Ottawa Adventure 2008 Part 2: The City
On days 2 and 3 of my stress-free romp in Ottawa, I drove downtown and wandered the city. My first stop of course, was Parliament Hill. The architecture is wicked (all Gothic and such) and the views are spectacular. I wanted to go on one of the tours, but I am bad with time and I kept missing them (oh, well...just another excuse to return I suppose).
I have a bit of interesting trivia on this: nothing in Ottawa is allowed to be taller than the Peace Tower (thanks D).
The grotesques and gargoyles were really something to behold, but I will have to bring a better camera next time.
Even the back of the building was a sight to behold:
After my visit downtown, I decided to go in search of replacement beer. The first rule of good beer karma is to always replace what you consume. I thought that this would be tricky given my forays of purchasing beer abroad. In particular I am reminded of Texas where, even though I had a passport and Massachusetts state drivers license, I was not allowed to purchase beer as I didn't have a Texas state ID. Since when in a passport not a valid form of ID--only in Texas I guess. No such issues in Canada, when I asked the gentleman at the Beer Store (doesn't get any easier than that sign) he just chuckled and said he would sell me as much beer as I wanted to buy :)
So also on my agenda was a visit to the National Gallery:
Cause I am a sucker for a good art show. I lucked out out, as they were having a show by Joe Fafard. I must admit that I knew nothing about his art previous to my visit but it turned out to be a wonderful show. I was particularly fond of Running Horses piece. This is only a very small section as it actually consisted of several large sculptures arrange around the room to suggest movement. Really quite dramatic.
Another great piece was outside, though I forgot to look up the name:
I was mostly a fan of the positioning of this piece...
I have a bit of interesting trivia on this: nothing in Ottawa is allowed to be taller than the Peace Tower (thanks D).
The grotesques and gargoyles were really something to behold, but I will have to bring a better camera next time.
Even the back of the building was a sight to behold:
After my visit downtown, I decided to go in search of replacement beer. The first rule of good beer karma is to always replace what you consume. I thought that this would be tricky given my forays of purchasing beer abroad. In particular I am reminded of Texas where, even though I had a passport and Massachusetts state drivers license, I was not allowed to purchase beer as I didn't have a Texas state ID. Since when in a passport not a valid form of ID--only in Texas I guess. No such issues in Canada, when I asked the gentleman at the Beer Store (doesn't get any easier than that sign) he just chuckled and said he would sell me as much beer as I wanted to buy :)
So also on my agenda was a visit to the National Gallery:
Cause I am a sucker for a good art show. I lucked out out, as they were having a show by Joe Fafard. I must admit that I knew nothing about his art previous to my visit but it turned out to be a wonderful show. I was particularly fond of Running Horses piece. This is only a very small section as it actually consisted of several large sculptures arrange around the room to suggest movement. Really quite dramatic.
Another great piece was outside, though I forgot to look up the name:
I was mostly a fan of the positioning of this piece...