Thursday, 3 January

Ottawa

It snowed overnight and when I looked out of my window I saw the little snow plough already hard at work clearing the way for today’s adventures.

We set off in the direction of a nice looking park we could see from our window and on the way we found the Rideau Canal. The bit we saw is not open for skating yet.

There were snow flurries as we walked and a I saw a couple of perfect little flakes on my sleeve.

Saw my first totem pole in the park.

We found a most impressive war memorial with the steps leading up to it being cleared by a council worker. We had a long chat with him about how they clear the snow. He was using blue granules which cause the snow to melt but which are more environmentally friendly than salt. He told us the night team had done a crummy job and they had spent hours doing it properly.

Along past the Parliament building to the library, outside which was a charming statue of a (very cold) cuddly couple sitting on a seat inscribed with quotes about reading.

Crossed the river and walked to the Canadian Museum of History. A terrific building with excellent displays telling the story of Canada.

Then back over a different bridge and into town. It was time to call it a day and quite by chance (!) we found ourselves back at Joey Rideau’s quarter of an hour before happy hour finished. A very good day.