I found the fish on the stone coat of arms interesting. There were several variations found as decorative elements on a building we passed by.
The heat was quite oppressive coupled with high humidity...yet we didn't want to miss out while we were in Canada's capital...
At the foot of the York Steps, a pedestrian link between "ceremonial" Ottawa to Lowertown. The steps were built at the cost of $1.7 million by the U.S. Embassy in 1999.
View at midway point. Apparently there was a really big court battle between folks who argued that the steps were inaccessible for people with disabilities. It was overturned a decade later.
Here's a a view of the steps from the bottom. In the winter. With snow.
(photo courtesy of Dr. Tallmadge, staff anasthesiologist at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus)
At the top of the steps, we found ourselves on Confederation Boulevard, which runs through the capital city. Many of the city's famous landmarks and important institutions are along this street such as Parliament Hill, the National Gallery, ByWard Market, the Royal Canadian Mint, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
A cool poster I saw...
One of the entrances to the Freiman Mall, which is owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, the oldest commercial company in North America and one of the oldest in the world, having been founded in 1670 by British traders in Canada.
We went there mainly to get out of the heat and also to get some pajamas bottoms (i.e. shorts) since I forgot to pack mine's and TC's. We ended up getting some cheap at Old Navy.
Map of downtown Ottawa. We pretty much walked only in the area near Parliament. Later that evening we had a car tour by C's friend's husband, who works as a government liaison for Air Canada.
When I hear the word "Parliament", I normally think of a couple of things:
This...
which is Parliament-Funkadelic, a funk, soul, and rock collective headed by George Clinton.
and this:
"Hey look kids! There's Big Ben! There's Parliament!"
Yeah I know it's the one in London...
Seriously though, the definition of Parliament is "a national representative body having supreme legislative powers within the state".
Ottawa is home of the beautiful Parliament Hill, a collection of Gothic revival buildings that serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada. This part is the West Block.
You may view better images of Parliament here (not from my cameraO
From them same vantage point of Parliament Hill, you can also see this below:
which is the Rideau Canal which connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario.
According to wikipedia's entry on the "Rideau Canal":
"The name Rideau, French for curtain, is derived from the curtain-like appearance of the Rideau River's twin waterfalls where they join the Ottawa River...
The canal was first opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States. It remains in use today primarily for pleasure boating...The locks on the system open for navigation in Mid-May and close in mid-October. It is the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America and in 2007, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site."
Cs friend and her husband had their wedding photos taken at one of the locks in the Rideau Canal. In the winter when the water is frozen over, people can also ice skate on what is essentially the world's largest skating rink. This is only for this particular section of the canal which runs through central Ottawa.
Below, a view of the East Block in Parliament. I liked the spiky iron work on the fence....
As we walked on the grounds of these buildings, I could really feel the sense of "history"...
One of many tour buses we saw that day...
There were many school children on field trips to the nation's capitol as well as tourists from all over the world, including ourselves.
More info on Ottawa:
OttawaTourism
Ottawa.com
OttawaWorldGuides (has a listing of important landmarks)
Before heading back to our hosts' home, we had to get one of these pastries, so back to the ByWard Market we went...
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