Today would be our big day in downtown Ottawa, capital of Canada. We got up early to make sure we had a bit of
celebration of American Independence Day. It comes just 3 days after Canada Day.
Then, after dropping off the dog at doggie day camp, we headed into the
city. As soon as we got to the Parliament
Hill, we could see a very long line of people waiting to get tickets to go on a
tour of Parliament. At first we decided
that it wasn’t worth the wait. Our
brother-in-law, Nigel later on spotted almost no line and was able to snag for
us tickets mid-afternoon. Yay, Nigel!
Our timing was great that morning. We arrived at Parliament Hill at a perfect
time to get a front-row position for watching the Changing of the Guard. As we waited the crowd grew and grew. There
were chairs set up in front for special guests.
These turned out to be the staff of the American Embassy, in honor of
the 4th of July. We knew the
show was about to start when we heard bagpipes. Soon the old guard, dressed in scarlet
uniform jackets, black pants, and tall bearskin hats, marched up the street,
accompanied by pipers and drummers. They
marched onto the field in front of the Parliament building and took their
position at the west side of the field.
The pipers moved to the north part of the field.
Then a marking band marched up the street and entered the
field and took a position at the north end of the field, joining the
pipers. They continued to play a
wide-ranging medley of marches, including several John Philip Sousa marches. We appreciated what a fine way this was to celebrate the 4th of July. Thanks to the fine band and ceremony.
They were quickly followed by the new guard. They marched smartly onto the field and took
their position at the east end of the field.
Here they executed a number of marching tasks, always in unison and
keeping their lines straight as they made some complicated moves.
What followed was a series stylized actions that included
inspecting the old and new guards. The
strangest part was when the inspector had to look down the barrel of each
soldier’s gun. We guessed that this was
actually more important when the soldiers were carrying muskets rather than the
automatic rifles they were carrying today.
The whole ceremony, from beginning to end lasted about 45
minutes. The officers of the two guards,
met in the center of the field and made the formal transfer of guarding
responsibility. Then in smooth order,
everyone marched from the field and back down the street. We so enjoyed all of
the pageantry.
Next, we went over to see the Rideau Canal and its set of 8
locks which help boats drop 79 feet to the Ottawa River. We watched as they filled the locks to allow
several boats, waiting on the canal, to start the 1 ½ hour process of decent to
the river.
At this site we were also able to find two different sets of
National Parks Red Chairs. We had to
snap some photos…of course! Nicely set
up to look at the locks.
Nigel had the great idea that we could go on a voyager canoe
ride. This fit in with our studies of
the voyageurs and the fur trade. Along
with a family of five, the four of us hopped into a canoe that was guided by two capable
young university students. We got a
little history of the city of Ottawa as we paddled about a mile up the canal. Fun, and not very strenuous.
Lunch was at one of Marti and Nigel’s favorite buffet
restaurants. Great, healthy food…all you
could eat and more. Yum! Then we also strolled around the downtown
farmers market. Such lovely fresh
veggies. It made you want to buy a bunch
of them, but we resisted.
We then hurried back across the downtown area to get to our
Parliament tour. The Canadian
Parliament buildings were lovely. We had
a very nice tour given by a young and knowledgeable guide. We got the chance to go into many of the
chambers, including the House of Commons and Senate, and meeting rooms. President Obama had addressed Parliament only
a week or so ago, and some of the staff had met him or gotten a glimpse. He is very popular in Canada.
One of the most beautiful rooms was the library, which had
been saved from a horrible fire that had burned most of the main Parliament
building. The wood and books were just
exquisite. So glad to get a glimpse.
And we also went up into the Peace Tower which is dedicated
to all those who have lost their lives in the military services in the wide
range of wars over the past 149 years.
There was a solemn room in the base of the tower where the names of all
of those dead are recorded in books for each war. Each day the pages are turned to a new page,
giving all a chance to be visible and honored.
We did go to the top of the tower where we got a great look of the
entire city. Breathtaking. Marti and Nigel both really live living in
Ottawa and wouldn’t consider living anywhere else. We could see why they were so enchanted.
After this, we were ready to come back to Marti and Nigel’s
home, where Patti took a long nap before a lovely dinner.
What a great day we had!
No comments:
Post a Comment