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Published: January 4th 2007
Falls in Ottawa
Some falls in Ottawa, leading into the canal - a lot like Killin in Scotland ;)CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR
Firstly, I have put up Montreal photos and am just about to put up photos of Christmas and New Year on my photo page http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r141/michty6/
I was slightly hungover leaving Montreal to go to Ottawa, I had organised a carpool which turned out very well and Im going to try and do more now... The guy driving was called Jack and has just started up his carpool business (www.autotaxi.com), which he is also just about to expand by offering a Ottawa-Toronto route. He also believes that Quebec should be a separate nation from Canada, but not at the moment as they do not have a strong leader!
I was heading to Ottawa, to meet one of my really good friends from Glasgow, Jenni, to spend Christmas with her family. Jenni and her dad, Peter, picked me up in Ottawa and drove us to Manotick, where they stay - about 25 minutes outside of Ottawa, but still considered a part of Greater Ottawa. I was given a 'driving tour', they showed me the canal which runs for about 8km through Ottawa and every winter, when it freezes over, is filled with skaters. Sadly, the weather
Canadian Parliament
The main building that makes up the Canadian Parliament, a lot like Westminster (including it's political system and monarchy ;)) has been very tame so far this winter, so it probably wouldnt freeze over properly and be ready for skating until mid-January... There are lots of running and cycling tracks alongside the canal: I think Ottawa is a lot more naturalistic in this way than other cities I have been to.
Jenni's sister Sarah joined us that evening, as their mum, Karen, was hosting a party for some of their friends and family, which was good fun. Sadly it is the only time I can think of in Manotick where I felt 100% well - I would be sick for the rest of my stay, starting that night... 😞
I had my first experience of 'Freezing Rain' in Manotick. One evening Jenni and I were supposed to be going to a party some of her friends were hosting in Ottawa. However, there was freezing rain that day - which basically turns the roads into an ice rink. We attempted to head out, but the cars tyres were just spinning on the icy road. At the top of Jenni's road a car had spun into a ditch - this was the final confirmation we needed to turn back! It
At the Parliament
View of Ottawa from up the clock tower at the Parliament then took us 20 minutes to get the car back up the drive, as it was sloped, so Peter and I needed to lay some sand and cat litter down to give the car some friction! I also went up the road to offer the car in the ditch some sand, but they had given up and were going to get it towed the next day... I still took a photo though (probably the real reason why I went back up the road!). Turned out that we had a nice evening anyway, playing some party games in the warmth!
I didnt sleep well for a while due to coughing and sneezing, but this turned out ok one morning, as I had to make Jenni breakfast in bed because I had lost a bet to her about the nationality of a comedian we had seen back in Edinburgh! As I was steadily getting worse, most of the time I stayed indoors and kept warm. It was good to relax though, we ended up doing a monster crossword, as well as some other pop quizes and reading. You've always got to look at the bright side in these situations - at
Homer at the hockey
Homer takes in the hockey game! least I was ill where I was being exceptionally well looked after by Jenni's parents, rather than lying in a hostel bed somewhere on my own...
One night we drove around looking at the Christmas garden decorations (almost every house in Manotick has some form of lights or decorations in their gardens!) and also paid a visit to the pharmacy as my eyes had now decided to puff up 😞
Christmas Day was green - no snow! Apparently this had been an extremely tame winter in Canada so far, I read somewhere that in Quebec City it was also green - for the first time since records began! Sadly I was at my most ill, although I had been given a huge number of presents, which cheered me up 😊 So on boxing day Jenni and I went to the doctors first thing and I was diagnosed with Bronchitis, so we picked up some inhalers and anti-biotics from the pharmacy. From Boxing Day onwards I started to get much better. It also snowed on Boxing Day, so there were no more green days, and it got steadily colder while I was there, reaching about -10 at its coldest
Sens Tattoos
Jenni and I all tattooed up at the Sens game! point (which Im told is still fairly tame by Ottawa's standards!). I also had my first winter barbecue in Canada, at Sarah's house when Jenni and I went to visit - basically we grilled some food on the barbecue outside, while we sat inside keeping warm!
I also still managed to take in some sites in Ottawa despite being ill. Jenni and I went to see the Canadian Parliament one day. It was very nice, not too dis-similar to Westminster, except that Lords are called Senators in Canada and there are a lot less of them in proportion to MPs. Was surprised though to see that the Queen, technically speaking (also like the UK), still has a constitutional role in Canada (and is on their 20 dollar bills). I thought that Canada would have removed this out-of-date part of their past, that I particularly dislike, by now... In the Parliament we got the guided tour - it was funny when the tour guide couldnt answer my question about what nationality their first Prime Minister (John Macdonald) was - he's Scottish but she didnt know this! It was a clear day, so we saw some really nice views from up
Perth, Ontario!
My first 'Perth' of the trip (hopefully not my last)...although Im sure it;ll be the only one I find on the River Tay! the tower... Another interesting thing I found was that it also appears Ottawa is the most 'pc' city with everything and everyone offering both English and French options, mainly because part of the city Quebec...We walked around Ottawa a little after, saw another Chateau hotel, much like the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, before we had to head off to meet the rest of the family for dinner and the Senators game!
I was very excited to be going to my first ever hockey game in Ottawa, alongside Jenni's family who had given me a ticket for Christmas. I was wearing my Ottawa Senators t-shirt, which I had also been given for Christmas, Jenni and I also stuck on Senators Tattoos on our faces as well! Having realised that my camera batteries had died, I spent a bit of time wondering around the Scotia Bank stadium asking random people for batteries - and ended up not only getting 2 for my camera, but 3 spare ones as well, thanks to all the nice people 😊!
Much of the hockey game reminded me of the basketball game in Toronto, the style of sports presentation in North America appears to
Green hills
The green hills of Collingwood, begging for some snow! be similar. There wasnt much pre-match entertainment, although we did get to see the warm up and a cool display where they beamed some footage onto the actual ice itself. And of course the mascot was out during pauses in the match, even firing hotdogs up into the crowd!! They had a whole bunch of other fans entertainment, such as fan of the game, very similar to the basketball...The game itself wasnt the best hockey Ive seen, Ottawa played well defensively but I thought they were lacking ideas in the final third when attacking. Was interesting to see that at one point in the third period NYI actually had 3 people in the sin bin - had never seen that before. Also the attendance at the game was a new record for the senators - probably due to the number of people in guest boxes, perhaps given as presents - as the stadium regularly sells out - still good to be part of a record crowd! The game ended with the Sens deservedly winning 2-0, which was good - although no free pizza, as apparently for hockey this only happens if they score 6 goals! I had a great time
Bongo playing
Bongo playing around an outdoor fire at the bottom of the hills in Collingwood - I didnt get a shot though ;( and definitely want to go and see some more live hockey, it is so much different in person (so much better) than on TV. After the hockey Jenni and I went out to meet some of her friends. We went to a bar that had some live music on, it was quite loud, but luckily the band were fairly decent and playing some good cover songs that I liked 😊
Shortly before I left, I was supposed to be going to a party with Jenni, but since there would be kids there and I was ill, we decided it was best if I stayed away. So I went on a kind of road trip with Karen and Peter to see some interesting places: Lanark, on the river Clyde for one! But even more fun was our visit to Perth, on the river Tay! Having been born in it's Scottish equivalent it was funny to see in Canada... We had lunch in a Mexican restaurant right beside the river Tay! After lunch we went to the cafe upstairs, where I got to taste 'Beavertail'. This is a sweet pancake like treat, which originated in Ottawa - is still sold down
Happy New Year!
Tom, Meaghan and their (startled!) friend Andrew enjoying some drinks by the fire in the cottage at Collingwood the banks of the canal when it is frozen over - then spread throughout Canada. Was very nice, I had mine with chocolate and walnuts on top. Was such a random out-of-the-blue day - my favourite kind!
That was my last day in Ottawa before I headed off for New Year. Many, many, many thanks to Jenni and her family for so many things: for really making me feel like a part of the family the whole time I was there; for all the presents on Christmas Day, which I was really not expecting; for looking after me and putting up with my illnesses; for taking me to my first hockey game and for a great time in general in my first Christmas away from home 😊
After Ottawa I headed off to Collingwood to celebrate New Year with Tom and Meaghan, whom I met at University in Glasgow. They stay in Chatham but head up to Collingwood for New Year when they are back in Canada, as they have a friend from University who has a cottage there. Tom and I stopped off at the Beer Store for the essentials required for New Year 😉. Luckily I was much better health-wise, having got over Bronchitis by this point, so was able to enjoy a few beverages.... Collingwood is supposed to be a ski resort primarily at this time of year, called the 'Blue Mountain', but due to the tame winter there was very little snow, so only a couple of slopes open. It was a lot smaller than Mont Tremblant, I had been warned this was the case, but still I thought it was a lot less mountainous and hilly than I had expected - still very beautiful though!
We went into the village at the bottom of the mountain and walked around - there was some outdoor bongo playing and some Blue Mountain mascots running around - quite funny! We spent New Year chilling out in the cottage, playing a lot of Wizard - this is a Canadian card game that Jenni, Tom, Meags and I played in Frankfurt when we were there over the summer for the world cup - and Jenni had bought me for Christmas (I am still undefeated at it as well 😉) It was great catching up with Tom and Meags, as well as meeting all their friends - there were about a dozen or so of us there and their friends took great delight in my accent and all the 'funny' words I use!
We celebrated the 'Scottish New Year' with a countdown at 7pm, which was very funny, it also really sunk in that this was my first festive period away from home (I hadnt really thought about it much before as Jenni's family had made me feel so much at home). When midnight hit we celebrated by banning lots of pots and pans - apparently this is tradition at their New Year party! Tom and I also spent a bit of time relaxing in the Sauna downstairs - which Steph (who owns the cottage) had thought was broken but we managed to fix... Have never sat and had beer in a sauna before, was fun! The night then ended with a very drunken game of charades at some point after 2am - very random but good fun nonetheless!
I had such a great time in Collingwood, it passed so quickly! Tom and Meaghan dropped me off in Toronto afterwards, thanks a lot to them for inviting me along to celebrate New Year with them 😊 and to their friend Steph for letting us stay at hers.
I am now back in the Canadiana hostel and arranging a trip to New York which may also involve a stop-over in Buffalo.
So all that's left to say is Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Give me a buzz to let me know how New Year went and any exciting resolutions for 2007 😉
Mich
PS. Sorry Craig, homer is almost done for - he fell out my bag at the bus station in Toronto and his legs fell off!
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Gran
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Homer
Keep his legs. We'll sew them on and make him like new. We have got to interrogate him when you get back home. I know he'll tell us more.