Ottawa, Canada Day

For Canada Day this year, Darcie and I went to Ottawa. We thought it'd be pretty neat to celebrate in the capital and check out the Parliament buildings (PB's) and the Canadian Mint while we were there. Because Canada Day fell on a Thursday this year, we weren't sure if the tours of the PB's and the Canadian Mint would be happening due to the holiday, but luckily we got to see both, along with a whole lot more. We arrived Wednesday night and had a hotel right downtown, walking distance to the PB's. Thursday morning we got some breakfast and then headed towards the main stage on the Parliament lawn. As we were walking around, we noticed barricades set up and asked what they were for. A cop told us the queen was in town and was going to be making an appearance on the stage so we hung around a section of the barricade where she would be passing on her way. That was just a nice bonus while being there – having the chance to see the queen. It was neat to see her and her husband in real life. I tried to take a picture of them, but just as I took it, Darcie's hand waving the flag was in the perfect spot to block out their faces. Trust me, they're there. I was laughing pretty hard after I looked to see how it turned out. It couldn't have been timed any better. I thought it was really funny. We watched performers on the stage for a while. Ron MacLean was one of the hosts. Saw many performers from across Canada – some were more well known than others but they were all really good. We walked over into Gatineau (Hull), Quebec, just across the Ottawa River and had some lunch. Walking back to Ottawa along a different bridge, we saw the Rideau Canal and the water locks which were pretty cool.
We went over to the Quebec side to watch the fireworks which were over the Ottawa River. It was a beautiful setting over the water with the back of the PB's lit up. Fireworks were really good, about 15 minutes long. I don't think they beat the July 4th fireworks we saw in Seattle though.
Next day we went on a tour of the Center Block of the PB which has the House of Commons and the Senate and got to peak inside the library as well. The beauty of the library inside took our breath away. Absolutely amazing woodwork and detail. It was really cool finally being able to stroll around inside the PB's ourselves after seeing them on the news, etc so much. We went up the Peace Tower – the one with the clock and took in the views from there. We took a tour of the East Block as well which I thought was really interesting. It was so neat because we were going into the actual offices that guys like Sir John A MacDonald used when he was the Prime Minister some 140 years ago. They had certain offices set up to look like they would've 140 or so years ago. I just kept thinking about all the history that had happened in those rooms. All the decisions made. We were in the offices of people you learn about in Social Studies. It was really cool. One room we went to was where they had meetings and signed papers regarding building the railway across Canada. Taking a tour of the PB's was definitely a highlight of the trip for both Darcie and I.
Later that day we checked out Byward Market which has lots of fresh foods and local people selling their crafts. At night, it was the downtown hot spot with lots of bars and restaurants open. We also checked out the Canadian Mint where they make coins, mostly for investing. Coins that go into circulation are made at their Winnipeg plant. It was really cool too. You could look down on the production floor and see coils of gold, 1" thick that weighed about 250 kilograms so almost 500 pounds. Our tour guide said each one cost approximately 20 million dollars and we saw 6 of them on the floor!!!! Unbelievable. That's definitely the most gold I've seen and will probably ever see in one place at one time. They made the Olympic medals there as well. Also found out they make coins for about 30 other countries too like Nepal, New Zealand, and Israel...... Never new that.
We also walked down Sussex Drive to see where the Prime Minister and Governor General lived. We walked from downtown and didn't know how far away it was so it took us a little while to get there walking. On the way, we saw so many embassies. It was neat to see the residence that so many Prime Ministers have lived in.
The Supreme Court of Canada was downtown as well so walked by that a few times. It was neat to be in the city where so many decisions that affect Canada are made. That's one of the things I liked so much of Ottawa - it had so much interesting history and is a beautiful city.
The view from our hotel room.

The crowd waiting for the queen to pass, on her way to the main stage on the Parliament lawn.