First night in a jail

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Leaving many message on Facebook, letting all our friends know we were spending the night in jail, was very funny, some even caught the bait and we're thinking of bailing us out!

Have a read of this and you will see why we booked it....!

"Plan a unique and memorable trip to the best Ottawa Hostel that'll not only include its sights, attractions, and activities but your overnight sentence in jail as well! The HI-Ottawa Jail Hostel is the only hostel in North America located in a former prison that operated for over 100 years. During your stay in this Victorian-era architectural relic, you'll sleep in former jail cells, the prison hospital, or maybe even the governor's quarters! Visit the Carleton County Gaol Heritage Centre located on the hostel's un-renovated 8th floor to see and learn what life was like for the prison's inmates, and take a tour to hear their stories or find out if the jail really is haunted."

Okay we took the guided tour before our first night, which gives you access to the restricted areas of the jail, the infamous 8th floor where death row is and the hangman’s quarters.

this is what we learnt:
Ottawa jail was in existence between 1862 to 1972, and it must be said it is quite some jail. The massive stone work, the material, the design and the workmanship are of a character which has long been abandoned in the building industry and can not be duplicated. The tour takes you to the 8th floor, where all the cells are as they were in 1970's, small thin cells no more that a metre wide and about 2.5 meters long. The jail could hold up to 100 prisoners with a maximum but very cramped 150 prisoners.

Another wing on the 8th floor has been restored to what it was like at the end of the 19th century. Not really much different, just painted in a different colour. Each cell did not have any natural light, and the only windows, which were small ran along the main corridors. For the first 10 years no glass was fitted, just the bars, so it would have been very cold.

Visited death row, where three men met their deaths. The most famous being Patrick James Whelan, convicted of the murder of Thomas D’Arcy McGee. There were four cells, all which lead to a back door and out to the gallows, which are still working and fully functional. This part if the jail is quite dark, not in light, just in feeling, although only three men lost their lives here over the space of 100 years. It is still quite something. The gallows can be viewed by the public, and when Patrick was executed some 5,000 came to watch. The tall wall around the jail just really allows for the public to see the prisoner with the noose around this neck, when trap door opens, the body would be hidden by the large jail wall, but still the public would be able to see and hear what was happening! gruesome...!

So off to bed we went, okay this was a bit unnerving but we were still giggling about it. We had bunk beds, so Jody took the top bunk and I the bottom one - dark and such a small space. We were quite surprised that although we were sleeping in a jail cell, and the place had a sense of bleakness about it, we both felt comfortable and at ease.

and all was very quiet apart from the things that went bump in the night!!

Not only did I wake up by raging toothache, but we were both woken up by someone turning on the lights, footsteps stomping around and slamming of doors. all it needed were chaind to rattle and someone to go ‘ooooo’!

When Jody decided to get out of the top bunk at 3am in the morning, it was funny, as they are not the easiest of bunk beds to get out of at the best of times, so at 3am was quite a laugh just to see her legs dangling off the top bunk!.

so all in all we had quite a sleepless night.

The next morning I ventured out in the cold morning, and it was cold, to find the market had breakfast, then returned with a hot cup of tea to wake Jody up.

Once we had done our laundry, Jody had a moan about the noisy events in the night and got a promise it wouldn’t happen again the next night. this is when we found out it was the night cleaner who shouldn’t even have been there.

We headed out for the day, visiting Parliament Hill, and the Parliament building, then off to the irish bar for a beer. We then took a slow walk around the market and bought our Beaver Tails, delicious pastries formed like a beaver's tail, covered in sugar and cinnamon, or anything you liked really; peanut butter, chocolate, apples, smarties etc yummy.

We bought a bottle of wine and headed back to the jail, for a drink and to book our accommodation in Jasper. Bryan called his friend Steve on something called Facetime via the internet and took him on a tour of the jail.

Had a nice meal in the Lone Star Texas Grill, we had Fajita, very nice it was too.

Headed back to our cell, and had a good nights sleep, the antibiotics and pain killers really worked a treat for Bryan.

Early start, as we have to catch the train at 8:25am from Ottawa to Toronto, a 4 hour journey.

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