Hog's Back

I always find that I have great difficulty getting to know a city if I can't get my directions figured out first. In order to understand Ottawa, you have to get around the fact that it has two rivers running parallel north-south, and with almost identical names. One is the actual Rideau River, and the other is the Rideau Canal. Sophie and I took Dave and Lynds up to Hog's back falls, which is where the canal begins, only a few minutes from our house. As the canal has been mostly drained out for skating season, the amount of water diverted into the Rideau river, and over the falls, creates an impressive sight and sound. The constant mist formed some really detailed ice shelves on the sides of the rock face.

After checking out the falls, we followed the canal back towards downtown. The freakishly warm weather over December has eliminated all chances at getting a skate in on the canal, so we could only ponder at what could have been. We spent a few hours touring the bustling Byward market, with Lyndsay being completely overwhelmed by all the bead stores. A blue plate special at Zak's Diner gave us the energy to walk up towards the heavilly fortified steel and glass American Embassy, through Major Hill's park, past the Chateau Laurier, and towards the newly refinished Parliament library. To our surprise, the Parliament was holding an unguided "Open House", and after 30 minutes in line, we got to explore the Senate, the House of Commons, and the Peace Tower. I took the above photo just before the entrance to the "Hall of Honour", which shows the details of the masonry in the walls and ceilings.

I never actually knew you could go up into the Peace tower. I always thought it was kind of like that castle at Disneyworld, where they tease you with that winding gated staircase that goes to the top, yet never seemed to be open to the public. The elevator had windows on one side, which gave quick glimpses of the massive bells in the tower on the way up. The lookout windows are just below the four clock faces and offered superb views on all sides. The photo shows the view to the east, with the Canal just below the Chateau Laurier, and the war memorial in the middle right.