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Thursday, July 06, 2006
Ottawa Bound for Canada Day! Does anyone else miss Shirley? I do. Anyways, on with regular posting. This weekend I went to Ottawa to celebrate Canada Day. I had never been to Ottawa before and when offered the opportunity to drive down with some friends I thought "what better a time to see the city -our National Capital!!" The drive down was ridiculously long (feeling) but we had only two 'slow-downs' which was pretty good for after work on a Friday of the long weekend. These two incidents happened for good reason. The first was because an old VW Van was engulfed in flames on the side of the 401, we could see the smoke but by the time we got up next to the van (and the four very upset looking 'owners') it had been put out and there stood the 'skeleton'. The second was due to llamas. Yup. Everyone was slowing down to look at them, we too were guilty, but that produced fodder and laughter for the rest of the weekend. Ottawa isn't exactly what I had imagined. I don't really know what I expected. It is a University town mixed with some big city. There are more homeless people than I could have ever imagined and am somewhat ashamed that in our Nations Capital the situation cannot be improved. One thing that I did find nice-and granted I was very close to campus- were the number of open grassy areas. Also, there were many old buildings and churches and government offices that caused me to awe in appreciation for the amount of work that goes into running this fine country. Canada Day is definitely something that everyone should celebrate in Ottawa at least once. There were more people walking around dressed in red and white and carrying Canadian memorabilia than I could count. People were everywhere, shopping in the market and wandering the streets, mostly all clutching small flags and smiling under tea warm summer sun. While at the bar, because of course, that was what I did on Canada Day, we all sang Oh Canada and it was amazing. In fact, it was one of the highlights of my weekend. I do not remember the last time I was somewhere that everyone sang our National Anthem and did so with a smile on their face. It hasn't been since grade 4 when it was no longer cool to sing in class that I have heard more than a select few sing, and while I have attended many sporting events there are always those who stand silent -me being one of them. But on that patio, everyone stood, removed their hats and sang with respect. People on the streets joined in and we celebrated our country. Canada is an amazing place to live and I'm proud to say that I am Canadian. I hope everyone had a great Canada Day. --Ashley |
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