Ottawa.

London, ON to Ottawa, ON.

We spend two and a half days in Ottawa. Exploring, eating, shopping,  catching up with friends and enjoying ourself.

We arrived in Ottawa around 1 pm on the first day. We set Buggie up at a nice camp ground, then started planing the day.
First we went to Parliament Hill, that was a must.

Got the mandatory photo.

After grabbing our tour tickets (free, yay!) It was a 20-30 minute wait to climb up Canada's first inclined elevator (9%) to the Peace Tower (there was a little window in the elevator you could look out and see the bells, the largest weighing over 10,000 kg). The view from up top (a room just below the clock) was great. You could see all around the city, there was maps to slow what the different building were (mostly government buildings), also the history behind the Tower. The Memorial Chamber was beautiful, with its great high ceilings, and stained glass windows.

Finally time for our tour. We explored the parliament buildings, learning different facts about the buildings architecture, history, about the government, and more. We stepped inside the library, which is the only building in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill not destroyed in a fire in 1916, making it the oldest part of the centre block. 

Some of the architecture. 

                                       

 A stop at The Famous Five next...

Next we explored the Rideau Canal and the locks. 

There are 49 locks on the Canal.

After the locks we headed back to Buggie for the night.

The next day we drove to Arnprior, ON just outside of Ottawa, to visit mums friend Amanda. We went caching for the morning, then it was time for Wes' Chips.

We're been stopping in small towns all across Canada, at little chip trucks parked by the highway or road, for french fries. We'd drown them in Malt Vinegar and salt every time... Mum and Bobs friend Amanda has been telling us all about Wes' chip truck, that they are the best fries she's ever had. So of course we've been waiting and waiting to try the famous fries (they really are famous, Google 'Wes' Chips', I dare you ;) ). 

The fries were perfect. The grease glistened in the sunlight, the fries were crispy even after pouring Malt vinegar all over them, they weren't to thick either, just the right size, and the insides were fluffy. They let you season them half way through filling the box, so the fries are seasoned perfectly from top to bottom. They were magical fries. From the golden colour, fresh from the fryer, to the yummy crispy bits at the bottom of the box... Wes' Chips everybody. In Arnprior, ON. These are the best fries of the trip. One word says it all; Magical. 

Of course after all those fries the past two weeks, we're all sick of them now... But Wes' was well worth it.

After leaving Arnprior, we stopped in an adorable little town called Almonte, ON on the way back to Ottawa. This town scored a solid ten, on the adorable-town scale (Arnprior was actually pretty cute to).

Luckily there was a couple caches to keep Bob busy, so mum and I got to explore a little. 

Next we explored downtown Ottawa and the  ByWard Market. Once again Bob went caching/exploring on his own and mum and I went our way. Shop after shop, in and out. We wandered around town till just before 10 pm, then we made our way back to Parliament Hill for Mosaika. 

Mosaika is a sound and light show projected onto the Parliament building. The show was unlike anything I've seen before, absolutely worth it. The show tells Canada's story, showing wars, accomplishments, different landscapes and weather. We all loved it.

The next morning we got off to a late start, and headed over to the Diefenbunker Museum. After we went back to Ottawa to explore the city some more and look at the National Gallery of Canada.

For dinner we went to two different bars/restaurants for appetizers and drinks. It was almost like a mini pub crawl! ;) 

That's the end of Ottawa sadly, it was a fun city to explore, hopefully I'll be back one day.

ETR. Unknown. 

Gabe.