Ottawa
It
was a long haul to Ottawa, as we had to reschedule our programme to allow for
the initial delay and still see Niagara Falls, but we finally made it, passing
such fine towns as Peterborough on the way. Being the capital there was
plenty to see, in what turned out to be an incredibly small space of time. The
Hotel, The Lord Elgin, was pretty central which meant it was possible to walk
all round the city centre. However to speed things on their way we took
a half day to explore the parks and surrounding area by bike. This was
made all the more pleasant by the wide and well cared for cycle paths, and general
lack of traffic. We spent a morning in the Museum of Nature before hitting
the shops and the local market, which made the town seem a little more European,
despite the wide, straight streets.
Everything about Ottawa was laid back and even the fire alarm at 2am in the hotel was a blessing. Having had a nights
sleep disturbed we were able to seek out a little 24hr cafe for a little snack
to see us through until breakfast, when we could return for a proper start to
the day.
We
left Ottawa after 2 very hot and busy days. This was a minor mistake as
we left the capital on the afternoon of Canada Day (1st July) and headed for
Montreal,
where the state flag was often flown above the national one, if the red maple
leaf was flown at all.
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Museum
of Nature (Formally the Victoria Memorial Museum). Built in 1905
by 300 Scottish stonemasons and stonecutters.
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Off
we went to explore the National Art Gallery of Canada, but it was
too sunny for art.
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..so we looked
at the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre Dame, which had the silver spires
that appeared to be traditional for Canadian churches...
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...and the
Parliament Buildings. The tower second left is the Peace tower
which houses the Memorial Chamber commemorating the war dead. These
chambers are just part of the buildings on 'The Hill', home
to the national Government buildings.
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The
changing
of the Parliament guards happened daily, although soldiers in bearskins
seemed a little out of place.
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Crossing
the mighty Ottawa River; were there was a disappointing number of
people floating on logs
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Well we were
on honeymoon.
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..there were
occasional pieces of art scattered around the city. This one
was about 300m from the hotel.
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