Day 15 - Ottawa

Thursday bought another warm day as we headed to Ottawa with Sally, who had very kindly offered to show us the sites of the city.

She had researched and found what looked like a comprehensive walking tour and her research paid off. We met our tour guide, Jonathan, by the war memorial at 11am and for the next two hours he highlighted the main historical buildings of Ottawa, making it fun and light-hearted as we strolled around the city. Not sure if I will every be able to remember much of the actual historical facts but the architecture of Parliament Buildings, The National Gallery of Canada - sporting a huge 30’ arachnid complete with 7 eggs to depict family love! The Basilica,The Chateau Laurier, the canal and all the statues made for an interesting couple of hours.

During the break at midday, Sally and David both enjoyed a ‘Beaver Tail’ - you can tell they are cousins, both needing a sugary fix to help get them through until lunchtime as they were both starving. A Beaver Tail is a flat sugary dough, similar to a doughnut and covered in the topping of your choice. I think Sally had lemon juice and sugar and David have Maple Syrup and Chocolate. Not going to lie - I did have a quick bite and it was scrumptious - couldn’t eat a whole one though - like everything else here, the serving was huge!!

After lunch and a quick gift shopping session Sally took us to Tom’s Firehouse. Station 11 on Rue Preston in Ottawa. There Tom was able to give us a tour. Another highlight of the holiday. We got to sit in his fire truck and sound the horn, I got to put on his hat and coat (incredibly heavy) and David and Sally got to slide down the pole (I chickened out of that one - for someone as challenged as I am when it comes to heights, sliding down a fireman’s pole is just asking for trouble!!)Read more