July 17, 2013 Vaca Day 4

Today was all about what's downtown in Ottawa.  We wandered around, found the visitors center and set out on foot to get where we needed to go.  We pretty much already had it planned out cause Kev & Alicia lined out what was on the agenda last night.  
We've had good luck with bus tours so we decided to do one again.  We did the Amphibus which is a bus & a boat!!!
But first a quick lunch from the corner hot dog vendor.  
Do you know what the Ottawa Locks are?  Well I had no clue.  It is a canal system that is basically like stairs of water.  Each stair has to be hand cranked to drain or add water to each level so that boats can travel through the canal.  It was really interesting to me and amazing how it all works.  This first pic is from the boat and you can see on the right the different levels I am talking about.  
This is a picture of the Locks looking at them from the bridge they go under.  
Now the bus tour wasn't as fun as our one in Seattle, but it was a good ride and full of information and sights we enjoyed seeing.  We had some of the places we saw on the tour already on our agenda for the day so there were a few we went back and checked out in more detail. 
One of the first was the Notre Dame Cathedral.  It was really beautiful and had all kinds of amazing woodwork and stained glass work throughout.  





We were also going to do a tour at the Parliament but had some time to kill.  Our tour bus driver said that if we were visiting Ottawa we had to go to the street market.  So we did, figuring this would  kill some of our time.  She also told us that there were enough restaurants in the few blocks of the street market to eat at a different place every day for 3 months.  

We didn't have time for a meal but we did have time for a small snack....
That's right, another Beaver Tail.  I couldn't decide which new one to try so I got the one I knew I really liked, the cinnamon sugar.  Good thing we're doing alot of walking!!!
Now on to Parliament Hill.  More old buildings that are just so beautiful and I love to look at. 
This is the front side of Parliament.  
This is the backside taken on the bus/boat tour from the river.  



The tour was for inside and we were allowed to take some pics in there in some of the different rooms.  There was more of the really cool and detailed woodwork that makes these old buildings stands out.  


After our tour we decided it was a pizza and beer night.  We ordered a pizza and Kev picked up some beer at The Beer Store, that's really what it's called.  Once we got back to the room, check out Kev's excitement when he found a hat inside his 18 pack!!!
So the plans for tomorrow are done.  We are headed back to Parliament Hill for a big ceremony they are having for the change of command.  It only happens every 4 years.  Then we're headed down to Toronto for a few days.  We'll probably make a stop on the way to break the drive up.  Day 4 in the books, Day 5 to come. 













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As of January 2009, I no longer have a job. It's not that I lost it, but after 26 1/2 years of working at the Post Office, I retired. According to everyone I know, I don't do anything all day, so I decided to start a blog. Now I can blog about what I don't do all day. I am married to Kevin, who is the most awesome husband I could ever have. It's because of him, that I do not go to work any more. I love that and I love him for that. Between the 2 of us we have 4 children. Hunter 31, Heather 29, Paul 28 and Alicia 26.

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