Jour 4: Les derniers jours de 2012
jour 4: 28 décembre
OTTAWA -- Despite the cold temperatures for the day (a high of -6C/21F), a sunny forecast led me to switch back to my tennis shoes for exploring the city.
First off was a tour of Parliament, given by bilingual U.Ottawa undergrad named Émilie. (Had we hated the tour, then she was in fact her sister Élise, also a Parliament tour guide.) I wasn't the only Statesider in the group, as there was a family from L.A. No doubt, they were shocked by how absolutely cold and snowy it was here.
Being the brainiac I am, I earlier brushed up on the Centre Block's Wikipedia page. Thus I was able to chime in about the 1916 fire that consumed the entire building, save for the National Library locked behind iron doors. (But I did not know the four original Canadian provinces upon Confederation in 1867: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. According to Émilie, there are Grade 6ers that don't know this.) After the official tour, some of our group ascended to the top of the Peace Tower to get a four-corner view of the snowy Ottawa-Gatineau metro area.
What would a visit to Canada be without a trip to Tim Horton's? (Yes, I know there's one 20 miles from the house.) A couple blocks down the hill from Parliament, I had my official breakfast: a blueberry muffin and hot white chocolate -- although with the temperatures, white-hot chocolate might not have been so bad.
Then, it was off to the eastern end of town via OC Transport. The Place d'Orleans Shopping Centre was one of three locations for the Ottawa Senators' team shop, and Pd'O was the closest one to downtown. Not only did the store have Senators merchandise, they surprisingly had quite the selection of opposing team jerseys.
After a serpentine journey through the eastern suburbs, it was time for lunch at my Ontario tradition: Moxie's. I don't want to sound sexist -- which usually means I subconsciously will -- but the female servers in heels and black cocktail-style dresses are most pleasant. (And no doubt the somewhat similiarly-styled male servers provide similiarly-styled female reactions.)
Before returning to the hotel, I sought out the season 5 DVD for the Canadian sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie -- the madcap adventures of a big-city imam in small-town Saskatchewan -- and finally found it on my third attempt at citywide HMV stores.
I arrived back at the hotel and packed Chad's parcel, throwing in his gifts and several other items that I thought may weigh me down. I then trudged up the street to a local pharmacy which houses another Canada Post office to drop it off. But by this time (6pm), it had gotten colder and the slush was starting to freeze, which gave my tennis shoes no sense of traction. Needless to say, I fell victim to... well... falling en route.
Dinner was a nice tuna-salad wrap from an express deli in Rideau Centre, then it was across the street for a long perusal of Chapters' inventory of books. I finally walked away with a signed copy of a memoir by recently-retired CTV News anchorman Lloyd Robertson -- at 30% off.
And that's the kind of day it's been.
OTTAWA -- Despite the cold temperatures for the day (a high of -6C/21F), a sunny forecast led me to switch back to my tennis shoes for exploring the city.
First off was a tour of Parliament, given by bilingual U.Ottawa undergrad named Émilie. (Had we hated the tour, then she was in fact her sister Élise, also a Parliament tour guide.) I wasn't the only Statesider in the group, as there was a family from L.A. No doubt, they were shocked by how absolutely cold and snowy it was here.
Being the brainiac I am, I earlier brushed up on the Centre Block's Wikipedia page. Thus I was able to chime in about the 1916 fire that consumed the entire building, save for the National Library locked behind iron doors. (But I did not know the four original Canadian provinces upon Confederation in 1867: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. According to Émilie, there are Grade 6ers that don't know this.) After the official tour, some of our group ascended to the top of the Peace Tower to get a four-corner view of the snowy Ottawa-Gatineau metro area.
What would a visit to Canada be without a trip to Tim Horton's? (Yes, I know there's one 20 miles from the house.) A couple blocks down the hill from Parliament, I had my official breakfast: a blueberry muffin and hot white chocolate -- although with the temperatures, white-hot chocolate might not have been so bad.
Then, it was off to the eastern end of town via OC Transport. The Place d'Orleans Shopping Centre was one of three locations for the Ottawa Senators' team shop, and Pd'O was the closest one to downtown. Not only did the store have Senators merchandise, they surprisingly had quite the selection of opposing team jerseys.
After a serpentine journey through the eastern suburbs, it was time for lunch at my Ontario tradition: Moxie's. I don't want to sound sexist -- which usually means I subconsciously will -- but the female servers in heels and black cocktail-style dresses are most pleasant. (And no doubt the somewhat similiarly-styled male servers provide similiarly-styled female reactions.)
Before returning to the hotel, I sought out the season 5 DVD for the Canadian sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie -- the madcap adventures of a big-city imam in small-town Saskatchewan -- and finally found it on my third attempt at citywide HMV stores.
I arrived back at the hotel and packed Chad's parcel, throwing in his gifts and several other items that I thought may weigh me down. I then trudged up the street to a local pharmacy which houses another Canada Post office to drop it off. But by this time (6pm), it had gotten colder and the slush was starting to freeze, which gave my tennis shoes no sense of traction. Needless to say, I fell victim to... well... falling en route.
Dinner was a nice tuna-salad wrap from an express deli in Rideau Centre, then it was across the street for a long perusal of Chapters' inventory of books. I finally walked away with a signed copy of a memoir by recently-retired CTV News anchorman Lloyd Robertson -- at 30% off.
And that's the kind of day it's been.