response had shifted this time, she said she believed people were showing support for the country in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s Davos speech in January \u2013 though she said nobody specifically mentioned the speech to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like writing a letter to Mark Carney after and saying \u2026 \u2018Thank you for your efforts here,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Canadian travel content creator Kirsten Wendlandt, who last visited Europe in November, said she has not noticed a growth in positive sentiment toward Canadians \u2013 though she said she typically doesn\u2019t sport a Canadian flag while travelling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But she said Canadians already receive a warm welcome in many places because many Canadian tourists are known for being polite, generous and interested in other cultures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s beautiful to be from a country that people are excited to see you and excited to welcome you when you go to their country,\u201d Wendlandt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s kind of cool that … we’re just known as being really nice, and people, you know, want to welcome us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-774221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}