Short trip to Ottawa this morning. Only 122 miles from campground to
campground. This campground is actually
on the outskirts of Ottawa in a town called Cumberland. It is the Recreationland Campground and we
found it with a recommendation from the man who sold us our first
motorhome. We had site #113 at the front
of the campgrounds. It actually backs up
with the road passing right behind us.
Some noise but nothing unbearable.
Anyway, we got there and set up camp as always and planned
our time in Ottawa. Believe it or not,
Ottawa has no local trains just buses.
We found the closest park and ride with a direct bus into the city
center. The buses have their own roads
so it’s almost like a train except more bumpy!
We never had a problem getting in and out of the city.
We rode into the city every day and had tickets for the Hop
on/Hop Off Sightseeing bus. The first
day we made the full trip to see the whole city. Ottawa is the capital of Canada and has all
the government buildings. We saw the
Parliament which is actually three separate buildings which sit up on a hill
right over the Ottawa River. The west
and east buildings are the original construction from 1859 but the center
building burned down in 1916 and was rebuilt in 1929. We saw all the museums, Notre Dame Basilica
Cathedral, several foreign embassy buildings, homes of ambassadors, city parks,
Rideau Canal and the market area. Once
our full tour was done we were starving.
Right near the tour stop is a pub so we had lunch there. I had a huge club sandwich and a beer! Nice to sit and relax and eat!!
After lunch we took a boat tour of the Ottawa River. We were able to see all the sights from the
river and some extra things as well. It
is a big river and is just used now for pleasure boating. The Rideau Canal connects with the Ottawa
River and we saw the falls. It was a
beautiful day. Sunny and cool but
sometimes a little breezy. We had to
hold on to our hats on the upper deck of the bus and also the boat. So happy to have great weather.
Second day we took the bus into the city and hopped back on
the bus. We hopped off the bus at the
Canadian Museum of Civilization which is actually across the river in Quebec
province. We spent about three hours in
there looking at all the exhibits about early Canada and its transformation
through the years. It is a beautiful
museum and has a great view of Parliament right across the river. We hopped back on the bus and rode it to the
National Gallery of Canada which is right across the street from Notre Dame
Basilica Cathedral. The Cathedral is
closed because of a wedding so we went to the National Gallery first. No backpacks allowed so I had to check mine. Feels nice not carrying that around. This museum is also beautiful and very well
laid out. There are some important
artists’ work here and Jim and I enjoyed the old art the best. Unbelievable how beautifully people painted
back 400 years ago or even more. There
was some contemporary art as well but not much that I was interested in. One room had a pile of what looked like heavy
woolen felt cut into strips. One piece
we had seen other like at other galleries…just white canvas with black
splotches. One of those similar pieces I
remember was called 3+2+2 because it had seven splotches of black. Anyway…not really my style.
Once we finished at the gallery we went outside and saw that
the wedding was still going on….not really the same wedding but another
one. Seems Saturday has one wedding
after the other and the cathedral is booked years in advance. Well we decided to wait since it looked like
it was almost done. We met the chauffeur
of the limousine out on the steps and had a chat until the bride and groom came
out. After everyone was out we were
admitted into the sanctuary. Absolutely
beautiful. No way to describe in words
but I took some pics to try and capture the beauty.
After seeing the church we decided we had time to walk to
the market area and catch the bus there.
We set off down the street sure of where we were going. Problem was we couldn’t exactly remember
where the pick up spot was so, after walking all the way to the market we
turned around and walked all the way back to the pick up spot near the
church. We are definitely getting our
exercise. Once back at the starting spot
we stopped in the pub and had a little nourishment in the form of a beer before
we found our bus home.
Third day we did the same…took the bus into town and hopped
back on the bus. This morning is
freezing! I’m not exactly dressed for
this cold windy weather but I’m hoping the brilliant sun will heat things up
later. We take the second stop off the
bus at the Canadian War Museum. This
museum is so good looking….it is designed to look like a bunker. Hard angles, gray concrete and low
profile. There is an angled roof jetting
out with tiny windows on the side. The
windows are morse code which spells out “Lest we forget”. Well designed. Inside you feel like you’re in a bomb
shelter…low ceilings (at least felt that way).
The cafeteria is called “Mess”…everything looks military. This museum is very well laid out to follow
in timely order. It all begins with the
beginning….first nation people, first explorers, first battles…then through WWI
and WWII, Korea, the Cold War and through until today. Highlights on important Canadians who served
their country. I would definitely
recommend seeing this if ever in Ottawa.
We left the museum and walked down the path beside the river
to the Mill Street Brew Pub…an old sawmill now a brewery and restaurant. We had some great beer and shared a smoked
chicken flatbread. I even saw a man
nearby who looked just like Tim Conway from the old Carol Burnett show.
Time to call it a day so we walked down the biking/walking
path along the river back to the Rideau Locks and up the steps to the
Parliament. We thought we’d try and take
a tour of the building but they had already given away all the free tickets…no
more tours today.
We walked back to the bus and headed home saying goodbye to
Ottawa. We had a wonderful time in this
interesting and beautiful city. Now on
to Montreal tomorrow.
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