We first visited Ottawa in February 2013; on a cold, damp, miserable day, but as we had spent as much time out of the cold as possible, we felt we hadn't really given Canada's capital city a chance.
Wondering how we could fit in another road trip before we leave Montreal, the opportunity arose when we had to collect T's American-visa-up'd passport from Ottawa - the perfect excuse for a road trip!
(T is going to Florida for a couple of weeks through work, and needed an American visa.)
Wondering how we could fit in another road trip before we leave Montreal, the opportunity arose when we had to collect T's American-visa-up'd passport from Ottawa - the perfect excuse for a road trip!
(T is going to Florida for a couple of weeks through work, and needed an American visa.)
With T managing to get the day off work on Friday, (not an easy task at the moment); the trip was booked in the diary. And Liqourice Allsorts bought.
We woke up on Friday to snowflakes - huge, tennis ball size snowflakes. Not only that, but the forecast indicated freezing rain. We weren't planning on setting off straight away, luckily, as T had to do some work from home. Road reports said many roads were closed, and long queues were the norm for the majority of roads out of the city. We put off venturing out until 11am, but then had no choice but to set off - T needed his passport back by the next week.
We woke up on Friday to snowflakes - huge, tennis ball size snowflakes. Not only that, but the forecast indicated freezing rain. We weren't planning on setting off straight away, luckily, as T had to do some work from home. Road reports said many roads were closed, and long queues were the norm for the majority of roads out of the city. We put off venturing out until 11am, but then had no choice but to set off - T needed his passport back by the next week.
It was strange to leave the province of Quebec - it's not often you do that. It is, after all, Canada's largest province by area.
Welcome to Ontario, home to nearly 40% of Canadians apparently, and where English is before French!
Welcome to Ontario, home to nearly 40% of Canadians apparently, and where English is before French!
The weather in Ontario proved to be no better than in Quebec though...
We successfully picked up the passport, and then headed to the centre of Ottawa. We ended up parking in the same place as last time, near the Byward market. It seemed to be in the midst of everything, so why change what worked?!
We had wanted to walk along the canal, but the frozen rain beating down made the pavement incredibly slippery, and the steps down the the canal were shut off. I am sure we could have persevered and found a path, but as I was still hobbling due to my knee, we were not wanting to push it.
We had a better look around the Byward Market though; and there was no mistaking which country we were in:
We also spotted BeaverTails - fried dough pastries shaped to resemble a beaver's tail, and topped with a choice of toppings such as jam, whipped cream and Nutella. Sold at various locations all over Canada, they are - somewhat randomly - opening a store in Japan soon!
Although very tempted, we gave them a miss. For now - there is of course, a few stores in Montreal which may just tempt us...
With the weather closing in again - it had never really lifted to be honest - we had a coffee and then headed home; pretty disappointed we still hadn't seen Ottawa in the best of weather. But we picked up on the buzz of the place, and wished we were staying the night as there were so many inviting looking bars and restaurants, and a great number of interesting shops which it was a real struggle to walk past. I am sure our wallets were pleased we are trying to downsize our belongings and therefore no purchasing of non-absolutly-essential items is allowed...