A few days in Ottawa

[lew]

Mornin folks, the Mrs and I decided to take off for a few days and head up to Ottawa to check out the sites. I've travelled thru there before heading up into the Gatineau's in Quebec or fishing the Ottawa River but never spent any time in town doing the tourist thing so we figured it was time.

 

It was a gorgeous weekend for walking around and we covered alot of miles looking at things.

 

I've never been a fan of politicians but must admit the Parlaiment Buildings hafta be some of the most impressive buildings in this country, and they sure don't build anything to compare to them these days.

 

 

The War Memorial is truly something everyone should see if their in Ottawa and was the 1st place I headed. These are the guys that made everything possible for those of us that followed.

 

 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 

Sad but very moving, and it certainly brings the sacrifices they made closer to home.

 

 

Supreme Court of Canada, taken from Parlaiment Hill

 

 

1st lock of the Rideau System

 

 

I've never had a Beaver Tail and that was near the top of my to-do list so we headed over to the canal where they have a booth setup and got one. Hafta admit too, their every bit as good as everyone said they were. We spent about an hour sitting on a bench on the ice watching everyone skating on the worlds longest skating rink.......7 kilometers

 

 

 

 

This was something I thought was great. Only 150 feet from the Parlaiment Building they've established a place for wild cats to live and are looked after by a retired guy who provides everything for them. The "cat house" is full of straw for warmth and he keeps them supplied with food and water. Their doing well as every cat was fat and playful.

 

 

Not sure why they have a gun pointed at Quebec from Parlaiment Hill, but I thought it was kinda funny.

 

 

Anyways, that's where I've been for the last few days and I must admit, Ottawa is a beautiful town and were already talking abut another trip.

[Spiel]

....Nice to see you had a great weekend Lew. My kids have been to Ottawa but not I. It would seem to be one of those things I need to put on my "to do" list.

[brickNblock]

Nice break from the the daily routine Lew.

One day soon I'm hoping the missuss an I can get away without purpose.

Cant remember ever going to Ottawa but I know it happened when we were in school.

The architecture there looks mighty impressive.and your band on...........Thats hilarious that the big gun points towards Quebec,,thats a hoot.

Glad you guys enjoyed yourselves and thanks for sharring them pics.

If anything else........

I bet that Tomb for the Unknown Soldier makes everyone forget about anything else they may have had had on their minds for a few moments.

[Rich Clemens]

Nice pics Lew. I fish about an hour south of Ottawa in July, but never took the time to check out the sites. I've heard it is a beautiful city. Thanks for sharing the pics.

[Chris]

Hi Lew, nice pics, thanks for sharing, here's a different angle on the your pic of the Rideau locks.

 

[OhioFisherman]

Great pictures Lew, never been there myself, not enough open water! LOL Parliment building looks cool, they did a better job in the old days. Steeples? LOL Glad you and the misses had a good time!

[Big Cliff]

Those cats must be well fed because that squirrel on the roof doesn't look too worried and I can't tell for sure but it looks like there is another one at the food bowl bottom left.

 

Glad you had a good time, thanks for the pictures!

[solopaddler]

Looks like a perfect weekend was had Lew, great pic's, thank's for posting!

[Whopper]

Good for you and the Mrs. The weather looked beautiful.

Very nice pics!

Got to ask what is a beaver tail? It is a nickname like elephant ear or is it the real deal.

 

Whopper

[bpsbassman]

Great trip Lew.

Skating the Rideau is still on my "50 Things to do Before I Die" List.

Thanks for the report.

[b2kptbo]

Yes Ottawa is a nice place, clean and lots to check out. We have done the same a couple times only has been in the fall (wasn't aloud to bring the boat). Always nice to have a little getaway, glad ya's had a good time...

[1leggedangler]

Nice Pics Lew, just saw a show about those cats. A vet gives his time every year to make sure they get their shots and they definitely don't go hungry with a bunch of people feeding them. Have to see the War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown soldier in person to truly get a feel for the magnitude of sacrifice those men and woman gave to give this country an identity. Thanks for sharing.

 

Cheers,

1leg

[Smokey]

Great pics Lew. Did you get close to the Parlaiment Buildings as there even more impressive up close with all the work they put into them.

 

Nice to hear you had a good time.

[ccmtcanada]

Great pics and weekend report Lew! Looks like you had a nice time on your weekend. Thanks for the pics!

[Mike the Pike]

Nice Report Lew! good to have you back it was really weird not have you on the board for a few days.Something was missing.MTP

[FinS]

great pics Lew did you get a chance to check out the Ottawa boat,sportmans and cottage show while you were there Feb 22-25

[Guest mistyriver1]

Great pics Lew, looks like you guys had a nice time.

[mattyk]

some nice pics Lew. Thanks for sharing. Hope to plan a fishing trip there one summer on the mighty ottawa river.

[dustink]

Glad to see you had a great time Lew......

 

Some great pics! Thanks for sharing...

 

dk

[irishfield]

Great shots Lew! All stuff I've seen a thousand or more times, as I grew up in Sin City (Smiths Falls) right on the Rideau, but it never gets boring. Amazing construction in those old PBuildings and the locks at every rise/fall in the system are a marvellous engineering feat in themselves. Driving down town is worse than Hamilton's one way madness..but other than that a great little city.

[Joey]

I have to agree Lew, Ottawa is very beautiful. I used to live in Buckingham, Que when I was a kid for a few years, and we used to go there quite often, and skate on the Rideau. Thanks for bringing back those memories.

 

Joey

[fishindevil]

thanks for sharing lew,and yes ottawa is a very nice city and people all through the ottawa valley are very nice i love that whole area...cheers

[fishnsled]

Looks like a great weekend away Lew. Nice to see the canal open for skating. When I was there a couple of years ago they closed it down the day I got there,. I had even bought new skated to use! Oh well, one of these day is get to skate on it.

[kennyman]

Seemed like I'd been there not too long ago when I looked at the pics. Then I realized it was when I got married. We went there on our honeymoon almost seventeen years ago I hope you took the tour inside the parliament buildings .... gorgeous. Also the museum of civilization (you can see it in yours and even better in CrisS's pic of the lock) was a great place to visit (was there only ten years ago) and they have an Imax theatre. I love those Imax movies. There is definetely alot to do in Otterwa. Glad you had fun.

Edited February 26, 2007 by kennyman

[lew]

I hope you took the tour inside the parliament buildings .... gorgeous. Also the museum of civilization

 

Actually, it was such a gorgeous weekend weather-wise, we decided to spend all our time touring the outdoors stuff and we'll save the indoors sites for another weekend when the weather isn't so nice.

 

We did spend alot of time around Parlaiment Hill though taking in the sites.

 

Chris, thanks for the summer pics of the locks, it's nice to get a different perspective.

 

I'll be seeing the Ottawa River again this summer at least once, cept this time it'll be chasing some big toothies.