Ottawa
We had low expectations for our short stay in Ottawa or, more correctly, no expectations beyond viewing Canada’s Parliament House, which we know was being renovated. Make that Parliament Houses plural or, more accurately, Centre Block—and make it a complete rehabilitation, scheduled to be complete in 2031 or 2032. While the lower sections of the complex are behind fences and view-blocking obstacles, the overall view is still one of attractive revival or Victorian Gothic architecture.
Once our review of Centre Block was accomplished and our lunch at a bistro overlooking the Ottawa River was complete, we walked to the War Memorial, with its sentries standing solemn guard over Canada’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
From the memorial we began our walk to Canada’s War Museum. In route we made our inevitable stop at a church, surprisingly another Presbyterian one, St. Andrew and St. Paul. It was in this church that the Dutch Royal family worshiped while in exile from the Netherlands during WW2. (The Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed churches both have Calvinist roots, for the curious as to the royal family’s church choice. OK, maybe you weren’t that curious.) We had a delightful conversation with the head minister, who filled us in on the church’s Scottish history. I didn’t ask her if she had any MacMillan parishioners, my major Scottish ancestry.
The Canadian War Museum is an excellent exhibition. It’s surprisingly large, almost 440,000 SF of floor space on two levels. One level comprises the various periods of Canada’s involvement in wars, from first contact with Europeans to the Cold War and Peacekeeping operations. The “enemy” featured in much of the first era exhibits were the Americans. Canada takes great pride in its defeat of the various invasions by the Americans during both our Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. (The reverse invasions are not much mentioned but the several unsuccessful rebellions by early Canadian independence seekers and pro-American factions are.)
The lower level is a wonderful display of military equipment, mostly armored and motorized, including a few German and Russian items.
One could spend a full day in the museum, but our stay was cut a bit short by a sudden leg problem I developed. It’s a pulled muscle or some sort of tear in a calf muscle. We used Uber to get us back to the hotel and ate dinner at an excellent French restaurant around the corner from our inn.
On the theme of restaurants, the computer systems problems of late had an effect on our meal plans. We were going to eat brunch at a popular eatery on our way to Centre Block. Cash only, it turns out, thanks to wide-spread computer problems. There had been no reason for me to carry any Canadian cash. Even a purchase of a dollar or two is easily completed with a tap of a credit card or Apple Pay. We found another place for (by now) lunch, the previously mentioned bistro. I’m still cashless.
Thus ended our two-night stay in Ottawa. It wasn’t originally on our agenda but I’m glad we came by. Getting from Toronto to Ottawa and from Ottawa to Montreal by train was easy and comfortable. We had upgraded to business class which, unlike airline business class, isn’t much more expensive than economy and includes early boarding, meals, plenty of luggage storage, and comfortable seats.
We’ve arrived in Montreal unsure about our itinerary for our three days and nights here. Depends on the leg.