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Published: June 25th 2015
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When planning this trip, I really wanted to visit Ottawa and Parliament Hill. I've seen photos, which are stunning. I didn't really prepare the boys for what they might see.
We drove in on Wellington, which passes many of the buildings. The boys were very impressed, thinking these were the coolest buildings they had ever seen. They couldn't wait to get up close and personal. After finding parking, we did just that.
We started in front of Parliament, wandering up and then back to get a decent photo. The other side, though, has the coolest part, the Library. It was the only portion of the original building that didn't burn in 1916, because an employee thought quickly to close the steel doors. We walked along the cliff edge looking at statues of various dignitaries. I recognized a few names, including Queen Elizabeth (of course) and Thomas D'Arcy McGee. At a gazebo, J met a couple with Amazing Race shirts, who mentioned their school was doing a one-day race. (It could be a really interesting thing to do for a vacation.) He mentioned that his absolute must-sees for Canada are Toronto and St John's, Newfoundland, and asked what we thought
for the US? I named Washington, DC and the Four Corners states. I'd be curious to hear other thoughts?
We wandered down past the West Block, covered by construction scaffolding, the Confederation Building, the Justice Building, down to the Supreme Court, which wasn't in session. We then walked back to the other side to visit the Rideau Canal and Ottawa Locks, our first national historic site! The canal was built between 1826 and 1832 to be a secure, defensible supply route. It was shady in parts and relatively quiet. I'm glad we went.
After arriving back at our car, after lunch and buying $1.20 postcard stamps, we drove to the rural town of Carp to visit the Diefenbunker, "Canada's Cold War Museum." The boys are always up for espionage and war and disaster and such, so it seemed perfect. It is an unassuming entrance--a guard shack, and a shed, with rolling green hills and a couple of air raid sirens. We entered the shack to see the blast tunnel, which would have directed a blast out two directions instead of into the bunker. It is four stories and would have housed 535 high-level Canadian officials in the event
of imminent war. We talked to a retired soldier for a while, and followed a group of French students.
- - -
Miles Driven: 207
Steps Taken, According to Fitbit (for the two of us): 28922
Future Plans: Spend more time in Ottawa to tour some buildings and take a boat tour. Also find somewhere hosting Body Worlds Animal Inside Out, which is currently at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Memorable Meals: Cheezy Pizza & Pasta World Exchange Plaza (the boys each had two giant slices of pizza for less than $12; the server even gave us each a free bread stick); St-Hubert (fast food dinner that was pricey but really quite good; apparently they are a Quebec thing)
We Learned: We know embarrassingly little about Canadian history. Jeff is going to buy a book.
We Wondered: Why multi-cache owners wouldn't state how far it is total if it's more than a kilometer between stages.
Conversation of the Day:
C - It's the robot Little Caesar.
J - It isn't a robot, he's a little Caesar.
C - What's a Caesar.
J - Caesars were the rules of Rome.
C - Why?
J - Because Julius Caesar . . . (long discussion of Roman history, involving the Rubicon and "The die is cast.")
C - And then what happened?
J - He took over the Roman Empire.
C - Little Caesar's Pizza did?
Geocaches Found: 5
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