Oh, Canada

Greetings from Ottawa!


Tyler and I began our trip taking off from the San Antonio airport .... at 4am. Okay, that started me off on the wrong foot. Luckily, Ty had a surprise for me -- we were flying to Ottawa to spend several days in the city @ a hotel with his fam, sightseeing and enjoying Canada's capital! That made the early morning more bearable. 


I read on the plane the whole time. Thank you, Jodi Picoult!


Arriving in Canada after hopping a baby plane from Newark to Canada was exciting!! We met up with the King family and moved our stuff into the Westin: Ottawa. And it was niiiiiice. There was an adjoining 4-story mall to the hotel as well. I def wasn't complaining. 

Tyler and I making friends at the mall

After mall-ing, we made our way to the Byward Market (lots of lil shops and restaurants ... fun atmosphere & fun people) to eat at the Fish Market Restaurant. My first taste of pickerel, pan-seared, was good! I have to admit that salmon is still my favorite tame fish dish but they had the BEST PINA COLADA I'VE EVER DRANK. Indeed, it was the first piña colada I've legally ordered, however, it was still delicious. 

Being of legal drinking age is awesome!

Aaaaand that was that.

A special part of our Ottawa sightseeing was visiting the Parliament buildings, so gorgeous! The buildings were constructed between 1859 and 1866 and we learned oodles about the history and stories behind the 3 buildings on our tour. 

Ty & I & Parliament

Chillin'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We toured the building during the day and saw the changing of the guard - fun fun! During the night, however, the main Parliament tower came alive! There was an amazing sound and lights show that easily-hundreds of people gathered on the front lawn to come see. I managed to capture a couple pics of the show -- truly a unique experience.

Ooooooo!

 

 

 The changing of the guard was also an interesting experience -- similar to the changing of the guard that occurs at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C., that I visited in high school ... minus the fuzzy hats. I especially liked the bagpipes in the band ... it made me feel like I was definitively in another country! The ceremony was relatively short and sweet with lots of marching and hat-fuzz blowing in the wind!

On our tour of the center Parliament building (one was closed for construction and I got the feeling the other was just boring meeting rooms because no tours were offered in that one), we got to see the House of Commons, the Senate, and the Library of Parliament. The library was particularly a treat because of the interesting history behind it. On Feb. 3, 1916, a fire started in the Parliament building in a reading room (candles and books, horrible life choice) and a particularly brave employee ran to shut the library's heavy iron doors that saved the library from the flames. The architecture of the building was spectacular and our quirky tour guide made the heavy security at the doors worth it. :)
 

Yessss! Found a lion, repped ADPi

Ty, Alec, Victoria, and I at the top of the Peace Tower overlooking Ottawa

 We also took a boat tour which was a GREAT idea. We got to see the sites of Ottawa from the canal and the other side of the water which was Quebec! A lot of important people's homes were located on the waterfront, which the tour guide girl knew all about. The Ambassador of Japan, The Ambassador of Britain, and The Prime Minister (with extra rooms for visitors like Obama) were a few of the homes we got to snoop on. 

Boat tour! Parliament in the backround

     The falls!

So. Windy. On. Boat.

We spent the remainder of our Ottawa trip sightseeing, shopping, and having fantastic food with fantastic company. One of my favorite dinners was the Italian meal we had our last night in Ottawa. The King family + Alec + their friend Pat + I assembled for some delicious pasta, wine, and live jazz musicians who set up their instruments in the courtyard and serenaded us!

ALSO. Ottawa, specifically the Byward Market, is blooming with street performers. We were entertained by a mime, a very clever clown, various musicians, a ballerina, and street acrobats! It was like an ongoing show wherever you went! Below is a video of one of the street acrobats with his spinning hoop trick. Pretty nifty.

That's about all for Ottawa -- a truly unique, friendly, breezy, and entertaining city! I hope I can be back to visit someday .... more about the cottage and the rest of the trip later. Au revoir!