This past July 1st marked Canada’s 150th birthday and Bryan and I thought what better place to celebrate then Ottawa, our nation’s capital. Add the bonus of it being the city where my brother Eric and his wife Katie currently reside and you’ve got the makings of an awesome trip! Bryan had to work until 3:00pm on June 30th so we had to make the 8 hour journey (which turned into 10) after he was finished which made for a late night of driving. Luckily Eric and Katie live within walking distance of downtown Ottawa so there was no driving required the next day. After putting on our finest Canada gear, we headed downtown to check things out.
I have never seen so many people in one place let alone all wearing red! The security line to get close to parliament was several hours long…yah, not doing that! We ended up walking around for a while and then headed home to hangout on Eric’s deck and watch some of the festivities on t.v.
We got a great view of the fireworks as well!
The next day we decided to bike out to Britannia Beach, a few kilometres west of Ottawa. On our way out of town we spotted the Snowbirds! So amazing!
The bike ride was no joke at about 30km round trip but the sore butt was totally worth it! Such a great way to see a city too, I highly recommend bringing or renting bikes on your next vacation.
We were so close to the Ottawa River.
A little frisbee after lunch.
Did you happen to notice the clouds? We ended up getting poured on on the way back. I mean so much so that it was hard to see at one point…good fun! After drying off and eating some yummy local tacos from El Camino (sorry we ate them too fast for pictures) we broke out an old family favourite, “Aggravation”.
If you’ve never played it, it’s kind of like “Sorry” but more people can play. We had so much fun we ended up playing it every night. Since we had been dumped on the day before, we decided Monday would be a day to check out some indoor sights and we headed over to the National Gallery of Canada.
As you approach the main door, you can’t help but notice the giant spider sculpture. Creepy yet impressive at the same time. The gallery itself is beautiful, let alone the pieces it houses, and we spent a few hours exploring.
The view of Parliament from inside was fantastic.
Such beautiful pieces from Canada and around the world, if you’re in Ottawa it’s a must visit along with Byward Market and the Rideau Centre all of which are all within easy walking distance of each other. As if all of our walking and biking wasn’t enough, Bryan and I did squeak in a run one morning. Katie had suggested we head over to Dows Lake and run along the trail towards the Rideau Canal.
We ended up covering about 4.5 miles which was perfect.
All in all it was an amazing trip. Good food, good fun and good company, thanks Eric and Katie!
Have you ever explored a new city on a bike?
What is your favourite childhood board game?