Here's our 4 day account of Canada Day in Ottawa!
Our adventure began on day 1 with a search for breakfast en route to Ottawa. The boys have insisted I am just like my mother as I have a love for a good deal and that morning was no exception! I had purchased an Entertainment Book for the GTA and was wanting to find a breakfast joint/coupon combo that worked on the way out of town. I found it -- Denny's in Pickering, Ontario! So off we went...only to find that the Denny's had closed and declared bankrupcy days earlier.
Not a problem!! N and I have a neat little GPS device in the truck so we took a poll and decided that a Bacon and Egger from A&W would hit the spot. So we programmed the GPS to find an A&W and set out following its directions. Suddenly in the middle of the road, it proclaims, "You have arrived!" We look around and there is no A&W in sight -- we all laughed!! Stupid technology!! We did eventually find some breakie at the Golden Griddle and then off we were!!
We arrived in Ottawa late in the afternoon having had no further mishaps. We stayed at the Mariott Courtyard in the Byward Market -- a fantastic location -- everything easily accessible on foot. We spent the remainder of the day just walking around taking it all in!
The boys across the street from Major's Hill Park and above the Byward Market
They were setting up the big stage on Parliament Hill and the sheer size of the stage made Tim start to panic about the crowds we'd see on Canada Day. See Tim doesn't really like to be around lots of people... he has a bubble. If you invade his bubble, Tim is not a happy guy. See, most people would call this bubble personal space... but Tim, he needs more personal space than the average person. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and got my aunt and uncle to be his human bubble or people deflector. Here they are practicing:
On day 2, we set off for the Civilization Museum in Gatineau, Quebec. Ottawa and Gatineau are separated by Ottawa River. It was a beautiful walk from our hotel, past the National Art Gallery and over the Alexandra Bridge into Gatineau towards the Civ Museum.
We spent the entire day at the Civ Museum as it is utterly massive. I had been told that it is the best museum in Canada so I had lofty expectations. In the end, I was pretty disappointed. There were 4 levels and I'd have to say that only one of them captured our interest. My brothers were bored to tears. After touring the exhibits, we took in the IMAX, Wild Ocean, which we all agreed was the worst IMAX we had ever seen.
Day 3 was Canada Day! You can check out our entire set of Canada Day pictures here.
We all got decked out in our red and white and headed out into the sea of people. By sea of people, I literally mean sea of people -- the news reported that 300,000 people took to the streets around Parliament Hill to demonstrate some pride in their nation. Everywhere you turned all you could see was a wall of people. I am seriously impressed that we managed to stay together for the most part throughout the day.
Posing in our red & white with the Mounties
We saw bits of the parade, watched the flag get raised (flag ceremony), saw the changing of the guard (on a big screen - we were not sure where things were taking place so we didn't have the best spot for this stuff), saw the RCMP's Musical Ride, watched the insane and ridiculous (my opinion) pageantry that is exhibited when the Governor General arrives on the Hill and watched the afternoon concert on the Hill -- including a speech from PM Harper.
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Paul Brandt performs during the afternoon show at Parliament Hill
IGNORE THE "THIS VIDEO IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE" -- IT IS THERE!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW
After the noon show, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for some cold drinks and lunch -- then back to our room to nap and freshen up. We had spent 7 hours in the hot sun and we needed a break. Later that evening, we headed out again to check out the evening concert series. We managed to see/hear a bit of Serena Ryder, Paul Brandt and Hawksley Workman. Then we went in search of a good spot to view the fireworks. The fireworks were amazing!! Really fantastic!!
All in all, Canada Day in the nation's capital is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime!!
