Playing the Tourist in the Nation's Capital

We don't normally do the touristy things when we're in Ottawa.  We have done them in the past and there's only so many times you can drag the Trouts to Parliament Hill/Art Gallery/War Museum without inciting a revolt.  But every few years, I do my parental duty and force expose them to all the Nation's Capital has to offer.  Note: these pictures were not all taken on the same week-end.

When we took Science Girl back to school in September, Himself and I retreated from the fray that was her apartment (3 girls who hadn't seen each other in four months and yittered away like monkeys even though they texted each other every. single. day. during the summer + their parents + all their worldly possessions + deliveries from IKEA + a tiny space = Hen just about ready to rip some one's throat out) and walked to the Byward Market, a 15 minute stroll away. 

We found a café and watched the world go by for a little while before we explored the market.  Of course, it was Labour Day Saturday and jammed packed so we couldn't see too much but we bought some strawberries and peaches for SG.

 





 

And no trip to the Market would be complete without a visit to Beaver Tails.  Next to poutine, this should be Canada's National Dish.  

 

A Beaver Tail is a nice light dough shaped, you know, like a beaver tail, deep-fried and sprinkled with a topping.  You can get all kinds of toppings like chocolate and banana or nutella and smarties, but I just go with the basic Cinnamon and Sugar because you can  spoil a good thing. 

 

 

SG's apartment is in the same neighbourhood as several embassies (that doesn't look right).  This is the Russian Embassy taken from a moving car.  I hope I'm not a KGB FSB list, although there has been a black windowless van parked outside the house for a few weeks (Sorry, too much Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre in my youth).  

 

This is the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill with the Peace Tower in the middle.  I noticed on Thanksgiving week-end that scaffolding surrounds most of the Centre Block.  I guess they're doing a major renovation in time for the 150th anniversary of Canada's founding in 2017.  

 

 



 

 

You can go up the Peace Tower to admire the view.  This was taken looking out the front of the Tower towards Wellington St.  Notice all the tour buses. In the summer, Parliament Hill is jammed packed with visitors.  If you look closely, at the end of the path you can see the Eternal Flame. 

 

 

You can't see it in this picture but there is a flame coming out of the black thing on top.  And it's a fountain so a source of puzzlement for me children who try to get their picture taken in front of their provincial crest like this one for Ontario after fighting their way through the tourists who came off all the buses.  

  

 



 

The Library of Parliament sits at the back of the Centre Block.  It is a separate building connected to the Centre Block with a long hallway and steel doors. It was saved from the fire that destroyed  the Centre Block in 1916 by some quick-thinking person who managed to slam the steel doors shut before the fire could get down the hallway. 

 



This is the interior of the Library.  When you tour the Parliament Buildings, you can only get so far into the Library.  The librarians don't want a load of tourists tramping through the stacks. But you see enough to appreciate the workmanship of the wood carving in the white pine which you can't see in this crap picture.  The marble statue in a young Queen Victoria.

If you watch Canadian news, you may recognize these stairs. The politicians come down these stairs after their Cabinet meetings for the media scrums.

 

 

The stained glass ceiling in the foyer.

 

Also in the foyer, beautiful carved stone 

 

And in the bathroom - the only thing to remind you that this is the 21st century in the soap dispenser and the updated toilet.  Marble floors, marble walls, wooden doors on the stall and porcelain sinks. 

Every time I go into the Parliament Buildings, I marvel at the skill and workmanship that went into every aspect of the building. These buildings were constructed at a time when that stuff mattered and the masons and carpenters were proud to be making a contribution to the building where the country was run.

 

Ottawa sits at the beginning of the Rideau Canal. These are the first 8 locks going up from the Ottawa River.  The Canal runs from Ottawa to Kingston and was opened in 1832 and built as a military communication route in case of war with the U.S.  It's used today for pleasure boating from May to October and the city maintains it as an ice rink in the winter.

 

 

The Parliament Buildings taken from behind the Supreme Court building along the Ottawa River.  The black tower to the right of the Library is part of the sketchy scaffolding they've got erected for the renovations.  If I was a proper tourist, I'd be pissed off if on my one and only visit to Ottawa the place was covered in scaffolding and tarpaulins.  Kind of like me going to London and Westminster was all covered over.

 

 

This concludes our tour of the Nation's Capital.  I'll leave you with a fine specimen of an autumnal tree (the red was much more vivid in real life) taken on Thanksgiving week-end as we enjoyed the beautiful weather on one of the many maintained paths that run beside the Ottawa River.