Ottawa bound

We went to Ottawa at the weekend. Yes, yes...I know that you know that we don't "do" cold, but the stars seemed in alignment...the price of flights dropped and the same day I got an e-mail from the Westin telling me about a birth date promotion...you paid $160 for the first night and the subsequent nights were charged according to the year of your birth ie 1963 = $63. Bargain!!


When we arrived the sun was shining and it was fairly mild. We had a very chatty taxi driver from the airport. He had lived in Canada for 24 years and was from Ethiopia. After 24 years you apparently recognise the importance of enjoying the warmer days! We checked in, dumped the bags, grabbed the cameras and headed off in search of lunch....which turned out to be not as simple as all that! We headed for Byward Market which the guide books said was stuffed with cafes... Maybe in summer! Certainly not so much in evidence in the cold November days! We eventually found somewhere that sold delicious looking panini's. Unfortunately they interpreted Stephen's request for just a little Dijon as a request to squirt around half the squeezy bottle onto his. It was so powerfully hot he couldn't eat more than a few mouthfuls!!


Oh-oh. Our weekend was not getting off on the best footing!! My mood was not enhanced when we went into the bookshop to buy a guidebook. I was walking into the store behind a guy. He pushed open the door, stepped through, and let it go in my face. Twice. (It was double doors). Now I know I've joked about me not being able to open doors as they are magically opened for me (men in the US will sprint ahead of you to open them, and/or will patiently wait holding them open until you've covered the 10 ft to the door. Someone once said "its the last thing we can do for you ladies these days".) but even in the UK, where the whole door holding thing disappeared years ago, I think that if you are walking through the door directly behind someone they will usually hold it open, rather than let it go in your mush! And I thought the Canadians were supposed to be polite!


We walked over to the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, which we had been promised had stunning architecture. I have to say that I wasn't overwhelmed by the outside which had a vague look of a multi-story car park, but the inside was stunning! They had a great collection of totem poles, and an interactive walk through Canadian history complete with actors. They also had an Imax dome! Yay! We bought tickets for the next show which was The Wild Coast...an underwater film...lots of fish, a few sharks, some dolphins...not our first choice!! We wanted swooping flights over the Grand Canyon, but hey...! The seats reclined, we made ourselves comfortable, the film started, and we both promptly dozed off!! I was trying to fight it, so kept jerking away when my eyes closed, but Stephen was just outta there! I had to poke him once as there was gentle snoring!!


We walked back over the river and headed into the Highlander Bar. It had a huge collection of Scotch whiskys - some were selling for $130 per measure!! That could be an expensive night out! It was quite restrained in decor - no tartan curtains, but all the wait staff were dressed in kilts. Dinner was at the Black Tomato Bistro. The food was delicious and the service was pleasantly slow. The only weeny problem came at the end of the meal. The server rang the bill through on the credit card with an extra zero on the end. Oops! Dinner was good, but not THAT good!! He immediately cancelled the charge, but the whole charge and cancellation thing was obviously enough to make our bank go "what the..??" and they suspended the card. Joy! Not only are we now 1 card down, but we'll have to deal with the red-tape at the bank to get it resolved. Deep Joy!


We woke on Saturday to torrential rain. This wasn't entirely unexpected, and we had (for once) managed to pack umbrellas. We now have an extensive collections of brolly's purchased all across the US in various cities where we've not had the foresight to check the weather forecast...


The Parliament building beckoned. The building burned down in 1916 and was rebuilt shortly after in a Gothic revival style. It is a very ornate exterior. Very imposing. The interior is utterly stunning. All Gothic arches, buttresses and ornate carving. The tour was pretty informative, and you got to get very up close to both the House of Commons and the Senate. The peace tower (which holds the carillon) would be superb on a clear day as it holds a commanding position overlooking the river and downtown. However, it was up in the clouds on Saturday and all we could see was mist and drizzle!


The rain eased up as we made our way into an Irish bar for lunch. We made it to an English bar later in the evening, so we were working our way round the UK! Didn't find a Welsh bar - maybe there is an opening in the market there!! We walked around in the afternoon taking photos and then went back to the hotel to thaw before heading out for dinner. We went to the Empire Grill. It was extremely funky, with pony skins panels on the walls and lots of great photos and artwork of New York. Apparently the Rolling Stones filmed a music video there a couple of years ago. The food was really good, and so was the service. Again it was really relaxed - which we're not used to! We were just contemplating dessert when there was a bit of commotion behind us. There was a big crowd of people who had just come in. One was videoing the room, another was wearing the most ridiculous baseball hat...there had to be a celebrity in their midst! Eventually they parted and Mario Lopez was visible in the middle of them all - looking very hot! I immediately sent Tim a text as he is also a huge Dancing with the Stars fan, and I know Mario was a particular favourite! It was hilarious to watch the room as word began to spread that he was there. We were sitting about 10 feet away and I had a clear view of both his table, and of the constant stream of women who were walking past to go to the loo. I swear at one point there must have been about 40 women in a loo made for 4!! I did make the trip myself, and ended up next to his very glam companion who came in immediately behind me. She was obviously wondering how 40 women fitted into such a small room and had to investigate!!


We had a well-deserved lie-in on Sunday before we headed out for brunch at Milestones. Mine was delicious and they were good enough to make Stephen a deconstructed omelet (ie bacon and eggs) as he was being particularly fussy! We walked down to the National Gallery and spent a happy few hours wandering round their collection. It was kinda blowy when we came out. It made our coats pretty ineffective! It cut right through all the layers and straight to the skin - I must buy something wind-resistant for any future trips to arctic climes! Because we couldn't deal with the cold any longer we went to the Mall adjoining the hotel and tried to warm up with Starbucks (one for each hand and foot!).


Sunday being Sunday the restaurants were quiet (for once!) and we went to a rustic Italian. It had desserts to die for!! Utterly gorgeous amaretto chocolate cheesecake...MmmMmm!!


We walked out the hotel on Monday and WOW! If we thought the previous days had been cold we were very, very wrong!! It was zero C with windchill which made it seem so very much colder!! We walked up to the parliament building to take more photos which weren't drizzle filled, and walked around the grounds until we could take the wind-chilled temperatures no longer. Our fingers were numb. Our faces had lost the ability to create expression. We were COLD! We walked from the parliament and decided to step into the Chateau to see what the foyer looked like. We had barely walked into the place when we were almost knocked down by two separate sets of camera crews rushing past us. When we had sought a place of safety and worked out what the heck was going on (it wasn't Mario Lopez which was my first thought!) it became apparent that someone was holding a press conference. Someone political by the sound of things. As best we can tell it was one of the first ministers of one of the regions of Canada. We certainly seemed to be doing well on the whole bumping into famous people thing!!

It was freezing, raining and beginning to snow when we got to the airport so our plane had to be de-iced. (This was a new experience for me!) Apparently this costs about $4000!! And ours was only an ickle liddle plane - how much would it cost to de-ice a 747?