OTTAWA, ONTARIO

On Thursday July 10th we left Vermont and entered Canada in Cornwall. We drove through upper New York State and crossed the border into Canada. The border guard was very friendly. He asked if we knew anyone in Canada and we said, “No.” He was surprised.

We stopped at a gas station to change some of our money into Canadian dollars. $200 Canadian dollars cost us $222.00 American. We are not sure what a bank exchange rate is but when we stopped in New York at a Citizens Bank, they did not exchange and sent us to the gas station.

From Cornwall we drove to Ottawa. The trans Canada highway is beautiful. The speed limit is 90 kph (55) which is our favorite speed to drive. I drove from Vermont to Ottawa. We arrived at the Ottawa Municipal Campground. What a nice place. We had electric and water and got spoiled for three days. On Friday we went into Ottawa for the day. The Bytown Trolley company sent a trolley to the campground and picked us up and one other family. We left the campground at 8:45 a.m. It was a 30 minute ride into downtown. When we arrived we bought a trolley ticket for a one hour tour of the city and then drop off and get on around the city.

Before we took the one hour tour we went directly to Parliamentary Hill for the changing of the guard. We got there early and were able to get a great spot to view the ceremony. It was very impressive. There was a band, Scottish bagpipe players, and three companies of soldiers. The ceremony took 30 minutes and the music was awesome. After the ceremony we took a self guided tour around the grounds of the Parliament. We learned a lot about how Canada was formed. I don’t know about any of you reading this, but I was a little lacking in Canadian history.

The weather was beautiful for touring. We stopped at a deli to get a sandwich and then sat outside to eat. Sparks Street is a pedestrian mall. It covers 4 blocks and there are no cars allowed. Also if you ride your bicycle through this mall you can be fined $53.67.

We then took the one hour trolley tour and even went across the Ottawa River into Gatineau, Quebec. There were many interesting sites, but one that impressed us was the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica. The construction began in 1827. Inside was so beautiful.

We then went back to Parliament Hill and went up in the Peace Tower. You can look out over the entire city of Ottawa. This tower was built from 1919 to 1927 and was dedicated to the more than 60,000 Canadian soldiers who gave their lives on the battlefields of Europe during the First World War standing 92.2 meters (302 feet, 6 inches) tall. The Pease Tower is a campanile: a free-standing bell tower. It houses the carillon, a set of bells sounded from a keyboard. There are 53 bells in the Peace Tower. The largest is called the “bourdon” and weighs in at 10,160 kilograms (22,000 pounds)—that’s roughly the weight of three adult elephants! The smallest bell weights 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds).

On Saturday we had to go grocery shopping. I wanted some beer and they do not sell any liquor, beer, or wine in a grocery store. As we were driving around we found The Beer Store. This is where you buy your beer. We shopped at Loblaws which was a super grocery store. Things cost so much more in Canada.

We left Ottawa in Sunday July 13th. It was over two hundred miles to Algonquin Provincial Park where we were headed for the next week. We stopped at a dairy bar called Laurentian View Dairy in Deep River Ontario. Steve had a breakfast meal and I had soup and a open-faced sandwich. It was scrumptious! Of course we had to try their ice cream and it was delicious. I had orange ice cream with a chocolate ribbon and Steve had Boston Crème.