Ottawa Day Two

Ottawa
7th September, 2018
Today we set out to explore Ottawa some more.

We had intended to take a walking tour of the Byward Markets, but the scheduling wasn't quite right, so Catherine gave us a personal tour - hitting the highlights.

These included the Ottawa sign, the Sussex Street Courtyards - one with an original metal front of a shop mounted up on a wall and a good recommendation for coffee.


Then we headed to see the Impressionists Exhibition at the Ottawa Museum and Art Gallery - a magnificent building looking over the city.







We spent quite a few hours there and saw some Matisse, Gauguin and Van Gogh's 'Iris'. (No, not the one Alan Bond tried to buy, that was "Irises'. Subtle difference.)



We went back to the Byward Markets for lunch.

Then we came across three boats navigating the locks in the Rideau Canal, so that was fascinating and kept us occupied for an hour or so.







We ended the day with a boat cruise on the Ottawa River.

Tomorrow - Montreal!

Au Revoir.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Niagara ...

Image
Niagara Falls 4th September, 2018 Niagara Falls is one of those places you have on your bucket list. Today we well and truly ticked that one off.   We travelled down from Toronto with 10 other people and Nathan, our driver and guide.  When you arrive at the Falls, you can’t believe they are actually real.  The thundering noise and the spray all add to the sight of 168,000 cubic meters of water pouring over the edge every minute.  Water that flows over the Falls at Niagara ultimately ends up in Lake Ontario - from there, it drains by way of the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. Canada has got the edge over the US on the Falls. Whilst the border runs down the middle of the river, the Americans can never see the Falls front on - only from the side.   The Canadians can see both Falls, the American and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls from square on and each side. They say that the Canadian side is the best side to see them and we agree. We rode on the Maid
Read more

Getty one day, Getty the next ...

Image
Venice Beach August 14th, 2018 Today we had two places to visit. The Getty Museum and the Griffith Observatory and Park. We got to the Getty just after 10am and realised that it was going to take us all day to see the Museum, so we've left Griffith Observatory and Park for next time. The Getty Museum is an architectural masterpiece. Its built across a ridge line in the mountains overlooking Los Angeles. The architect, Richard Meier - known for his use of white walls and a minimalist style, has done a superb job. Everything is based on a 30 inch square or multiple thereof. From the size of the paving stones through to the doorways, open spaces and windows, they are all 30 inch multiples. Why 30 inches? Well, that's known as the human distance. In other words, that's how far apart we stand when we talk to each other. It's an arm's length. Meier also used the angle of the ridge line and the 405 freeway, which is 22.5 degrees, as the basis for some of the p
Read more

Jasper, Rocky Mountains. More smoke than sky.

Image
Today we headed off to see Jasper and surrounds. Once again the sky was impacted by smoke from the bush fires further west. First stop was the Jasper Skytram, which rises 1,000 metres in 7 minutes. It takes you almost to the summit of one of the magnificent peaks around the city. Peaks that were almost invisible today. We set off up the mountain at the back of the top station and climbed another 300 metres or so. If there had been a view at the top, we would had the incentive to keep climbing, but sadly there wasn't much point. After we came down we picked up lunch and headed out to Maligne Gorge and Lake, passing Medicine Lake on the way. The gorge wasn't affected by the smoke as we were looking down, but the lakes were. We could just make out the peaks around the lakes and they looked magnificent and so high. We know they would have looked amazing if we could have seen them. We came across some local inhabitants on the road on the way back. Tomorrow we hea
Read more