Ottawa - Winterlude Pt. 3

Our last full day in Ottawa was slow compared to the others. Our room got up relatively early for breakfast. After that Sid and I decided to go for a skate. He had spent most of Saturday in bed trying to recover from being sick. I suppose he didn't want to spend the whole trip inside though.

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.

Ottawa - Winterlude Pt. 2

Saturday was our first full day in Ottawa. We started off with a buffet breakfast provided by the hotel. They had things like scrambled eggs, sausages, diced potatoes, baked beans, pancakes, muffins, cereal, bagels, yogurt, and juice and coffee. Needless to say, I ate well.

As I mentioned there were a number of families who came. Some stayed at other hotels. We all met up at ours and after we ate went on our first outing. It was to nearby Jacques Cartier Park in Gatineau, Quebec. They had a snow park there. There were a lot of different activities for kids like big snow slides and tubing and different demonstrations and performances.

Sid, Pauline and I returned to our hotel a bit earlier than the others. They all had younger kids who could hang out and enjoy the age specific activities while Sid and Pauline didn't. I think they wanted to eat lunch. Since I had a big breakfast I wanted to get out onto the Rideau Canal for a skate while the light was still good for pictures.

Before I hit the canal I dropped by Parliament Hill to take some shots since the skies were relatively clear. There was some cloud cover, but it was still all right.

The canal was pretty busy by the time I got there. I was a bit surprised to see a number of people walking the route. Ice is quite slippery as I'm sure you know. I guess they just wanted to say they were on the canal regardless of their footwear. There were even some joggers I noticed.

Of course, most people were skating. People with babies or young kids would be dragging them along on sleds or pushing them in strollers or big red and white sleighs that you could rent.

Since I took so many pictures along the way, my skate along the 7.8 kilometres route took nearly two hours. I think the total distance would be closer to 13-14 kilometres (instead of 15.6 kms) though because it wasn't just a straight there and back route. At the end it split into a "Y".

The ice was okay. A bit bumpier at the start/finish where most people were. Not everyone skated to the very end where the ice was a bit better. I'd say it was similar to the ice at Toronto City Hall. Though there were places where grooves were gouged out. So you had to be careful not to trip on them.

After skating I returned to the hotel and took a nap. Normally I don't get up as early as I did this morning. Sid stayed in during the afternoon because he was sick. He had a persistent cough that just wouldn't go away. So we rested until dinnertime.

Even though our suite had its own kitchen we never used it. For dinner we went directly across the street to the East Indian buffet restaurant. It was just the five of us this time - me, Sid and Pauline and their son Nathan and his friend, Andy. It was the closest place to the hotel and it was relatively inexpensive. Dinner was only around $15 before tax and tip.

The food was fine. At that price you wouldn't expect anything fancy. For me it was about the volume. I figured I had done enough exercise during the day and needed the calories for future activities.

After we ate we went back to the hotel. A short time later we met up with the others to go back to Confederation Park. They had some musical and dance performances there.

I have to say, at this time of the night, it was freezing outside. During the day the high was about -5C. Quite pleasant. At night it probably dropped to around -15C or so. Some of the performers wore t-shirts. And there was one group of East Indian dancers that came out on the stage in traditional costume and bare feet.

After they performed they came back out to teach some of their dance moves. This time they had boots and shoes on. Smart move.

I don't know exactly what time the show ended. I left as it was winding down. I'm guessing it was probably around midnight or so. Time to get some rest and prepare for another fun day in Ottawa.

Ottawa - Winterlude Pt. 1

I went to Winterlude in Ottawa over the Family Day long weekend with Sid and his family. There were five of us in his minivan - me, Sid, Pauline, Nathan and Nathan's friend, Andy. Joseph was at home. He was supposed to go to Montreal, but his plans fell through.

We left on Friday afternoon. Traffic east out of Toronto was slow. We hit rush hour unfortunately. Things didn't open up until we passed Whitby I believe.

Our first break was at a rest stop in that general area. We stopped at a place for dinner. Most of us had Burger King. We saw Danny and Judy's family there. Judy is Pauline's younger sister. They were also going to Winterlude as was their other sister, May, and her family. There were a number of families and friends going in fact.

I forgot if this is where we changed drivers. After Sid, it was my turn.

We arrived in Ottawa fairly late. I'm guessing it was shortly after 11:00 p.m. I'm not sure why it was so late. I know they had to pick me up at my parents' place. Then we went to pick up Andy. Rush hour traffic was a headache. That probably had something to do with it.

Sid and Pauline had booked a suite at the Marriott Residence Inn close to Parliament Hill. Along with May and Judy's families, we were all on the 8th floor. All the rooms had a kitchens (we didn't actually use ours).

After we checked in we went out to nearby Confederation Park. Even though it was late the ice sculptures they had there were still lit. It was all part of the ongoing two week Winterlude festivities.

I hung out at the park for 1-1/2 hours taking pictures. It was pretty cold being out for that long. I don't believe the temperatures were that bad though. Maybe -10C or so overnight. Relatively warm compared to what we've had for most of this winter.

Everyone was back by the time I returned from the park. Nathan and Andy decided to sleep on the sofa bed in the living room. I guess they didn't plan on sleeping much at night so didn't want to share the second bed in the bedroom with Nathan's parents and keep them up. That's how I ended up with it.

End of first night.

I went to Ottawa

I went to Ottawa this past weekend. My friend's friend's friend was getting married there so a few of us decided to hop into a car and make a road trip out of it.

We left Friday morning and got to Ottawa in the early afternoon. Upon arrival we promptly crossed the border into Quebec where we grabbed lunch at St. Hubert. It's a French version of Swiss Chalet. They used to have a lot of them here in Ontario, but in recent years they've disappeared.

In the early evening we headed over to the ByWard Market for a walk through, then crossed the Rideau Canal to check out Parliament Hill. We snapped a few pictures outside before finding out there was a 6:50 p.m. guided tour. The tour was pretty neat. Being that it was the end of the day we were able to see some things that the general public rarely get a chance to view. One such thing was the library. I have to say it was quite fantastic.

After the tour we headed back to the ByWard Market and grabbed a bite at Wonton Mama. It's a "Pan-Asian restaurant featuring simple yet delicious dishes from China, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan" (according to their website). The food was fine there.

The next day was the wedding. DY and Diane attended it. I went to Doors Open Ottawa with Daphne. It's an event held in many cities around the world (including Toronto) where "residents and visitors are invited to discover first-hand Ontario’s hidden heritage treasures, some of which have never been open to the public."

Daphne and I checked out about 8-10 buildings including the former Union Station (train station), the National Capital Commission and Cartier Square Drill Hall. We also dropped by Notre Dame Cathedral (which wasn't an official Doors Open participant) across the street from the National Gallery of Canada. I have to say it was really nice looking inside.

Since Diane and DY were busy the whole day, Daphne and I had dinner on our own. We picked a diner called Zak's in the ByWard Market. The food was under par and overpriced. I suppose that's what you get for eating in a tourist spot.

The weather on Sunday morning wasn't that great. It was raining lightly, but steadily. We took Diane and DY by Notre Dame because they hadn't seen it yet. Afterwards we walked across the street to the National Gallery which was also part of Doors Open Ottawa and spent a couple of hours there.

After the gallery we decided to get lunch. Diane wanted to drive back over the border into Quebec to eat again. We gave it a go, but the GPS system that she bought the previous day after she got lost after dropping Daphne and I off downtown kept telling us to drive into the river. Since we didn't feel like going for a swim we decided to head back to the highway and drive towards Toronto. When we felt like it we would stop somewhere and grab a bite along the way.

Not long after we hit the 401 we stopped in a town called Prescott. We found a place on Diane's GPS called Wok House Restaurant which served Westernized "Chinese" food. It had things like chicken balls with phosphorescent red sauce and things like that. We shared dishes of beef and broccoli, beef "chow mein", battered deep fried shrimp and friend rice instead.

After lunch Daphne took the wheel as I figured I needed a nap. She drove a little while before asking DY if she wanted to stop by Kingston as we were driving through. I wasn't so keen on the idea because it was getting later and we probably wouldn't be getting into town until after 10:00 p.m. as it was. That would be a bit late for dinner as far as I was concerned. But, they decided to stop anyway.

Kingston isn't the most interesting town as far as I'm concerned. It's kind of quaint. We didn't really get to see too much as our time was kind of limited. We stopped by a nice coffee/dessert shop for a bite. That ended up being our dinner. By the time we hit the road again it was probably 9-10:00 p.m. I was the first to be dropped off and I got home at just after midnight.

All in all it was a good trip. Nobody in our room snored. I have to get Daphne a walkie talkie so we can communicate though. Sometimes she wanders off without telling me. Then I have to look all over for her.