Blogs from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, North America - page 6

The nation's capital. Ottawa is, in our opinion, the prettiest city we've visited so far in Canada. It's small, so everything is within walking distance, very convenient. We started, of course, with the Changing of the Guard. It's supposed to start at 10:00 am on the dot, but it actually started early! We were lucky to be there early to catch a good spot.Here's our video of the ceremony: I went to stand i line for tour tickets of the parliament, so I missed a good part of the ceremony, but I did see enough. It was very impressive! At least I got the tickets! The tours are free, but the available spots are limited. We went to see the locks on the Rideau Canal before our first tour. We saw the locks in action, which ... read more

Here I am, ready to head off to Ottawa. Upon my arrival imaging my happiness at being able to dispose of this dresser. The same dresser whose drawers have never closed very well. Junking can have its rewards. And today the moving van arrived. We are loading up today.... read more

We are only in the early stages of the pack up and my back has already given way. Getting the car seen to for the long drive ahead.... read more

After a Winter that brought only moderate snowfall, but unspeakable cold that lasted far beyond its “Best Before Date”, Spring finally arrived in Ottawa in early May. That was, fortunately, just in time for the start of the Tulip Festival, which saw over three million tulips planted in half a dozen selected locations throughout the National Capital Region (Ottawa ON and Gatineau QC), plus many others that are not part of the “official” plan. This is now the site of North America’s largest annual tulip festival, which attracts about half a million visitors over ten days to view the flowers and participate in a wide variety of activities. For more information go to: http://tulipfestival.ca/. Add to that a multitude of flowering crabapple and other trees, and you have a sudden but long overdue outburst of colour ... read more

It's 23.08 on the 30th April. We're well on our way to bring out here for 2 months out of 5. We've had a pretty standard last few days here at The Winchelsea, so I doubt this entry will be too long. We got up on Tuesday for breakfast and headed straight out into the garden to get to work tidying the the place up. Matt and I weeded the beds while Rosie and Kate undertook the exciting task of sorting wood chips from leaves. We carried on with this until lunch, then continued in much the same way in the afternoon - until around 3.30. Tuesday must have been a particularly unremarkable day as I can't remember much more than this - the last few days have taken such a similar form they begin to ... read more