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Published: January 8th 2009
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So Nathan was nice enough to drive us to the airport. Simone’s flight had been cancelled earlier in the day, and she decided to come for the ride to the airport to get her flight at 6:30 the next morning.
Our flight was supposed to leave at 12:25, but when we got there the lady told us that had changed to 1:05. No big deal. Once we were sitting at the gate, we found out that the flight had been further delayed to 2am. Awesome. At least our flight wasn’t cancelled though, so we had that to be thankful for!
Beau and I got some food (Tim Hortons.. I think Beau is now obsessed with it too!) and I had a sleep while Beau read. Finally it was time to board. We sat there for quite some time, when finally the captain came over the speaker and told us that our bags had not yet been loaded. Of course! I think it was about 2:45 by the time we finally left.
Beau and I didn’t get seats together, but I was directly behind him. We both had seats in between other people, so sleeping was always going to
be an issue. I managed to get a bit in, but I think Beau had some issues. He left his neck pillow in his bag, what a douche!
We landed at Ottawa and got our bags and some more Tim Hortons, and set off to our hostel in the airport shuttle. It was only 11am, but the receptionist was able to get us into our room. Sweet deal! We had a few hours sleep in our private cell (we’re staying in the jail hostel again) and then went for a walk downtown. We checked out the Christmas lights on Parliament Hill then went to a pub for a drink or two. We wanted to watch the Senators hockey game but the pub wasn’t really happening, and they weren’t putting the volume on on the TV, so we decided to go back to the hostel so Beau could do the jail tour. I had already been on the tour, so gave it a miss this time and watched the game in the common room.
The next morning (my birthday!) we went to the information centre to see what there is to do. We were basically told that there was
nothing to do.. The ice skating on the Rideau Canal doesn’t open til it gets colder, same with the ice sculptures, and there doesn’t seem to be any ice hotel to speak of. Awesome. All the reasons I chose Ottawa as our Christmas destination were not true! I chose well, that’s for sure! Even the tours of the Parliament buildings had finished for the day, to re-open on Boxing Day. So we had a walk around, took lots of photos then took in a movie.
We had a Beavertail, basically a fried pancake with toppings on it. We had one with maple butter, and another with chocolate sauce, peanut butter and Reese’s pieces. Yummo.. This served as my birthday cake. We were served by a girl from Canberra too, so that was nice.
After the movie (Yes Man.. Not too bad!) We went home and spoke to mum and dad on Skype. Because of the time difference it was my birthday here and Christmas day there, so that was pretty cool. I then watched a Christmas movie before bed. Very tame birthday! I did want to go out, but was told that basically everything was closed besides the
gay bars. After the experience of the night before, I had basically written off any chance of an exciting night out in Ottawa!
Christmas morning we woke up and had pop tarts and a cute caramel & chocolate apple made into the shape of a snowman, and watched the Disney Christmas Parade. Everything was closed so we just lounged around all day, then went to the casino for a buffet dinner. We got there at about 5:20, and were told that we would be seated at 7:10. What else is there to do at a casino but gamble? They’re smart, you see, make us wait for almost 2 hours on the gambling floor! I won $22 though, woo! Dinner was good, we also got a tray of mini martinis. Yum!
The next morning we had to wake up bright and early (read: before 11am, as we’d been doing.. Beau’s still dealing with jetlag) to check out of the hostel. We had a bus booked at 12:45 that night, so figured there was no point paying for another night in the hostel. We made it out just in time and went out to brave another exciting day in Ottawa.
We went to Parliament Hill and did a tour of the main building. I did the tour last time I was here, but I think Beau enjoyed it. This time around there were lots of pretty lights and Christmas trees so I was happy! We also went up the Peace Tower, which is the observation deck. I didn’t go up it last time because there was such a huge line that I couldn’t be bothered with. We then went to the information centre to see what else we could do. The information centre was closed. Then we thought we’d check out the Museum of Contemporary Photography, but it too was closed. Next on the list was the Currency Museum. Didn’t sound too exciting, but I remember hearing last time that it was free and pretty good, so off we went. The Currency Museum was *drum roll please* yes, closed. It seems everything in Ottawa was closed. What a let down! We ended up seeing another movie. That makes two movies in 4 days, oh dear! We saw Seven Pounds, the new Will Smith movie. It was so good, highly recommended!
We then went back to the hostel to hang
out for a few hours before having to leave for the Greyhound station.
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Kat
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Yay for Ottawa.
Not. And why on earth would a girl from Canberra go to Ottawa?! Same same, no? Luboo! xxx