Capital City

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I couchsurfed at Keira's apartment in Ottawa - we had previously arranged this when we had been in the Yukon - and it felt nice to be in someone's home for a change, rather than a motel or a hostel. Or a tent, for that matter.

Ottawa is a great little city, and you can stroll from the skyscrapered downtown area to the leafy attractive suburbs in under ten minutes. I was determined to make the most of my time here, and so spent my days sightseeing round the city and it's various museums, and the nights checking out whatever was on offer.

I started with the Science museum, which proved to be an error of judgement on my part. I had assumed that it would be like the one in London, but this one was definitely aimed at kids. In fact I was the only adult there without an energetic noisy child in tow. I should have noticed the way the woman on the front desk who took my money asked me if I was there specifically for the Lego area. Still, I had paid the admission fee, so I adopted the 'in for a penny' attitude, and went round every exhibit, even trying the kiddy demonstrations. Since this was drawing a few glances from parents, I decided I would go the whole hog, and paid the extra for the 'Mars Mission' simulator, which proved to be both the highlight of the visit, and excruciatingly embarrassing.

I was the only one doing it, and sat through an 'orientation' film that explained how a mission was required to go into the sun's corona and harvest some kind of 'special energy' or some such nonsense, and that I was on the mission! Then I was led downstairs by the middle-aged female member of staff, who could barely conceal her amusement, and strapped me into the simulator (a few rows of seats fitted with hydraulics that chucked you about a bit). But not before she had cheerfully wished me "Good luck on your mission!"

I was more careful with my choice of museum after this experience. But the simulator was awesome, dude!

In the evenings I generally joined Keira and her friends. We went to a tastefully restored old cinema, where an old silent film version of The Phantom Of The Opera was playing, with a live string quintet and some electronic effects providing the soundtrack. The film was great but the music was an overly intense and needlessly discordant cacophony, even in the comic relief scenes of the film. Naturally I offered this critique when asked in the pub afterwards what I had thought. Turns out the guy who asked me is friends with the bloke responsible for the soundtrack. A proper "I'll get me coat" moment.

On another night we went to a coffee shop and saw a bunch of people play - one guy called Michael Rault was so impressive I ended up buying his cd.

Ottawa is small, but it is Canada's capital. The architecture around the parliament area was old and impressive, something notable for its absence in other Canadian cities I have visited. Right next to the Houses of Parliament was a small shelter for stray cats, although when I was there most of the food was being eaten by squirrels and raccoons.

I was sad to leave here, as it had been an enjoyable stay, and for the first time in ages I had felt able to properly relax without worrying about checkout times etc. And Keira is a cook in a posh vegetarian restaurant, so I ate pretty well too!

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Photos

A modern totem pole of barcoded light and shadow
(I might have made all that up).

Comments

[Andy Walmsley]

Motoring....
Mate, you're motoring across the country! Fair play, you're covering some miles. Enjoy!!

[Keira]

Nice, Stu. I'm looking forward to seeing some good Quebec photos. And hey - you have to send me those photos of me with the axe and chainsaw!! (The wording of that last sentence makes me picture myself wielding both at the same time... I suppose if I wore the special orange pants it would be ok.. haha).