More than just a stopover - the capital Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada. We knew that before our trip. We also knew it was located between Montréal and Toronto - and that was about it. Mr. Ärmel could have mentioned the Ottawa Senators as a hockey team, but other than that... That's why we initially didn't plan to stop in Ottawa at all, but after the long and sometimes exhausting bus rides between New York and Montréal, we decided to make a stop. Online, we read everywhere that one to two days would be more than enough to explore the city, and it seemed a bit forced to point out Parliament Hill and quickly mention a few museums. But once we were there, we were immediately very impressed. There is a manageable but not small area with many restaurants offering international and vegetarian/vegan cuisine as well as tourist shops. In the middle of this district, there is a play street with Heaven and Hell (Mr. Ärmel prefers the Totoro version in the picture) and a painted lily pad path over the water, which encouraged not just children but also occasionally teenagers and adults to hop along the street. You could sit down on one of the many comfortable public lounge chairs and watch the people hop. In the evening, we had ice cream, as having a cold beer in public is not legal in Canada - quite unlike smoking pot. So, we kind of had more of a hemp than hop aroma in our noses. We could have relaxed even more watching the kids if we hadn't switched from beer to ice cream.

It was a very beautiful evening that we ended with beer in the outdoor area of a pub, accompanied by distant street music. It was almost the conclusion of a surprisingly lovely trip to the capital. Before that, we had visited Parliament Hill, which is really beautifully laid out and from where you can look over the Ottawa River, which is partially divided into three branches, where there is an amphibious bus in one place and rapids in another.

In the shopping district, the obligatory street performers were again present, and they truly earned their money that day.

Overall, the culinary offerings were colorful and diverse, but you could also tell that we were now only at the outer edge of the French influence, and Ottawa often felt quite American. (And sometimes British.) Yet sometimes we could still get by in French better than in English. For instance, the sign on the highway suggesting to use public transport rather than taking a car didn't seem American at all.

There was also plenty of time for a visit to the National History Museum in the French-speaking suburb of Gatineau - and we needed it. Mr. Ärmel, in particular, was hard to pull away from the totem poles. (Totem poles, not torture stakes!)

But the rest of the museum was also worth seeing. We wished that the section on the darker chapters of Canadian history, such as the abduction of First Nation children from their families by the Canadian government, had been given more space. Many Canadians might not be aware that in the 1940s, there were hunger experiments involving targeted malnutrition on such First Nation children.

With these somewhat gloomier thoughts, we left the museum, but we would soon be captivated again by the charm of Gatineau and Ottawa.

It would be a shame if this spot on our personal map had remained vacant. Ottawa is more than just a capital, and for us, it was more than just a stopover.