Woke up really really early at 7AM to start driving to the Parliament building. I scheduled two different tours, one at 9:40, and one at 10:40 for the Senate and the House of Commons tours. Unfortunately, the main building is still under construction, until 2031, (your tax dollars at work!) so the tour was not as interesting as before. I really enjoyed being in the Library in the past. Because of potential terrorist activities in the past, both tours resulted us in going through some heavy duty airport like security. They apparently took great interest in inspecting my brothers flashlight both times.
The Centennial flame still looked amazing. Because we were there so early, we practically had the whole site to ourselves. The weather was very sunny, so it made life a lot easier.
We watched the Rideau Canal Locks in use, where some boats were being transported. That was kinda neat to watch.
Afterwards, we went to the Royal Mint. I was told on good authority that they had a massive bar of gold (that is heavily guarded) where we were invited to lift, hold, and take pictures with. Unfortunately, the security guard was not there today, so they placed the bar of gold away, and replaced it with a bar of silver.
We were supposed to go to Byward Market yesterday, but the rain delayed that. We walked there today, since it was very close to the Parliament building, and had a quick lunch. It was amazing seeing so much people just walking around. I love the energy that place had.
Right after lunch, we went to Chinatown. Man, compared to the Byward Market, this place was so dead! Even the Toronto Chinatown had more action than this. I took a picture of the 牌樓 (Pai Fang), it actually looked quite nice.
Another destination I wanted to hit yesterday was Dow’s Lake park, but the rain held us back, so we went today. Mom just took a lawnchair, and slept under the shade as we explored the park. The first time I visited this park was several months ago during Tulip Fest.
Our final destination was at Remic Rapids Park. The Balanced Rock sculptures were kinda neat. I remember seeing similar sculptures in Nova Scotia, but this one seems more extreme! They actually roped things off to protect it from vandalism. I hope it works, but I highly doubt it. Unfortunately, it started raining again. Did take some nice pictures, but didn’t stay too long.
And that would conclude our Ottawa trip. The next time I update this blog, I will most likely be updating you from Montreal.
Good night.