Early in the morning I got ready, checked out, had a quick
breakfast and headed to the Union station, the main ‘via rail’ train station,
from which all regional trains are leaving from. The whole station was under
construction like a lot of other things in Toronto. It looks like the revamp
the whole city. This made it a bit more inconvenient to navigate around the city
and the train station. As I learned a bit later, summer is pretty much the only
season the construction works can take place in Canada, otherwise it is just
too cold or everything is frozen.
The boarding process was a bit confusing for me as they go
by Gate, not platform. To indicate the gate number they have put up signs,
which meant instead of looking at platform numbers I had to look for my gate
number.
Booking train tickets online was straight forward and easy.
Printing the boarding ticket saves you queuing time. In some cases greyhound
buses or a shared car ride can be cheaper depending on your route. If you plan
to travel a lot, one of their rail passes might help you to save some dollars,
worth checking it out.
I was on my way to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. The
ride took me around 4.5 hours and wasn't really scenic, but nevertheless
enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised that you have free WIFI on the train
throughout the ride which enabled me to update my blog during the trip.
I arrived at the main Train Station Ottawa, which is just a
15 minute bus ride away from the city centre. Busses stop frequently and a
single trip was 3.30$. I left my backpack at the station in the baggage holding
area. For some reason they didn’t charge me anything, even though another
website pointed out they would charge 3$. I did this because my host for the
next two days was still at work and I didn’t want to carry my backpack all day
around while exploring the city. For that reason as well I bought a day pass,
given that I had to go back to pick my bag up and get as well to my hosts place
with the bus. The day pass cost 7.75£ and all tickets can be bought from the
bus driver. Make sure you have the correct change as they won’t give any change
in return if you only have notes.
The city is trying hard to make the experience within Ottawa
as easy as possible for visitors and have stationed people all around the city
that hand out maps and give information on the surroundings and tours. You can
get free walking tours from the Information Office, located opposite the
Parliament House. The map given however is not really practical; better maps
are available at the train station at the information desk by the exit.
I started walking around the city aimless as usual and took
in as much as I could from the atmosphere. It certainly is a bit confusing that
the city has two official languages, one being English and the other French,
but you will get used to it.
From the Parliament House I walked a bit round, passing the
Supreme Court. Within the court they offer a 20 minute tour explaining the
legal system in Canada and showing the court rooms. The guide was exceptionally
good and I really enjoyed the short but informative round.
Supreme Court
Me sitting in the court room
From there I looked for something to eat and walked along
Kent Street which gives you plenty of choice when it comes to food and the odd
shop.
After a while it was time to return to the station to pick
up my backpack. Once I arrived my host A. texted me that he could pick me up
from the station. So I just waited a few minutes for him. We greeted and were
on our way to his apartment. I also met P. his best friend and roommate. Both
were really great guys.
The place I stayed in Ottawa
A. had planned to go to a beach volleyball game and took me
with him. Half way on the road we made a change of plan and were meeting
friends instead. The drive around was pretty cool regardless.
We had dinner at the Highlander Pub near the ByWard Market
and went afterwards for a stroll along the park and Parliament.
There is usually a queue, however we got there late and no one else was waiting. It is all about good timing.
Once at home we got ready for bed pretty early since both of
them had to work the next day and I was tired from the walk.
Early in the morning they got up and ready whereas I took it
slow today and got ready by around 10 am and walked to the ByWard Market first
to check it out by day.
I had breakfast at Tim Hortons, Canadas famous café shop
chain. I have been told is a must to try when in Canada. It certainly
is the cheapest; however a bunch of homeless people and the crap service pretty
much put me off from going there again. Also the food wasn’t the best. Maybe it
was just the one shop, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of shops are
like this.
From there I made my way towards Gatineau, the other side
from Ottawa and within the province of Quebec.
Art next to the National Art Gallery, which I didn't go to but they apparently have amazing expeditions and worth a visit
Samuel de Champlain Statue
Nepean Point
Then crossed the Alexander Bridge, also called the Interprovincial
Bridge, as it is connecting two Provinces out of 13.
Then I headed towards the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
I pad 15$ admission and thought it was totally worth it, mostly I enjoyed the
Children Museum, just because it made me wish I would have been here as a
child. It looked really amazing and was informative. Overall the information
and expeditions available are great.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau is apparently my dating match if I would have been born in the that time. Interesting...
From there I walked back towards Ottawa, quickly got lunch
at the German Café as I was graving a nice bun and a good slice of meet. I also
bought some Ritter Sport mini for my hosts as I didn’t bring anything else with
me otherwise. And I couldn’t clean since they didn’t have a vacuum cleaner. I
guess that’s the least I could do.
We had originally planned to visit the Gatineau Park for a
short hike but decided otherwise (awww) and went playing golf instead (yay).
This was followed by a greasy dinner consisting of pizza and dough fingers and
completed the evening with watching a bad horror movie. I watched one of the
movies already but didn’t say anything because it was their choice, so I let it
be. Next time I will certainly warn whoever is choosing a bad movie (lesson
learned).
My hosts and friends playing golf
The next morning we all got ready and A. and P. dropped me
off at the station where I had a breakfast and was waiting for my train to
Montreal.
I certainly recommend a visit in Ottawa, it is the capital,
but one day would be enough, even just a stopover would do it, arrive in the
morning and leave in the evening.
Read you soon again from Montreal and happy travels everyone
:)
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