The others stayed in to watch the Canadian men versus Finland, Group B hockey game. It would have been nice to watch, but it would have cut right into the middle of day. Since it was my first time in Ottawa in the winter in around 20 years I figured I'd better take advantage of it and do outdoor stuff.
It was chillier out today compared to Saturday. The forecast high was -10C. When we left the hotel it probably was even colder. I decided to wear my snow pants over my jeans instead of just wearing my cycling tights underneath my jeans. On the plus side the skies were beautiful blue which was great for pictures. That was nice compared to the overcast grey of the day before.
Like the day before, we were out a long time. And, like the day before, it was because we were taking pictures (mostly me).
We had a decent skate. I even took Sid on part of the route he had never been on before (even though he's skated the canal many times). He always thought the end was at Dow's Lake. That's what he told me too.
When I arrived at it for the first time the day before I thought I was finished. But, when I looked at the map there I noticed another part. It branched off a bit earlier. On my way back I found it. It was an arm that split off towards Carelton University. That's where the real "The End" sign is.
After skating we returned to the hotel. The girls had gone out shopping at an indoor mall. I guess it was too cold for them to do anything outdoors. Sid and I took naps. He still was trying to get some rest from being under the weather. And, me... well, I'm not used to getting up before 9:30 a.m. so that was my excuse.
The group decided to order pizza for dinner. Originally we were going to eat it in Danny and Judy's unit. But, we arranged to use the common area on the 4th floor with the hotel staff. It was much larger. Our group was about 20 people after all.
I thought it would be a good opportunity to have some quality group time. But, the hotel staff only lit a long, narrow part of the common area so we were stretched out pretty thinly. I ended up just sitting with Sid and Pauline.
The adults sat in one area and the kids another. As usual the youngsters finished first and left to do stuff on their own. We took a bit longer enjoying one another's company.
Afterwards I took a short rest then headed out to take some night photography. I started at the ByWard Market. It was largely deserted. There were some people inside the bars and restaurants, but at that time of the night in the dark and cold, there weren't too many people wandering around.
After that I headed over to the National Gallery of Canada and nearby Notre-Dame church. The church was lit up pretty well. The National Gallery was undergoing renovations and was surrounded by scaffolding. Not nice for photos.
I ended up seeing the back side of the Parliament buildings (where the library is) on my walk. I tried to take some pictures of it, but I believe my wide angle lens was frozen by that point. It didn't seem to want to focus. At that point I decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel.
We left for home fairly early the next day right after breakfast. We wanted to beat the exodus of guests from the hotel and the return traffic into Toronto after a long weekend.
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