Ottawa and Toronto

Ottawa

Ottawa as viewed from the Peace tower on Parliament Hill

We decided to sample Canada's trains and see a bit of the countryside at the same time, so we caught the VIA Rail intercity train to the beautiful Canadian capital of Ottawa.

Ottawa lies just over the border from Quebec in the English-speaking province of Ontario. It's pretty clear that it's location was somewhat of a compromise for Queen Victoria in 1857 as it is basically a mid-way point between the Ontario (English) and Quebec (French) provinces. In fact the suburbs of Ottawa actually stretch across the Ottawa river into Gatineau which is in Quebec.

As funny as it may seem, Ottawa actually reminds us of Canberra. It's full of monuments and national museums, the buildings are restricted to less than 30 storeys and it is well-planned. Because it is much older than Canberra, it is however a more beautiful city.

The markets in Ottawa

Candice poses under the giant metal spider at the National Gallery

Sweet metal steeples

Nat discovers that Big Macs in Canada taste the same but are more expensive than in both the US and Australia!

Ottawa lies on the banks of the Ottawa River

The statue of the English military engineer, Lieutenant-Colonel John By in Major's Hill Park. He was the founder of Ottawa (then known as 'Bytown')

Parliament Hill as viewed from behind

We pose as we take in the sights

We were fortunate enough to score beds in the Ottawa Jail Hostel. Used as a prison from the early 1800s right up until 1972, it is now a popular tourist attraction and historic and "ghost" tours are run daily. Although it has been used as a youth hostel since 1973, the original prison layout, cells and even the execution room have been kept intact.

Our hostel, the Ottawa Jail Hostel

We actually slept in the prison cells

Nat learns about prison life the hard way

Where the trapdoor for the gallows opens into the courtyard.

We spent most of our time in Ottawa just taking in the sights. Officially it is a bi-lingual city but in reality English is mostly spoken and we hardly heard French used at all except by tourists and their guides.

Every night in summer, there is a light-show about Canada on the Centre Block of Parliement

The National War Memorial in Confederation Square

Centre Block of Parliament Hill

Just like in London, the changing of the guard occurs every morning.

The inside of the Canadian Parliament

This stone lion bit my finger off!

View of the river from the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill


Toronto

The impressive Toronto skyline

After a couple of days in Ottawa, we decided we had to explore more of Ontario. We hopped on a greyhound bus and spent 6 hours looking at the Canadian wilderness as we headed towards Canada's largest city, Toronto.

A far cry from French Canada, you wouldn't even know that you were in a country that had French as one of its official languages. Toronto is in every way a city which would fit in quite nicely with its counterparts across the border.

Knowing we were going to be coming back this way, we only spent a few days in Toronto, exploring the sights by foot.

Toronto actually has trams that go underground

The CN Tower is the tallest free standing structure in the world. However, next year the Burj Dubai is set to surpass it.

The Harbourfront on Lake Ontario

A cool latin-reggae band groovin on the Harbourfront

This was a billboard. Evidently someone has trouble expressing their feelings.

We pose on Centre Island, just off Toronto

The beach on Centre Island. You'd swear it was the sea until you realised the water is fresh

Now for some reason, despite the signs, throngs of Indian tourists would be bathing in every fountain.

Lake Ontario

It must be a common occurance

View of downtown Toronto from the CN Tower

We stand on glass 553.33 meters above ground

I could be falling!

Lake Ontario is so vast it actually looks like the sea

On CN Tower

Dundas Square, Toronto's own version of Times Square

At the bus station waiting to go to Niagara Falls and Buffalo

For more pictures of Ottawa and Toronto, visit:-

Ottawa: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45924&l=4ae16&id=681501850

Toronto: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45927&l=8a301&id=681501850

Montreal

On the 9th of July, we took an early morning flight into Montreal from New York on Air Canada. Ahhh, finally to be back flying a good airline again. The service and comfort was impeccable.

When we arrived, Montreal airport was clean, ordered and all in French! It was raining heavily outside and for the first time we really felt like we were in a foreign country. Montreal is the largest city in the only French-speaking province of Canada, Quebec. Being a major city in Canada, we half-expected it to be like very much like a US city however Montreal is quite a lot older than many cities in the US and has kept a lot of its European charm. The capital of Quebec, Quebec City is even older and is celebrating it's 400th birthday this year.

Place Jaques-Cartier

The flag of Quebec is clearly visible along this pretty cobblestoned street in Old Montreal

Place de-Armes was built in the 1700s. The statue of Paul de Chomeday in the foreground was erected in 1895.

Montreal is also a very modern city

We had a couple of days in Montreal to begin with and our plan was to return at the end of our Canadian leg. We checked out old Montreal which is what we imagined Europe will look like. Cobbled streets, beautiful shops and lot's of culture. We also checked out Montreal's underground network of tunnels that link a majority of the buildings together in the city. It was really quite strange, yet at the same time a brilliant idea. The tunnels link train stations, banks, shopping malls and office blocks together. The main purpose being that in the winter it gets really cold in Montreal so instead of venturing out into the snow one can just use the underground pass.

The underground network

While being one of the world's largest Francophone (French-speaking) cities in the world, Montreal is very bilingual. We made the effort to learn as much French as we could but realised that most people had excellent English and were more than willing to help us out.

Quebec is unique in the sense that it is a French-speaking province with deep English roots as well. While lasting as a French bastion for so long, enduring long wars with English invaders, the King of France finally ceded it to England in the early 1700s (even before the French revolution). So while Quebec has strong cultural and linguistic ties to France, its political, governance and military ties lie with the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state of Quebec and you will find statues, streets and buildings named after English monarchs as well as other notable English-speaking people who have contributed to the development of the province.

Today Quebec is the only French-speaking enclave in North America and is surrounded by English-speaking territories. The question of Quebec independence has long been a point of contention for the Quebecois people. The last referendum was held in 1994 and the population voted for Quebec to remain in Canada by a slim majority of only 1%. It is rumoured that it was Montreal which saved the vote as most people here wished to remain Canadian.

Completed in 1878, City Hall has seen turbulent times. It was from this balcony that French President General de Gaul uttered his infamous "Vive le Quebec libre!" (long live free Quebec!) during a state visit in 1967.

While walking around Montreal we discovered to our suprise that Canada also has IGA supermarkets! We thought, surely there couldn't be Independent Grocers of Australia out this way! Apparently it stands for "Independent Grocers Association"

Candice outside our local IGA

Our hostel, Le Sous Bois was really different to the ones we had been in previously. Its even worth mentioning how cute it was! They had little wooden caravans outside for couples to sleep in and bunk beds made out of recycled timber with quite an open plan. It was very relaxing! Internet was actually free and there was a free phone to anywhere in Canada or the US.

The courtyard, a caravan and our bunkbed

Here are some more snapshots of Montreal:


We ate at Tim Horton's a fair bit, Canada's favourite fast-food chain. Mmmm!

We visited the massive Basilique-Cathedrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde (Mary Queen of the World) in downtown Montreal. As is tradition in many European cathedrals, important clergy are laid to rest within the actual church. The second photo is the Bishops' Mortuary Chapel, the last resting place of the Archbishops and Bishops of Montreal.


A ship moored at King-Edward pier


In the heart of the city


We thought this was funny. I suppose it means something else in French


The Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal


Chinatown just didn't seem Chinese enough with everybody speaking French

After our time in Montreal, we took the handy Canadian VIA Rail train down to Ottawa, the nation's capital in Ottawa.

For more pictures of Montreal, visit: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44328&l=c72f9&id=681501850