Ottawa

I'm spending the week with Ma and I decided that, rather than hanging around Toronto, it would be nice to get Ma out of the house for a few days. I planned a short trip to Ottawa, a place we visited when we were kids. Ma reached out to June Jordan, an old family friend who lives in Ottawa and we planned an afternoon together.

The drive to Ottawa was smooth and uneventful. The trees are still mostly green in Toronto, but they were starting to turn colour as we got a little farther north. The road up is mostly uninhabited aside from a few farms. Ottawa itself is a small place, very compact. We stayed at a hotel a few blocks from Parliament and walking distance to Byward Market, which looked like a good place to wander. We had great weather our entire stay, with the temperatures getting warmer as our stay went on.

On our first afternoon there, after checking into the hotel, we decided to take a walk around. I forgot a map, so we found a friendly local who pointed us towards the Rideau Canal. This is the beginning of a series of locks that takes boats from the Ottawa River all the way to Lake Ontario. The Canal also serves as the world's longest skating rink in winter. The elevation from the river to the top of the first set of locks is pretty impressive. From the locks, we walked to Byward Market. This area ended up being the place we went to find dinner every night. In addition to a multitude of restaurants of all kinds, there are shops, and an open air farmer's market. We bought a small sample of local wild blueberries for breakfast the next morning, and I picked up some souvenir local maple syrup bottles. For dinner we stopped at a restaurant called Social that was conveniently located and seemed to have a decent menu. Turned out to be a fantastic place, with terrific service. I had pheasant (really delicious with an amazing sauce) and Ma had duck.

On our first full day, we walked to Parliament to take part in a tour of the facility. It was another glorious day. The tour covered the House of Commons but not the Senate (there was some private activity going on in there), as well as the Library, which is the only original part of the building that survived a fire and is absolutely beautiful inside (no photos allowed, alas). Everywhere you go in the building are portraits of Prime Ministers, some from a long time ago, but others I recognized. At the end of the tour, we went up to the tower to get a bird's eye view of Ottawa. The adjacent Memorial Chamber has books with the names of all the soldiers who died in past wars, all written in the most beautiful calligraphy.

From Parliament, we walked to Byward for lunch (Fish Market, for delicious fresh caught trout and catfish for Ma, and shrimp stuffed with crab for me). We planned to meet June at the National Gallery at 2p and so walked over from Byward stopping in various stores on the way. There are lots of funky and unusual shops in the area. The Gallery is marked at the entrance by a giant Louise Bourgeois sculpture of a spider mama. I don't think I've seen June for maybe 30 years. Alan, her husband, passed away 25 years ago of colon cancer. They used to visit us when we were kids and I remember Alan being one of the few fun adults. June looks great for her age and is quite active. She caught us up with her kids (Gail is in a small town near Calgary, Mark is in Kitchener) and what she's been doing recently and we caught her up with us. We didn't spend too much time at the Gallery, so left there to walk around a bit, stop for coffee, walk some more. We ended up in Byward Market at an Italian place called Mangia for a delicious meal.

On our final full day, we started at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, where we saw a 3D movie about the migration of the monarch butterfly (Flight of the Butterfly, highly recommended). The museum has a great collection of native artifacts from the First Nations people on the west coast of Canada, including some amazing totem poles. Another part of the museum has an exhibit telling the story of some Canadians from various fields like politics, science, exploration, etc. The Canadian Hall starts from the beginning of settlement in Canada (with very dim lights) and talks of the lives of everyday Canadians over the decades as explorers became farmers and then farmers became townsfolk up to modern day. The lights get brighter as we move into the future.

The day before, June had recommended the Royal Canadian Mint so we stopped there next. Turns out this is an old castle from the early 1900s and only produces commemorative coins, investment coins and specialty medals, like the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic medals. They had some beautiful coins for sale (Ma loves commemorative coins) including some with enamel, or paintings. They also had a gold bar on display (surrounded by large policemen). The tour was really interesting (workers at the Mint are not allowed to wear any metal at all, which includes underwires) and there were displays of the Olympic medals as well as other unique commemoratives. They also have a display of coins that the Canadian Mint in Winnipeg produces for other countries. (Winnipeg is where the circulation coins are produced.)

After a short rest back at the hotel, we walked over to Byward and had dinner at a Latin Fusion restaurant called Mambo. Tonight was the mid autumn festival, so on our way back, we looked up to find the full moon at its most glorious, with a beautiful backdrop of clouds. According to an ancient poet, this time of year is when we most miss our loved ones who aren't with us (either far away or have passed on) and so we look at the moon and hope they are looking at the same moon.

Here's a link to some photos from Ottawa.