Downtown Halifax Sunday

I decided not to stay at home this Sunday.  Started the day (er, midday to be exact...) with a bowl of ramen at B-Well Sushi on Quinpool.  The roast pork was to die for...juicy and tender. I'm going to have to ask them if I can buy just the pork...

Then off to downtown.  As usual, many interesting buildings to see.  Who put these kitschy pictures on the windows?  At least the building looked less abandoned now...

Freemasons' Hall.

Next, to the waterfront.  I saw at least one cruise ship docked.   The place was hopping!  

Business was brisk.  So how could I funnel all these people into our shop on Quinpool?  Ideas, anyone?

The sign (not in photo) said: "Do not climb."  Yeah right... Put a wave like that out there... of course kids would surf it!

Thick rope for big ships...

This is the bow of the HMCS Sackville, a Canadian Navy corvette that saw action in the Second World War.

Now, it is a museum ship moored opposite the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

And of course, the waterfront wouldn't be complete without Theodore Tugboat!

I had a creepy feeling some thing was watching me... he! he!

I finished off the afternoon with a trip to Kee Heong Cantonese Bakery on Granville Street, right next to Sushi Shige (another favourite!)  

It's like a tiny slice of Hong Kong in downtown Halifax...egg tarts, BBQ pork buns and all. 

I had a pork floss bun.  I wouldn't expect most of you to know what it is...  But that sure hit the spot!  I just wished there was more pork floss on it! :-)

ByWard Market, Ottawa

If I were a local, one of my favourite places in the city would probably be the ByWard Market.

Lots of fun little shops here.  No big boxes.  Down-to-earth.  

A fruit store, a fromagerie, a boulangerie, an Indian café...

...a meat shop, sushi, a fish shop....and lots more!

And what's a market without fresh vegetables?

...and more vegetables!

...and flowers...

...and more flowers!

I had one shot at a meal in Ottawa...and it was hard to choose which restaurant would do me the honour.  The choice boiled down to Chinese noodle soup or Moroccan couscous.  This display case won me over.

...and so Casablanca was it.  A cozy little Moroccan restaurant.

A generous platter of swordfish and couscous...plus all the veggies--bell pepper, chick peas, broccoli, pumpkin, carrots, potatoes...in exotic sauce for $12.95.

Topped off with a slice of baklava ($2) and a cup of Moroccan coffee ($3) ...a strong brew with ground cinnamon and maybe a few other spices.  So, I splurged a bit. :-)

I would like to go back one day with more time and better weather!

The last word...overheard at the Booster Juice stand at the airport. The lady chatted with her colleague as she was preparing my drink: "Don't you just hate it when you feel very sick but don't know what's causing it?  That's how I feel right now..."  Then, she handed me my Tahiti Squeeze.  Lovely...

Ottawa, Canada's Capital

I only had one rainy afternoon to see Ottawa.  I am not really a museums-and-galleries kind of guy...though people tell me Ottawa is full of great museums.  So I decided to hit the pavement and get all wet. 

Ottawa didn't have a "capital" feel to it.  It didn't have the hustle and bustle of a super metropolis. I remember that's how I felt about Amsterdam too...another lovely city!

But it did seem like every other building was under renovation of some sort! 

A mix of modern glass buildings and venerable structures.

Downtown was pretty sedate...

...or maybe that was just because of the rain?  

I take what I said back.  The moment I walked along Wellington St., it felt like a capital city.

All the revered institutions were there, housed in magnificent and imposing edifices.  

The Confederation Building...cornerstone laid in 1927, opened 1931.

And of course, the Parliament.

I went up the clock tower.  Here's what I saw...

Just kidding... Up on the 9th storey, you get a good view of the Ottawa River.  Across, that's Gatineau, Quebec.

Here's what the ceiling looked like inside the Parliament building.  Very Gothic!

Outside was the Centennial Flame...lit in 1967--Canada's 100th anniversary.  It's probably the only fountain that does not freeze up in the winter! :-)

You must be pictured out by now.  I'll end with a pic of the most unassuming of all the government buildings...BUT, probably one of the most important (in my opinion anyway!)  Can you guess which one is it?  :-)

A~nd the correct answer is....

Ottawa Airport

So I hopped on a plane and went to Ottawa...a little over an hour's flight from Halifax.

Bet you didn't know that the emergency exit door on the little Air Canada Jazz Bombardier jet weighed only 19 kg...and that when you open it, you actually throw the door away! :-)

The Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) is about par for the course for airports of big cities.  Spacious, clean...free wi-fi and all that.

There's a lot of soothing water in the environment.

...and welcoming inukshuks telling me I was on the right path.  There was actually a beautiful inukshuk placed standing above a flowing pool of water...but I couldn't take a good picture because the angles were all wrong from where I stood.

Oh, and if you left your iPad at home...there's a vending machine for that. :-)

Postscript: I loved these green couches.  Perfect snuggle spot for you and your laptop...complete with power outlet for your convenience!  And if you care to look up from your screen once in a while, you get treated to a wide view of the runway!