We left in their car around 10:15 to go to Ottawa to do some sightseeing in that area. Ernie and Noela had again packed water and snacks for us to take on the drive. It was about a 1 1/4 hour drive to the Byward Market area but a very scenic one.
Ready to tour downtown Ottawa -
We were able to park in a garage right in the "center" of everything we had planned to see and it was right across the street from an indoor market. A large part of the area is known as the Byward Market which housed an open air market since the 1840's and today is a bustling commercial district packed with shop and restaurants.
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| The open air market, but there were also lots of vendors along the streets! |
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| The breads looked amazing! |
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| So many good looking amazing desserts! |
After walking along the vendors we went to see the lobby of one of the oldest and amazing hotel, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, built in the early 1900's.
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| A beautiful old hotel with so much character! |
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| Looks like a chair/throne fit for a "queen"! |
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| Looking down towards the locks! |
Then it was time to check out the Rideau Canal, an engineering masterpiece It was planned after the war of 1812 to provide a safe way to transport troops and equipment between Montreal and Kingston. As times changed, so did the canal - it became first a commercial, then a recreational, waterway. Today thousands of paddlers, boaters, and skaters enjoy the Rideau Canal going through many locks which link the Ottawa River to Lake Ontario.
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| Hard to imagine that these locks are in the middle of a large city! |
he Byward Market area is where town and crown meet, so we walked to see the Canada's National Capital area with many gorgeous old buildings including their "capital", supreme court, etc. It is an area so rich in Canadian history.
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| Canada's "capital" building. It is going to be closed for 10 years in the very near future for renovations - Wow. They will meet during that time in the old train station just down the street! |
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| This eternal flame in front of the capital! |
We ate lunch at the open air market and enjoyed an Obama cookie!
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| We had to share an Obama cookie! |
We passed the United States Embassy and another Notre Dame cathedral -
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| Our American Embassy! |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral! |
Then we walked to the Royal Canadian Mint to take a tour. It was a very interesting one and we all learned that none of the circulated Canadian coins area actually minted there. It is a smaller facility, so only collectable and investment grade coins area minted there, Olympic and Military medals plus coins for foreign countries. Canada's circulated coins are minted in Winnipeg. Unfortunately, they didn't give us any samples! By then it was 4 and we were ready to head back to Ernie and Noela's, arriving there around 5:30.
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| Entrance to the Royal Canadian Mint! |
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| Wow, I am in Canada and hopefully going inside to get some Canadian money! |
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| We are holding a 26 pound gold bar that is worth about $650,000. We didn't have big enough pockets to put it in! |
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| Some collectable coins! |
Ken felt a bit better today, but was very tired till we returned. He rested while Noela and I prepped for dinner. By 7 we enjoyed a delicious dinner of sausage and salads and were able to eat outdoors. The 4 of us worked together to clean-up and do dishes before enjoying dessert - fresh strawberries on vanilla ice cream with maple syrup and whipped cream - wow!
Time for another game of Hand and Foot which the women won by a huge margin and we actually played all 4 rounds tonight. During the game, Ernie spilled his cup of coffee on Noela apparently trying to distract us from winning - didn't work! There was a lot of chatting and laughter! By 10 we headed to bed after another wonderful day of sharing life with Ernie and Noela.
Here are a few photos of the outside of Ernie and Noela's property. It is such a quiet, peaceful area with a cute house and great patio for outdoor eating -
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| Loved eating outside in the screened gazebo on their patio. There are so many beautiful flowers and garden areas! |
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