Update # 11: Ottawa, Ontario

WOW, Ottawa!  What a beautiful city. We started touring Ottawa at Parliament Hill awaiting the Changing of the Guard. The presentation occurs every day of the tourist season, weather permitting. Prior to the guards' entrance, park officials give a little introduction in English and in French. However on the day of our visit, the microphone was acting up and only a word or two came through, even though they changed mics a couple of times.

 A Royal Canadian Mountie circulated among the crowd gathering at the edge of the East Lawn. He would answer questions and pose for photos. In his bright scarlet jacket, black riding pants with the yellow stripe down the side, tall brown leather boots and tan Stetson hat, he stood out in the crowd. It didn't hurt that he was rather good looking and flashed a contagious smile. Other  RCMP wore the navy blue work jacket, vest, and pants with the yellow stripe.

The colorful procession marched right down the middle of Wellington Street from somewhere a few blocks away. With military precision they entered the grounds through the ornate, black iron gates and proceeded to the East Lawn.

The bagpipers dressed in tartans of forest green and navy blue followed on the heels of the band.

Three squads of Royal Guards followed behind the pipers. At each turn we heard the simultaneous stomp of their black shoes against the pavement. Like the band, the guards were dressed in the distinctive scarlet coats with black Eton collars. White buttons lined up in a vertical row ending at the white belt with a gold buckle. Black cuff were accented with gold and white trim. Each cuff had an additional rectangle of white divided into sections. The number of sections varied per person. A row of white buttons decorated each side of the coat tails in back. Rank chevrons were also white as was the strap of their black rifles.  Tall furry black helmets came to their eyebrows in front and the nape of their neck in back. Each fur headpiece was held in place with a wide gold strap and appeared to have a triangle of red or gold attached to the left side. As the groups walked within inches of where we were standing, we observed that both the band and the guards contained both male and female members. The half hour ceremony is full of pomp and circumstance.

The captains move in rigid lines back and forth across the field. Their arms swing high front and back. They stomp to a stop and issue a command. Each squad is inspected for their dress code.  Each rifle is checked. Although we aren't sure why they looked down each rifle barrel.

Flag bearers marched from left to right and right to left during most of the half hour. Then when all the inspection was complete the flag was brought into its place. At that point the band led the way off the field and everyone followed. No guard was left, just as no guard was present in the beginning.

However at the Prime Minister's home two guards are on duty, and a real changing of the guard takes place.

A short walk from the Parliament compound put us on Elgin Street with the tour ticket booths. We selected the Gray Line Hop-on/Hop-off Double Decker bus. Our tour guide was Paul, I think.  He spoke in English and French to the riders.  He also attempted to practice his Spanish with the help of some Spanish speaking tourists.

We drove by the War Museum which somewhat resembles a Stealth Fighter plane. A narrow bank of windows near the top of the tail piece are Morse Code for "Lest we forget".

Ottawa is surrounded with waterways.  The Ottawa River separates Ottawa from Quebec. The Rideau River and the Rideau Canal also intersect the city. Large areas of green parks provide places to walk, run, jog, in-line skate, or bike. The locals seem quite fit. Bicycles and skates are a common sight, even on the busiest streets in town. Some skate boarding was also visible.

When the bus tour crossed the Ottawa River and entered the area known as Gatineau, we were in Quebec. I had never realized the shape of Ontario or its relationship to Quebec.  The Museum of Civilization is located in Gatineau, as is the second largest accumulation of civil service workers in one location. 25,000 people work here.  The Pentagon ranks as the largest.  

We drove by the Notre Dame Cathedral that is a replica of the one in Montreal. I'm hoping to see the one in Montreal                                                                            Across the street a big black spider sculpture several stories high stands in from of the National Gallery of Art. The distinctive glass roof of the gallery can be seen from other sites around town.

Several embassies were pointed out during the tour. We found it dismaying that the United States Embassy looked ugly compared to others.We drove around the Rockcliffe Parkway where the elite of Ottawa reside. Along the cliff's edge is the Rockcliffe Park with paved paths for biking, in-line skating, etc.  The parkway road leads to the Air Museum and past the RCMP stable and horse pastures. The RCMP also provides a musical show at some time.  I couldn't find the details on that.

Back in town we drove by the Bywards Market district. Lynn and Jay thoroughly covered the market on our second day. The streets have a multitude of small eateries. Some open to the outside air. We had planned to do the market our second day, but it was too hot. Canopies cover vendor booths along the streets.

Vendors sell jewelry, fresh produce, flowers, honey, scarfs and all sorts of things. The market was originally a place to sell home grown vegetables and flowers. The day we were there, we hoped to find an air conditioned place for lunch.

We chose an Irish Pub on the corner.  It was cooler than outside, but still quite warm. When in Canada we need to ask for ice, or your drink is warms quickly.

The Fairmount Chateau Lauriere resembles a castle in some of its features. It maintains two rooms at all times. One for the Queen of England and for the President of the United States.

We drove along the Rideau Canal. Beautiful home line each side of the canal. Our tour guide said that the homes stay in the family for generations and are thus rarely available for sale. Easy to understand why.

Sparks street going east and west is a pedestrian mall. Only streets going North and South cross it. We were there on a Sunday, so only a few eating places were open. The Yesterday cafe was our choice. We ate outside, because inside was too hot. Then we went back to the ticket booth for a boat ride. The lovely lady from whom the guys had bought our bus tickets only had us pay the difference between a bus ride and combo ticket that included the boat ride. The boat ride was a short walk from the ticket booth to the bottom of the canal locks.

A series of seven or eight locks transport boats between Lake Ottawa and the Rideau Canal. Lock controls are turned by two attendants and it takes about an hour to move through these lower locks. We had over an hour to wait for our boat tour so Lynn, Jay and Derrille followed the progression of a set of boats on their downward journey to the lake.  I was heat beat and spent the time in what shade I could find.

We toured on Paul's boats, and our guide was a young man named Pierre who delivered the tour in both French and English.  French was obviously his first language.

We took a short trip up the Gastieau River, then back down the Ottawa River. The colorful Ottawa Rowing Club houses show the typical clean cut elegance of Ottawa. During the boat trip I sat under cover, but Derrille, Jay and Lynn stood in the bow of boat. Between the sun, wind, and water the three of them came home with added color. Lynn even had extra coats of sun screen on.

Our boat tour showed us Parliament Hill from the water side. The round building behind the Centre Block is the Parliamentary Library.

The Prime Minister's house sits on one cliff. .

The U.S. Ambassador's house also sits high on a cliff and is worth $17 million.

Our boat went to Rideau Falls, so named because an early explorer thought they looked like lovely drapes.  As Pierre, our tour guide pointed out, the French "Rideau " sounds so much better than the English "drapes".  I believe there was also a famous man named Rideau for which the many streets, parks, etc are named.


One interesting fact of Ottawa occurred while we were looking for a place to eat dinner. It was hot. We wanted something light. As we drove through the city nothing appealed to us. Then at the edge of the city, the landscape becomes rural. We expected to see a strip mall every so many miles.  Not so in Ottawa. Few businesses if any were located in this rural neighborhood.  We did see a few Chip Wagons. Ottawa has Chip Wagons like we have Coffee Stands in the Washington.  A Chip Wagon looks like a utility truck, or the kind we call a Roach Coach for vending food, or an old bus, or a small wooden structure. The menu focuses on Chips (french fries), but burgers, hot dogs and drinks are available.  Chips are eaten with vinegar, or they may have curds and gravy over them, or just cheese.  The chips we had in restaurants were real potatoes, not too greasy and very flavorful.  We never tried a Chip Wagon.

Fresh fruit stands can be found on many street corners. Derrille went out one morning and bought me freshly picked raspberries.  YUM!  Some stands had blueberries, strawberries, blackberries or perhaps home grown veggies.

Our second day, after dropping Lynn and Jay at the Bywards Market, Derrille and I went to the air park and took a ride in a open cockpit bi-plane.  What a ride! The pilot sat in the seat behind us.  We wore these love cloth helmets with ear protectors. With the heat off the engine and at only flying about 12,000 feet up, we had no need for extra shirts or jackets. It was a tight fit in our front seat that was designed for one person.  We had to be careful not to touch the levers at our feet, since they controlled the flaps.  The pilot flew over Parliament Hill, downtown Ottawa, Gatineau, and the Rockcliffe area. Lynn saw our fly over from the Byward Market. What a rush!  I could see where the love of flying could be born. After we landed, Derrille and I went to meet Lynn and Jay at Byward Market.

I spotted this sign on our way back home. I almost missed the caution sign, but the addition of the Beer sign seemed to add meaning to the caution sign.  The caution is located a half of block from a assisted living facility.

We had a third day to explore Ottawa, but the heat wave kept us indoors. Museums were probably air conditioned, but temperatures in the low 90's with 50% humidity robbed us of our energy. Derrille and Jay did some errand running, but  we spent most of the day close to the AC.

Next stop:  Montreal