Blogs from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, North America - page 13

I don't think Ian mentioned in his blog yesterday that the Capital Hill Hotel & Suites felt so sorry for us drowned rats that they gave us a complimentary upgrade to a king suite with soaker tub. Did we ever make use of that tub. Baths, laundry, more baths. Thank you Capital Hill ! We love Ottawa! Why haven't we been here before now. Truly a beautiful city, apparently the 3rd cleanest in the world,1 million people, 100,000 civil servants, 75% working in Ottawa, 25% across the river in Gatineau QC. Learned all this on the hop on hop off double decker bus tour this morning! This is such a great way to see any city, especially for the first time there. The one and a half tour took us past 24 Sussex Drive where we ... read more

Leave tomorrow from Ottawa at 9 am to Chicago, lil lay over then on to Hong Kong, then a pit stop, and finally a flight to Singapore. 27hr flight day with a 15 route to Hong Kong. Going 11 hours into future, wish me luck Mcfly...... read more

Off on a 21-day cruise around South America, starting from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on the east side, around the tip of the continent, and ending in Santiago, Chile on the west side. We meet our travelling companions, Claudette and Jim, at the Ottawa airport. By the time we have checked in and passed through US customs, our flight out of Ottawa (United Airways), which was supposed to leave at 7:10 pm, is delayed to 8:30 because of mechanical issues. This means that we have no hope of making our connecting flight in Washington. The UA agent figures out an alternative route for us--Air Canada to Toronto and then another AC flight to Sao Paulo, but it is a very tight schedule. We have to recollect our baggage, exit the secure area, recheck in, pass through ... read more

After a year of planning and research, the trip is only 5 days away. Apparently more of my effort and planning should have gone into how to pack everything efficiently, as I'm having some difficulties fitting one month's worth of equipment into my 'supposedly' large enough backpack. The logistical challenges created by attempting Kilimanjaro in the middle of an African trek may have been a little over-zealous - or maybe I need to learn to pack/bring less stuff. Also, cutting it a little closer than Anne would have liked, we finally received confirmation of our Rwandan visas and finalized our remaining hotel/shuttle. The visas for Kenya and Tanzania will be acquired on arrival which should present some interesting learning opportunities regarding my haggling skills. Below is a map of the major travel legs for the trip: ... read more

We were up at the crack of dawn this morning (actually the dawn had not yet cracked) to cach the train from Quebec City to Ottawa. This actually consisted of two trains. The first, from Quebec City to Montreal was very impressive! Instead of the usual four seats across, it had only three, two on one side and one on the other. The overhead baggage compartments were smaller than normal, but faced the rear of the car so they were accessible without having to stand up and get into the aisle. There was a large table with each seat, so I was able to work on my computer the whole trip, which naturally went very fast since I was so busily occupied! We had just enough time in Montreal between trains to grab some breakfast. The ... read more