Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Ottawa, Canada

On Friday, we headed for the airport,  to catch a flight to Ottawa, the capitol of Canada.  We were flying Westjet via Calgary.  We had some frustration with Westjet; we received three messages announcing a delay in the flight within 20 minutes, each with a different departure time.  We worried about our connection.   Another frustration was being told, by three Westjet employees, that we would cross customs in Ottawa.  We were skeptical, rightly so, because we went through immigration and customs in Calgary.  Luckily, our flight was only a few minutes late, and there were no lines in Calgary.  We arrived in Ottawa a little after midnight, as planned, and checked into the Marriott, near the Parliament building.  


On Saturday, we slept in. The day was beautiful and sunny.  We started by looking at the Ottawa locks on the Rideau Canal.  The canal is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  There are eight locks in a row.  The locks were built in the 1820’s; the canal was dug by hand, mostly by Irish laborers.  We went to the canal museum, and watched a boat go through one lock.  We took a long walk to the History museum in Gatineau, on the other side of the river, in Quebec.   The history museum is excellent, with the largest collection of totem poles in Canada.  We were also interested in “Death on the Ice”, about the Franklin expedition, all 129 of whom died searching for the Northwest Passage.  We walked home, and had a nice dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant, Fairouz.

Sunday was another beautiful day.   We got up early and went in search of the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour.  After we bought a combination ticket for the bus and boat, we decided to first take a canal ride, in an electric tour boat.  Our tour guide was Haitian, and Richard asked lots of questions.  We learned more about the city and the canal. 



After the canal ride, on our way to the bus, we stopped for a memorial service at the World War I memorial. This was under the auspices of the Odd Fellows, as we found by talking to a man from Illinois.   Then we got on the tour bus, and drove around Ottawa and Gatineau.  We drove past museums, embassies, and  Justin Trudeau’s house, learning more about the city.  


We got off at the ByWard Market, had a quick lunch, and then got back on the bus.  We spent a couple of hours at the experimental farm, visited pregnant cows, and enjoyed petting goats, alpacas, and a donkey.   Sandi remembered lots of details about farm animals.    

We got back on the bus to our starting point, and walked to the Cathedral, for a mass in French, which included a first communion.  We spoke to one proud parent from Burundi.  The Cathedral is over the top, with an incredible interior and metal spires.  We had dinner in the Byward Market, and it started to rain.  Sandi wisely had us take a taxi back to our hotel.

Richard has been impressed by the number and variety of the new Canadians. We have spoken to people from many countries, including Haiti, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, and Burundi. He has been talking to people in Spanish, French, and English.  There was a lot of French spoken, and Richard got his ear tuned to it.

Monday we visited the art museums. We started with the Art Gallery of Ottawa, specializing in area artists. We had lunch in Byward market, and headed for the National Gallery of Canada.   The most impressive thing that we saw in the National Gallery was in the Rideau Chapel. The chapel was not remarkable in itself; however, an artist had set up 40 speakers, each one playing a recording of just one person, singing classical religious music A capella.  It was quite impressive. It was fun to watch people come in, walk around, and put their head next to each speaker, trying to figure it out. Basically this was a 40 channel recording, one microphone for each singer.

Tuesday, Sandi had to work, so Richard headed for Parliament.  He picked up a timed ticket for a tour. The tour was good, and included a visit to the top of the Peace Tower.
 

He was interested in the Parliamentary Protective Service, and asked a lot of questions. The security folks were wearing protest hats as a labor action. This group was formed a few years ago, from two other groups, and the security folks still do not have a contract. Years ago, they were unarmed, and only worked inside Parliament.   The change was probably a result of the 2014 terrorist attack on Parliament.

After a quick lunch, I took a bus in the direction of the air and space museum, and walked the final km to the museum. The museum is focused on Canadian contributions to aviation, and has a large collection of bush planes, which were very important in opening Canada's north. There were several WWII planes; the Lancaster bomber was particularly impressive. 




Wednesday, Sandi was working. I took a city bus to the airport, $3.50 CDN. The bus was convenient, with a stop near the hotel.   Richard flew an Air Canada turboprop to Montreal, and made it through the many layers of scrutiny required to fly to the U S A.  His flight from Montreal to Denver was routine.


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