Category: Ottawa

Parliament from Ottawa River

We arrived home as scheduled on September 29 driving through rain, sometimes heavy, from Ottawa to Oshawa. We stopped in Cobourg for dinner with Doug and Joan which gave us some time to catchup. It was nearly 10 PM when we arrived home which was ready to receive us thanks to Gary.

Before leaving Ottawa we managed to get a river cruise before the rain began. Actually, there was one shower while we were on the boat. There were seven tourists on a boat capable of handling about 75 but a young woman from Burlington did a great job of narrating the trip.

The rain had subsided by the time we returned to the dock so we worked to Sparks Street for a quick lunch then back to the car to leave the Capital. As we passed the capital buildings Wellington Street was filled with tractors, farmers apparently protesting.

This will be the final post from this trip and the Journal will fall silent until our next excursion. Clearly we could not do everything at every stop but I suppose that leaves room for another visit.

Here are a few photos from the last day.

Rideau Canal

Rideau Falls

Start of Autumn Colour

Ottawa River Panorama

When we set out to explore Ottawa this morning it was overcast but dry. We walked to the Parliament grounds then booked a Guided tour and continued to explore. We were fortunate enough to see the changing of the guard at the war memorial. At 10:50 we were escorted into the centre block and the security inspection As a result, my small multi-tool was taken into custody to be retrieved upon exit.

Centre Block

The tour was well done by our multi-lingual guide. At the end of the guided portion we took the elevator up the clock tower passing by the carillon bells as they were being played for the noon concert.

Ottawa from Clock Tower

The view from the tower is quite spectacular but by the time we again reached street level some light rain had begun.

Parliamentary Library

During lunch we discovered that the Air & Space Museum would be closed Tuesday when we had planned to visit. We hurriedly changed our reservations for the Ottawa River tour to Tuesday morning and returned to the hotel to get the car. We visited the Air & Space Museum for the remainder of the afternoon and saw an intact DC-3 we believe was one piloted by Gail’s father.

Group of older RCAF Jets

Air & Space Museum Panorama

By the time we finished at the museum it was raining quite hard so we returned to the hotel, sat and chatted with some other travellers while we had a glass of wine. The final excursion of the day was a walk in the rain to find dinner.

Tomorrow we will try to take in the river tour then start for home.

Just a quick post from Ottawa this morning. Yesterday, in Edmunston, we awoke to frost on the car and a little ground fog in the valleys as we set out on the highway.  In eastern Quebec we were on recently updated highways so Penny had no idea where we were at times. Montreal traffic was a bit crazy, even on a Sunday afternoon but we made it through and arrived in Ottawa around 4 PM.

Thanks to Bill & Janna for our first home cooked meal in weeks and it was great to meet their two beautiful little girls Anika and Bryn.

After an evening walk around parts of the city we watched as much of the lunar eclipse as the developing overcast would permit. Today we will try to see a bit of the Capital. The temperatures should be comfortable but it looks like we may have to dodge a few rain drops.