Ottawa

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We left Barrie for Ottawa on Friday 22nd July and took a long scenic drive, going through a part of Algonquin National Park which was full of beautiful lakes and forest and we stopped off off at the visitor's centre which was really interesting. We got to Ottawa about 5pm and met Rod & Ann (friends of Chris and Dave who we were staying with in Ottawa), had a few drinks on their deck, had dinner and then Aled & I borrowed their bikes and went for a leisurely cycle along the beautiful Ottawa river. We seem to have found a new love in cycling (only when there is no hills though!!).

The next morning we all went into Ottawa city centre and saw the changing of the guard and had a walk round the outside of the parliament buildings and a general walk around the touristy cite centre - Rideau Canal, more parliament buildings and statues - and had a walk around the Byward Market. We really liked Ottawa - it is a beautiful city and we found it quite easy to get our bearings and there is a lot of touristy things to do. That afternoon we borrowed Rod and Ann's canoe and went for a canoe along the Ottawa River under the watchful eye of Chris, Dave, Rod and Ann from the bank who seemed to be very worried that we had never canoed before! (only kayaked!). We were absolutely fine and it was really fun, although it was rather wobbly and speedboats and jet ski kept zooming past and send a fast wave of water in our direction and nearly tipped over the canoe! That evening we had a lovely home-cooked meal and played lots of Sequence (apparently half of Canada knows about this game - Aled and I thought it was just the Schell family.....) and Golf (card game), before heading to bed after lots and lots of walking that day.

On Sunday Aled & I headed out into the city centre ourselves and spent the day at two museums - The Canadian Museum of War; this was really interesting and had a really good exhibition about War & Medicine, and the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, which was actually over the river in Gatineau, Quebec, and was equally interesting and informative. We did have the worst meal ever in their cafeteria though - ravioli which was very dry and disgusting and $9 each which was upsetting!! Don't ever eat at the Canadian Museum of Civilisation's cafeteria if you are ever there!! We then walked over to the Byward Market and went to a diner recommended in the rough guide (Zak's Diner) which said their milkshakes "would take your breath away", so thought we had to try them! They were very good as advertised! That evening we all went down to the grassy park in front of the parliament buildings (armed with folding chairs - these seem to be the most popular thing in Canada) to see a free sound and light show called MosAika, which was projected onto the parliament buildings. It was amazing!! We really, really enjoyed it.

The next day we headed into the city centre again by ourselves to go on the outside and inside free parliament building tours which were really good and we had really good tour guides for both! Chris and co then picked us up and we headed over to a beautiful lookout point for a picnic lunch and then to Meech Lake for the afternoon and for lots of swimming. That evening we all went out for a meal to an Ethiopian restaurant called "Horn of Africa" recommended by Rod and Ann's daughter Beth - it was absolutely delicious and we had this dish called an Abyssinian platter which was a large plate with sourdough pancake bread covering it, with bits of meat and vegetarian dishes on it - you eat with your hands by tearing off bits of the bread and scooping up the middle. It is a lot better than it sounds!! We then headed back and played a mammoth 9 holes of Golf (card game...not actually golf!), and I won! (Obviously had to get that in there.) and then went to bed to get lots of sleep for our journey to Montréal the following day.

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Photos

Having a drink!
Chris, Beth, Aled, Ann, Dave and Rod