# Adventure in Ottawa



## Canadian (Jan 17, 2008)

Okay,

Sort of going with my posts about adventures in Canada, I'm now going to cover Ottawa.

For those of you who don't know, Ottawa is the capital of Canada. It has all sorts of museums, the Parliament buildings, good shopping at the Rideau Center and excellent cabbies. 

I had a buddy leave his wallet with all his CCs, debit cards and cash in a cab. We were on a tour of Parliament when he noticed. He didn't know a thing about the cab driver, only that the cab was yellow. The tour guide made some calls, and the cabbie actually met us and gave back the wallet. Nothing was missing. Not all Canadians are that honest but Ottawa is good for people who are tourists.

As mentioned, to tour Parliament, you need tickets. They're free, but they're across the street. Tickets are limited, so get there early and be flexible. I got a tour of the main building and an auxillary building, and we were lucky enough that the tickets we got were available. My companion's girlfriend was Francophone (French) and she got French language tours at roughly the same time. Of note, there are no public bathrooms on Parliament Hill, and there are literally hundreds of people around, so you can't just take a quiet leak.

My favorite restaurant in Ottawa is Mama Theresa's. It's popular with lots of political folk. I showed up, and I ended up talking with the owner about a Senator who had come down with dementia. It's expensive, good food, but it's not terribly pretensious. The waiter came up and was friendly and familiar in a good way. I had a rack of lamb, fois gras, my friend and his girlfriend (who had invited herself along for the day) had a decent meal. For dessert, I had creme caramel and we all walked out stuffed. I picked up the tab, and it was only about 150 including tip. Nobody had any bottles of wine though, which was definitely a bonus for me (I'm a non-drinker). 

The first time I dined at Mama Theresa's, the senator I was talking about bought my entire Model United Nations team (who were in town for a conference and numbered 22) supper. I picked the cheapest pasta dish on the menu, because I figured we'd pay our own way. Some of the girls had wine, a meat dish, appetizer and dessert. I asked for a Martini and was given a glass with ice and Martini vermouth. It wasn't disgusting. The Senator (or more accurately, her expense account) paid for everything and we were very grateful. Her aide had spent the day showing us around Parliament Hill. If you are in a large group, you don't need tickets, but you need to pre-book and have a proper guide available. 

Also in Ottawa is the Civilization Museum. It's basically a museum with lots of different exhibits. Some are about First Nations (indians) and some are contemporary. 

The War Museum is my favorite museum of all time. It is on Vimy Place and is actually down the street from Parliament. I used to always take a taxi from the Novotel to the museum, but it's not as far out as you'd think. Maybe 10 blocks from the Novotel, and about 3 from Parliament. It has a display on peacekeepers and comprehensive displays on every conceivable war. My friend was always asking me to identify things, and 99% of the time I was right. They have a large area which is basically a display of various vehicles, and also artillery pieces. In that area, there is a CF-101 Voodoo hanging from the roof which was designed to engage Soviet bombers. 

The war museum is very pro-Canadian. Some of those museums in other cities apologize for war, but this particular museum showcased Canadian wars, and we go through and remember the sacrifices, and the hard earned victories. 

If you are in Ottawa for the day, plan for about 3 hours for Parliament, 2 for the Civ. museum and 2.5-3 for the War museum. When my MUN team went to Ottawa (three times) we'd fly in on the cheapest flight and generally crash as soon as we got to the hotel. We always planned to see Parliament the next day and the conference reception was that night. I would instead go drink a bit of wine and hop in a cab and go to the War Museum. It costs about 15 bucks (maybe more) and I love going there. 

As for hotels, I always stayed at the Novotel. It costs about 100 bucks a night with the conference rate. 4 to a room, and it's cheaper than a hostel. The hostel is an old jail, and I have no desire to sleep in a jail, and pay for it. Of note, in the Novotel, there is no minibar, but there is a table with snacks and water on it. If you touch them, a sensor records it and you get dinged with it when you check out. You cannot drink a bottle of water, refill it and put it back or replace it with a bottle from the corner shop. If you are hungry in the middle of the night, there is no room service, but the front desk has sandwiches and salads they can sell you. 

The last couple times I went to Ottawa was with my buddy and we drove in for the day from Montreal. We'd leave early in the morning, and spend the whole day there. Its about a 2.5 hour drive each way. Parking in Ottawa is cheap, because you can't drive on Parliament Hill, so all the civil servants park in these massive garages. Really cheap all things considered. If you come from Alberta, that 6AM departure is (to you) a 4AM departure, which means you have to be up at 3AM you time. This pretty much requires you to go to bed at 8PM local time, or you'll be falling asleep during your tours. 

For lunch, the Rideau center has a food court. I got a plate of decent Chinese for about 8 bucks, drink included. There is no shame in eating there. Civil servants will tell you about eating at the Chateau Laurier, but that's strictly for people with an expense account. The food courts are not only inexpensive, they're clean and safe. Everybody eats there, from tourists to locals. 

Shopping is okay, but to be honest, it's more designed for locals than tourists. Unlike Old Montreal, the trinket shops are largely absent. You can get a coffee mug or a bit of candy at Parliament and some places are tourist shops, but they're not everywhere. I had a girl in my team decide she was going to get a gift for our team leader and we went into a store, picked out an item and she went to pay. Her debit card was declined and her CC was maxed out. Suffice it to say, I ended up paying and as a group, we generally paid her essential bills. 

If you're there on a conference, don't forget to go clubbing. Drinks are very expensive but many places have a dancefloor. Ottawa isn't really a meat-market place, but if you're there with a couple friends, go ahead, dance with the locals. Don't expect to get laid.


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