Ontario - Ottawa City

August 19, 2019 - August 22, 2019

We drove to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where we had plans to connect with two guys we had met in a campground in Nova Scotia last summer. They had been keeping in touch with us so when we were heading toward Ontario this summer, we made arrangements to meet up with them in Ottawa, their hometown. Pierre and Jean Yves are some of the nicest, sweetest fellows we have ever met.

Ottawa has this gorgeous Catholic church called the Basilica of Notre Dam.When Doreen and I visited it one afternoon, there was a service going on so we tip-toed around so we wouldn't disturb the worshipers or the mass. On the second level, where it looks like cut out windows, one could sit and observe almost everything that was going on below but we didn't go up there.

This is only one of the many fantastic stained glass windows in this church! Because we have seen many items made in Louis C. Tiffany's shop we have a real appreciation for stained glass.  Some are small pieces put together with lead and some are actually pictures painted on the glass, but you have to be a great artist to get the dimensions correct and the minute detail just so. 

The front and side alters of the church are mind boggling! I haven't been in a lot of Catholic churches but I have seen some beautiful churches in England and this one rivals those. What we found out is that the pillars and some other parts that look like marble are actually wood painted to look like marble! It must have saved them money and it looks very real too!

I had to walk across the street just to take this picture because the building is so huge! Note the 'tiny' people on the steps! 

That evening we were invited to the guys condo for dinner. They even let us bring Barney which was very nice because the poor dog is often 'cooped' up in the rig when we go somewhere and can't take him. The guys (who both cook!) had also invited a friend of theirs, Wayne, who was a 'sports widow' for the evening. The food was divine and the company couldn't have been better! It was really fun getting to know these fellows since we had only spent one evening together over their campfire up in Nova Scotia last summer. But we knew even after one evening that we could be friends.

The next day our new friends whom you'll see pictures of later, took me to the "Changing of the Guards" which happens every day.  (Doreen stayed 'home' because she was having some pain in her gut which later turned out to be diverticulitis.) This is the Parliament Building. On the left is where the Changing of the Guards took place. The new guards came from a building somewhere on the right but I didn't see exactly which building they came from. The signs the guy is holding say "Stop persecuting immigrants" and "Stop wasting taxpayers money". I said to him "do you think you could take those signs down to Washington DC and show them to our President?" He laughed and I could tell he knew exactly what I meant! 

The new guards came marching in a procession, along the sidewalk, sort of behind us. Then they marched onto the grounds to go through the 'changing' from the old guards (who had been on duty) to these new ones. It took quite awhile and I was very thankful to have a fold up chair to sit on. As part of the procession, there is a band, a 'leader' (for lack of a better name) who shouts out commands the soldiers must do, and a guy behind these guards (and close to us) who was dressed in camouflage clothing, watching or perhaps guarding. There was an announcer speaking English and another speaking French explaining what was happening but since I had never seen this before, I couldn't really follow what was taking place other than the obvious. I took this picture because I could tell that the two middle soldiers  were women! When I remarked that I thought that they were, Jean Yves told me yes, they have had women in the Guards for quite a few years. 

One of the things they have to do (exactly on command) is to reach behind their backs (see soldiers on left) and take out their bayonet, then put the bayonet on their rifle, then hold the rifle on their shoulder in a certain way, I'm sure. At some point later, they reverse the process and while slightly bending their knees, they hold the rifle between their knees, remove the bayonet and replace it into the sheaf on their backs. It was quite fascinating to watch. We all felt sorry for the soldiers because they wore wool jackets and pants plus the big furry hats and it became quite warm, in the 80's!

Next we walked a short distance to the Rideau Locks and Canal, a World Heritage Site. This is the first set of locks I've ever seen where the moving of the enormous gates are done by hand! The funny part was that this woman handled the crank on the far side of the canal by herself and when one of the young guys came to help her she sent him back to help the other young guy who clearly needed help moving the crank! (Luckily he won't be embarrassed because he'll never see this blog!)  In the window you can see the reflection of a boats in the lock.

This is called a Slack water canal system, it's 125.5 miles long (which must include part of the St. Lawrence Seaway) and was built in 1832. See the gate on the left, it swings open to allow this boat to float in. The gate closes and then the water pours out of this lock into the lower lock so the water and boat in this first lock are lowered to the level of the second lock.  The water from this first lock actually flows under the gate at the other end so the next lock down can come up a few feet. 

The waves are caused by the water leaving the first lock and pouring (under the gate) into this second lock. This procedure continues all the way down through 8 locks! There is no fee for the boats to go through these locks and it is a big tourist draw.

Here's the Captain of the boat making sure all is going well!

The explanation of the Heritage Site.

Here you can tell how much lower the lake below is! When we first got to the locks a boat was coming up and had only one last lock to go through. Then we watched the boat in the picture above come through 2 locks before we left. It takes quite a long time to go through one lock to the lower one or vice versa because of  the amount of time it takes for the water to come into or go out of the lock. My tour guides took me into the hotel on there on the right and showed me around. It is very beautiful with live orchids in pots in numerous places. The rooms must be a bit more than expensive because only fancy cars were driving up! The owners of the hotel want to add on at the end of the building but according to my friends, the city has turned their drawings down numerous times because the add on is basically a big cement square which wouldn't fit in to the current design at all. 

Pierre's schedule included a trip to the Senate, shown here and the House of Commons, next picture. The Senate is in a temporary location in the old Train Station because the Parliamentary building (referred to as the Center Block) is being refurbished for the next 10 years! The House of Commons which is normally in the Center Block is also in a different location during the refurbishment.

This huge room for the House to meet was an outside space so they installed roofing over it all. That's why you can see walls that once were outside. To be perfectly honest, I have a hard time remembering how our own government works so you can imagine, learning about Canada's government was interesting yet a bit 'over my head'. I'm more of a 'nature girl' and can remember shell names and fossils but not government stuff.

What an enormous and beautiful monument this is at the tomb of the unknown soldier. There is a sad story attached to this though, as Pierre and Jean Yves explained. There used to be only one guard and no guard shelter. The soldiers had to stand at attention day and night, cold, snow and heat with no protection. Unfortunately a few years ago, someone came up behind the one guard and shot him dead! Who knows why but it was a terrible tragedy. So now they have 2 guards on duty round the clock and a shelter to stand in if need be. At least it's a little protection to get out of the weather and another person to perhaps avert a tragedy.

My wonderful tour guides and new friends, Pierre, left and Jean Yves (pronounced Jon Eve with a French accent on the first name). Those straps are the fold up chairs they carried, one for me and one for Pierre. I said I'd 'let' Jean Yves carry mine because he was much stronger than I! That afternoon, the guys received a phone call on their cell inviting them to dinner at Wayne and his partners' home and would us 'ladies' come to dinner too? I said yes of course, we would love to and thanks for inviting us. So we drove over to our rig to pick up Doreen then drove out to Wayne and Stephane's (pronounced Steffan) home in a community of newer homes on the outskirts of Ottawa. The food was fantastic (both of these guys are good cooks too) and we had lots of fun watching Pierre and Jean Yves 'swim' around in the pool (after our hot day of walking) and everyone having wine of course. Their friend and neighbor Crystal joined us after dinner and we had a nice time getting to know her too.

Wayne on the left and Steffane are great hosts and have a lovely home too.

There was lots of beer and wine flowing and after a few, we all got pretty silly. Jean Yves was on my right as I took this picture. I don't remember who said what but it was obviously very funny! A good time was had by all and our tour guides drove us home. We said our goodbye's and invited them to our place in WA, as it was our last night in their beautiful city. Next day we drove back to the States and took Doreen to the Emergency Room of a hospital to have her tested where we found out that she has diverticulitis. She's taken all her pills now and feels much better but no more raspberries or blueberries with the little seeds, darn!