Waking up to just a very light sprinkling of snow, and a 'warmer' day (just minus 22 degrees with windchill), our planned road trip could still go ahead this time! The Canadian capital, Ottawa, is the fourth largest city in Canada and lies just a two hour drive east of Montreal. The perfect road trip destination!
Road trips call for coffee, and there is a Canadian institution that T had tried but I was yet to sample: Tim Hortons. They are everywhere, and appear to far outnumber that Seattle based coffee company that is on every corner of every town these days, so it was no great deal finding a branch of this chain.
We walked in and T ordered two cappuccinos.
"What kind of Cappuccino?" the guy behind the counter mumbled at T.
"Er, I don't know, what type of cappuccinos are there? I thought there was only one type." T replied, somewhat thrown at the unexpected question.
The guy behind the counter looked at T, clearly confused. T looked confused back at him.
This baffled-stand-off lasted a minute or so, before the guy conceded and muttered, 'I'll put it through as an expresso cappuccino then?"
"Sounds good." T replied.
"You want it with sugar?"
"No thanks."
It was rung through the till, and after all that, when we looked at the receipt we discovered that the guy had only put one drink on our order. So we had to order another cappuccino, but at least this one we could ask for the same and be spared the whole 'type of cappuccino' rigmarole.
When we finally got our drinks, we were a bit wary about what the liquid in the paper cups would actually be. Thankfully, they were both normal cappuccinos, although T's did have sugar in it.
In addition to our coffees, we also bought some TimBits:
We walked in and T ordered two cappuccinos.
"What kind of Cappuccino?" the guy behind the counter mumbled at T.
"Er, I don't know, what type of cappuccinos are there? I thought there was only one type." T replied, somewhat thrown at the unexpected question.
The guy behind the counter looked at T, clearly confused. T looked confused back at him.
This baffled-stand-off lasted a minute or so, before the guy conceded and muttered, 'I'll put it through as an expresso cappuccino then?"
"Sounds good." T replied.
"You want it with sugar?"
"No thanks."
It was rung through the till, and after all that, when we looked at the receipt we discovered that the guy had only put one drink on our order. So we had to order another cappuccino, but at least this one we could ask for the same and be spared the whole 'type of cappuccino' rigmarole.
When we finally got our drinks, we were a bit wary about what the liquid in the paper cups would actually be. Thankfully, they were both normal cappuccinos, although T's did have sugar in it.
In addition to our coffees, we also bought some TimBits:
T had been introduced to these bite-size doughnut pieces by a colleague, and after listening to his enthusiastic description I was intrigued to try them. I am not really a doughnut person, but these were just the right size to enable you to have a taste and not be all doughnutted out. The smallest choice available to buy was a mixed box of 10, We could choose the flavours ourselves or let them choose, so we left the choice up to them. The apple-cinamon ones were my favourite, some of the other flavours were so sweet it was as though I was eating a ball of sugar (which, come to think of it, I probably was...)
We had quickly glanced at the Ottawa tourist information page on the internet and printed off a map of the city centre, so headed to the spot in the city where there looked to be the most symbols of interesting sights. Parking near the ByWard market, we wrapped up and ventured out of the toasty warm car. Although it was supposedly a degree or two warmer than Montreal, to me, anything between minus fifteen and minus twenty degrees just merges into one big cold blur (below minus twenty degrees and it's just one big painful cold blur)
We found a mall and had some lunch whilst thawing out, and then went back out into the cold and trudged around Parliament Hill, admiring the magnificent Canadian Parliament buildings before marching back to the car and thawing out again.
We found a mall and had some lunch whilst thawing out, and then went back out into the cold and trudged around Parliament Hill, admiring the magnificent Canadian Parliament buildings before marching back to the car and thawing out again.
Driving across the river - the car heaters at full blast - we then went to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. It seemed only right that we learn a bit about the history of the country. The museum was really interesting, especially the explanation of the new waves of immigrants coming to North America and how they established themselves. The museum, with its imaginative and interactive displays, is the type of place I would have loved as a kid too.
Ottawa is in the state of Ontario. It was strange being in a place where English was the first choice of language, especially as we hadn't gone to a different country, just crossed a state boundary! But it wasn't just the language factor that was dissimilar to Quebec; many things looked different, from the buses and police cars, to the cars having numberplates on the front as well as the back. (In Quebec, you just have registration plates on the back of the vehicle.)
Ottawa was a beautiful place, and we have noted to go back with the bikes in the Spring/Summer time, as there appeared to be a network of cycle paths along the river and canals, which would be a great way to fully explore the city.
Driving back, we passed signs for a few familiar place names: Cornwall, Gloucester, Hull, and my personal favourite: