Chapter 9: Ottawaahaa!

Chapter 9

This past weekend, the 6^th to the 8^th, was the Ottawa City trip! Fewer of us went along for the ride this time for a number of reasons, but having a smaller group made it possible to do different kinds of activities. While having a big group last time was a lot of fun, this smaller group was a lot of fun, too!

We left Friday morning at 10:00 for the bus station and arrived in Ottawa around 1:30. The ride to Ottawa was actually about an hour shorter than the one to Quebec city. We checked into the Novotel and after a brief rest we went to the Royal Canadian Mint, which was just down the road from the hotel. At the Mint we took a short tour of the facility, where all the machines and workers were behind thick glass. They were in the process of making Investment Coins when we arrived, and we learned that the RCM of Ottawa hold the Guinness World Record for the largest gold coin, 220 pounds, 7 ounces, and a foot and a half across.

Our first evening, the capital city was a little chilly, but that didn’t stop us from frolicking around a giant, modern-style spider sculpture and running up to look-out points just in time for a fantastic sun set. The city has several nice parks as well as monuments and statues representing historic Canadian figures, events, and its roots with the British royal family. We eventually found our way to the Hard Rock Café of Ottawa for dinner, and later that evening we got to jump in the hotel’s pool and revel in the glory of the jacuzzi hot tub.

The next two days we had fantastic weather, sunny and without a breeze, probably in the mid to high fifties. Saturday morning we had a buffet breakfast in the hotel, then took two taxis to the Museum of Science and Technology. It was a both fun and interesting place, with three of the largest steam train engines I’ve ever seen, and exhibits on everything from the Canadian space program to the Titanic to the history of transportation as explained by LEGOs.

After that, we scooped up lunch and made our way to Parliament, where we had a reserved tour all to ourselves. I still don’t completely understand how the Canadian government works, but I did learn that their senate is comprised not of politicians but of people from all different professions, which sounds like a cool concept to me!

We had some time to ourselves to explore the city after Parliament, and later we went to the Cornerstone Bar & Grill for dinner. It was probably the most chic and trendy ‘bar or grill’ I’d ever seen, and it had great food! That night we had another reserved spot, this time at the comedy club ‘Yuk Yuks’, where we enjoyed a couple hours of professional stand up.

Finally, on Sunday we had our morning buffet once more and were sad to check out of rooms with the fantastically comfortable beds. Our final activity was the trip to the Museum of Civilization, which houses a massive collection of First Nations totem poles and objects. I could probably write a whole blog just on that one Museum! A must-see for any trip to Ottawa.

Alas, our trip came to an end after we went for lunch and retuned to the bus station. The ride home went smoothly and we all had a great time. I would absolutely recommend both the Quebec and Ottawa city trips to all future Champlain Montrealers.

Special Thanks To: Dan for all his awesome and thorough photos

and

Stefi, for two great trips across Canada!! Thank you Stefi!