Ottawa Adventures Post 1

Although, we both really like driving our new Leaf electric vehicle, we drove the truck to Ottawa…didn’t have the time to stop for charging along the way…. The drive was smooth, with a couple of stops (Todd made egg salad sandwiches for our lunch).

We are staying at the new ALT hotel in the heart of the city. It is built according to ECO friendly building standards. It is styled very modern and has a fun vibe.

For dinner we walked to El Camino – featured on “You Gotta Eat Here”. The place was packed and we waited about 30 minutes to be seated. Located on the basement level, it was dark, loud, and bustling with activity. I read the restaurant is named after the car of the same name, but no pics of El Caminos were on the walls. The theme was more Mexican revolutionary.

We shared a dish of chips and salsa – Delicious fresh flavours! Then Todd ordered an ox tongue taco and a fish taco. I opted for their el norte (chili) taco and pork taco. The order took a long, long time, so we were given complimentary crispy prawns wrapped in betel leaves…Todd enjoyed them. When the tacos finally came the fish and pork tacos were definite winners in the flavour category and worth the wait.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to wind down for the night.

Friday morning after coffee and Todd’s homemade breakfast cookies, we headed to Parliament Hill. We looked for Justin so he could have a selfie with us, but he was nowhere to be found. His loss…we took the selfie without him.

We got our tickets to tour Parliament, then wandered about the grounds until it was time.

Our Parliament is so impressive. The architecture, sculptures, and paintings are extensive.

After security, we got a look at the House of Commons (through the glass doors).

Just before we entered the Library, I got a call on my cell phone….TD Visa Security. Apparently, my credit card got compromised somewhere yesterday (Tim Hortons road stop???).  The Library is overwhelming with more than 17 linear kilometres of materials including books, periodicals, government documents, CDs, and videos.

We did get to enter the Senate.

For the finale, we went to the Peace Tower. The day was clear and the views were fantastic.

Dinner was at the newly opened upscale Riviera restaurant. Same owners as El Camino, same car-themed restaurant name…no reference to the car at all though in the restaurant. The location on Sparks St. is in the old CIBC bank building…really high ceilings. We started with chicken liver pate, then Todd had the Black Cod and I had the Short Ribs (with way too many fries). The food was really good and definitely filling.

After dinner we headed to Parliament Hill for the Northern Lights show. The story of Canada was told through narration and lights.

The story was broken into 5 parts – Foundations of the Nation, Strength in Partnership, Discovery and Adventure, Valour, Pride and Vision.

The Light Show ended with the playing of O Canada. What a feeling of pride!