I am in Ottawa for the day visiting my brother. This is an unusual event. Ottawa has a poor reputation among Quebeckers, maybe among other Canadians too, it is supposed to be boring, strange and well, foreign. I have to say I share these feelings. An old drinking buddy of mine, who was working in the stage business, told me once: "I am back from Ottawa, the capital of Romania". This is funny enough to make it a great unknown line, and it is almost true. It certainly feels just as foreign, just as far away, even though you just need to cross the Ottawa river and you are in Québec. It might as well be an ocean. As I mentioned here, Ottawa looks and feels more like England actually, a very austere, very cold, very monarchist, very old-fashioned English city.
In Montreal, my bag got searched before I got in the bus. I was forgetting that I was going in the capital city, hence a potential terrorist target. I found it excessive: people move in and out of the city every day by various means of transport, what was the point of this vigilance? It was not exactly as if I was going in another country. Well, I was, in a way. I will try to rediscover the place and see it in a positive light. In a few minutes. But I cannot help feeling that I am in Romania.
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4 comments:
I have never been to Ottawa but John was raised in Montreal..
Every city has something special about it, even though it may be tucked away, and hidden. I hope that you discover that while you are there:-)
Oh Ottawa has something special, and it's not hidden or tucked away: it's the Rideau Canal skateway. It's fun for the whole family on a good day, and it's an experience you can't get anywhere else: endless skating outside. If there is one thing to do in Ottawa, to experience at least once in your life and that I recommend to everyone, it's skating on the Canal. It's the best thing about Ottawa, by far.
The canal sounds amazing, and very much not hidden away!
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