dimanche, septembre 17, 2006
so many secrets to be found amid the falling snow
Yesterday was a good day. I figured playing "tourist" would probably be a good way to learn my way around a bit and to just learn about some of the history of Ottawa. So after a nice long walk along the path behind the parliament buildings and at the entrance to the canal, I now know why a bunch of stuff around here is named "Colonel By" or "Byward". Way back in the day, it was the colonel who was charged with drilling his way through crazy terrain to create the canal joining the Ottawa River to Lake Ontario. It took him and his team six years and was a pretty amazing feat of engineering - and this was in the middle of the 19th century. We were blessed yesterday with some of the best weather I've seen since arriving here - sunny and mid-twenties. I may have even got a light tan on my arms...
Ottawa is growing on me more and more. We drive around downtown and in the "Glebe" area, and it's really just very cool the number of interesting sights - diners and bagel shops, antique stores, street vendors, coffee shops with huge street-side patios, dog parks, people everywhere. There are people who have said that Ottawa is a lot like Calgary - well, maybe in population size (we're just under a million here, I've heard), but that's all the similarity I can find. This place doesn't feel like Calgary to me at all. It doesn't sprawl for miles in every direction, every neighbourhood doesn't resemble the last, you can't smell money in the air, they aren't knocking down every building older than 50 years to make space for something bigger and better (wouldn't be much left if they did!).
And after only hitting the bar scene once, I can say that the nightlife is radically different. We walked for blocks around the "Market" area and were amazed at the number of little pubs and dance bars we kept seeing. Seemed like there was something for everyone all within this one area (which wasn't tiny). Okay, I take that back - there wasn't anything to compare to Cowboy's in Calgary. I suspect a country bar wouldn't really fly in this town.
There were a lot of people out on Friday night, and since we didn't have a particular bar in mind, we just settled on one that looked reasonably busy but without a crazy line. That brought us to Pier 21. We did a lap inside before settling ourselves on the patio. It was funny when we stood observing the dance floor - we were standing next to some empty booths still containing people's drinks and personal possessions, but the dance floor was jam-packed with all the people from the tables. Must have been a high-demand song, because you just got the sense that they were all very serious about grooving to it. Oh, and inside wasn't smoky at all, since Ontario has done this crazy thing where they make you smoke outside instead of inside at bars and restaurants (I know!).
Since we woke up yesterday craving a greasy breakfast, I did a bit of internet research and found the Elgin Street Diner. We were perusing their menu before we left and were amused to discover that you could get poutine with your breakfast (see the "Hangover Breakfast" or the "Blue Plate"). The diner was pretty nifty - they never close! Devin indulged in the Blue Plate breakfast and I enjoyed a special called "Sausage Biscuit Benedict" - served with "cheddar hollandaise sauce", because you can never have enough cheese.
It feels very cool to me, discovering Canada's capital city. I have to admit that I'm pretty ignorant about a lot of the historical buildings and cultural attractions. Devin will mention, oh! there's the Museum of ___!, and I'm like, the WHAT? So I will be getting myself educated somewhat on these things. Even just learning about the canal yesterday was fun. As an outsider, all I knew was that I'd seen pictures of people skating on a frozen canal in Ottawa. I didn't know where it went and what its purpose was, but now I do. We saw a lot yesterday, but there's still a lot to take in. I'd like to go inside the Parliament buildings and take a tour. I'd like to see politicians and government in action ('cause that'd be cool, don't you know). And I can't wait for the leaves to really start turning, because there isn't much more beautiful than autumn in the East.
You can see all my tourist shots here. | ¶ 9:26 a.m.
Yesterday was a good day. I figured playing "tourist" would probably be a good way to learn my way around a bit and to just learn about some of the history of Ottawa. So after a nice long walk along the path behind the parliament buildings and at the entrance to the canal, I now know why a bunch of stuff around here is named "Colonel By" or "Byward". Way back in the day, it was the colonel who was charged with drilling his way through crazy terrain to create the canal joining the Ottawa River to Lake Ontario. It took him and his team six years and was a pretty amazing feat of engineering - and this was in the middle of the 19th century. We were blessed yesterday with some of the best weather I've seen since arriving here - sunny and mid-twenties. I may have even got a light tan on my arms...Ottawa is growing on me more and more. We drive around downtown and in the "Glebe" area, and it's really just very cool the number of interesting sights - diners and bagel shops, antique stores, street vendors, coffee shops with huge street-side patios, dog parks, people everywhere. There are people who have said that Ottawa is a lot like Calgary - well, maybe in population size (we're just under a million here, I've heard), but that's all the similarity I can find. This place doesn't feel like Calgary to me at all. It doesn't sprawl for miles in every direction, every neighbourhood doesn't resemble the last, you can't smell money in the air, they aren't knocking down every building older than 50 years to make space for something bigger and better (wouldn't be much left if they did!).
And after only hitting the bar scene once, I can say that the nightlife is radically different. We walked for blocks around the "Market" area and were amazed at the number of little pubs and dance bars we kept seeing. Seemed like there was something for everyone all within this one area (which wasn't tiny). Okay, I take that back - there wasn't anything to compare to Cowboy's in Calgary. I suspect a country bar wouldn't really fly in this town.There were a lot of people out on Friday night, and since we didn't have a particular bar in mind, we just settled on one that looked reasonably busy but without a crazy line. That brought us to Pier 21. We did a lap inside before settling ourselves on the patio. It was funny when we stood observing the dance floor - we were standing next to some empty booths still containing people's drinks and personal possessions, but the dance floor was jam-packed with all the people from the tables. Must have been a high-demand song, because you just got the sense that they were all very serious about grooving to it. Oh, and inside wasn't smoky at all, since Ontario has done this crazy thing where they make you smoke outside instead of inside at bars and restaurants (I know!).
Since we woke up yesterday craving a greasy breakfast, I did a bit of internet research and found the Elgin Street Diner. We were perusing their menu before we left and were amused to discover that you could get poutine with your breakfast (see the "Hangover Breakfast" or the "Blue Plate"). The diner was pretty nifty - they never close! Devin indulged in the Blue Plate breakfast and I enjoyed a special called "Sausage Biscuit Benedict" - served with "cheddar hollandaise sauce", because you can never have enough cheese.
It feels very cool to me, discovering Canada's capital city. I have to admit that I'm pretty ignorant about a lot of the historical buildings and cultural attractions. Devin will mention, oh! there's the Museum of ___!, and I'm like, the WHAT? So I will be getting myself educated somewhat on these things. Even just learning about the canal yesterday was fun. As an outsider, all I knew was that I'd seen pictures of people skating on a frozen canal in Ottawa. I didn't know where it went and what its purpose was, but now I do. We saw a lot yesterday, but there's still a lot to take in. I'd like to go inside the Parliament buildings and take a tour. I'd like to see politicians and government in action ('cause that'd be cool, don't you know). And I can't wait for the leaves to really start turning, because there isn't much more beautiful than autumn in the East.You can see all my tourist shots here. | ¶ 9:26 a.m.
