Northeast Tour Day 14 (Ottawa, Ontario)

Score! Every once in a while, Ursa's persistence in bidding for hotel rooms pays off with a great place like the room she found for us in Ottawa. We got a room at an Extended Stay with separate living room and bedroom, within a couple blocks of Parliament Hill for just $70 per night, a superb find. And to be quite honest it was very timely, we've been on the go for two straight weeks now, and it was nice to have a place where we could just relax and catch our breath for an afternoon. So an apartment style hotel room was just what the doctor ordered for us.

This morning we slept in before heading out to explore the national capitol of Canada. Ottawa right now is a city under construction. From our hotel window we can see four sky cranes at work, and as we walked around town there were several other churches and public buildings under renovation, including two of the buildings on Parliament Hill. Lots of work being done throughout the city.
The city itself is a very cute, very clean, very photogenic city. And it was not just the area around Parliament Hill that was photogenic, it was the whole town.

One thing that I appreciate, not just about Ottawa, but about all of the Canadian cities that we've visited, is their concern for architecture. American skylines are so full of brown shoe box looking buildings or lifeless mirrored glass cubes while Canadian cities have each building a separate statement piece in the tale of the city.

When we finally reached Parliament Hill we were totally awed by the three gorgeous buildings that were a fitting tribute to this nation. Even with two of the buildings under renovation, the Canadian Parliament is a beautiful national capital, and the views from Parliament Hill are awesome.

After our walk around Parliament, we walked down to the National Arts Gallery of Canada to tour an exhibit of the amazing photographer, Margret Watkins. There was also a couple of other fascinating modern art exhibits that we were able to enjoy, but the museum itself was far too big to be taken in with just one afternoon.