Day 32: Montreal to Ottawa

we started fairly early this morning, that tends to happen when the sun comes up so early. There is so much to do in Montreal it was hard to say goodbye to the city. Instead of heading straight for Ottawa, we opted to take in the botanical gardens and insectorium in Ottawa. It was an absolutely perfect day to spend out doors. The temps never got out of the 70s, the sky was crystal clear and there was no humidity. I love the city of Austin but this trip has hammered home how cruddy the weather is there sometimes (summer, half of spring, most of fall...) Anyway, the gardens were beautiful. There was a magnificent greenhouse, and a very cool garden on medicinal plants. The insectorium housed an impressive collection of a wide variety of insects, both live and preserved.  It was all very well done.

The gardens were right across the street from the Olympic stadium. There were signs of the games throughout town, including an Olympic museum celebrating all the times Canada has hosted the games. We did not visit any of the museums, stadiums, buildings. Time was a factor, other things were of more interest to us. However, the one tall building that is part of the stadium was erected to lean at s 45 degree angle. It was pretty neat to look at from across the street. For a very steep price we could have gone to the top. Alas, time said we needed to head on our way.

It was not a terribly long drive to Ottawa, easier than the last drive. We switched from Quebec and French first, English second to Ontario with Rnglish first, French second. Funny thing is, we are so close to the border between provinces, we will walk across the bridge back into French speaking Quebec tomorrow.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Ottawa on first sight. It’s very different from Quebec and Montreal. Not so European. After walking around a bit tonight though, it seems like a pretty neat place. I am looking forward to exploring tomorrow. We are sitting on the lawn in front of parliament waiting for a light show to start. The show showcases the history of Canada. It’s only a summer thing, should be cool.