Ottawa and Montreal

On the locks of  the Rideau Canal

After five straight days of driving from Calgary, it felt so good to not be behind a windshield.  Having been in many capital cities in the world, we weren't expecting much.  But Ottawa  (population almost one million) was much like Washington DC.  Lots to see and do, and we hit perfect weather for it.

The Rideau Canal next to Parliment

We drove part way into town, then rode our bikes into downtown.  We've come to realize that riding bikes in any downtown is much less stressful than driving and finding a parking place.  And on our second day, we found a nice route along the Rideau Canal.

Our morning commute to downtown Ottawa

Over 120 miles long, and carved out of granite for much of its route, it was built between 1826 and 1832 for military purposes.  It connects the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario. (By comparison, the Erie Canal, 363 miles long, was completed in 1825.)  Over 1,000 Irish workers died of disease during the construction, mostly from malaria.  We'd believe it, based on the mosquito bites we got in our campground.


We witnessed the pomp and circumstance of the changing of the guard in front of the Parliament building, undergoing a 10-year renovation.  Many of the buildings there made us feel that we were at Hogwarts.

Hogwarts?  Or the House of Commons?

We also got to watch another one at the home of the Governor General, Canada's first astronaut.  She was out of town, so we got to see more of the residence (photos are in the link below).  The grounds were beautiful.  The Governor General is the Queen's representative, and has duties similar  to that of an American Vice President.

Inside the House of Commons

We also toured the home of two prime ministers of the WWI and WWII era, saw the obligatory Gothic cathedral,  toured the House of Commons (built in a former courtyard), and enjoyed an excellent Indian and French lunch.


I'm writing this in Quebec, and like every other Canadian city we've visited, we've enjoyed the ethnic diversity.  People of all creeds, attire, and ethnicity seem to mingle with each other and get along.  Canada's liberal immigration policy is its strength, especially when countries in Europe, Asia, and even in the US are approaching flat or negative population growths and strains on their pension systems.  This diversity creates some wonderful dining opportunities, as well.

You can see more photos of our Ottawa photos HERE.

MONTREAL

Bike path on our island campground

We didn't get to see as much of Montreal as we had wanted.  It was twice the size of Ottawa and the weather didn't cooperate on our sightseeing day.  We arrived on Discovery Day, Quebec's version of our 4th of July.  By law, everything from Walmart, to Ikea to Mom and Pop establishments were closed.  

But we took advantage of the beautiful weather on our island campground (a national park) on the St. Lawrence River and bicycled around it and watched the locals enjoy the holiday.  As always, our campground neighbors were so helpful and friendly.

It rained a lot the next day.  We drove to a park and ride, then took the subway into downtown Montreal. The heavy rain made the cathedral and an indoor market a refuge, but in the end the museum Pointe-a''-Calliere made the day most satisfying.

The Museo Pointe-a''-Calliere

Built on the archaeological ruins of Montreal from 600 ago to today, we got a good sense of the history about this place and North America.  Best of all, it had a fabulous traveling exhibit about the history of French cuisine.  Think what you may, but these two food geeks spent a good two hours there. 

We don't  have a lot of Montreal photos, but what we do have are HERE.

Stay tuned for our next post on Quebec--We love it and took a lot of photos.

WHAT WE CAN, WHILE WE CAN!