אַלגאָנקווין פּאַרק און אַטאַוואַ

After the big city of Chicago, we were drawn back to nature. Along the way to the east is the Algonquin Provincial Park, which is conveniently located. But even a detour would have been worth it. After the last experience at the border, where we were scrutinized for a long time, we allowed ourselves more time for re-entry into Canada. It took about 30 seconds. Everything okay, have a safe trip 🍀🇨🇦

The Algonquin Park is characterized by many lakes, and most visitors come with bicycles 🚲 and canoes 🛶. We had to walk as we didn't have either, and we did some smaller hiking trails. Not spectacular, especially since the weather wasn't that great. But our campground ⛺️ was lovely, and the fire ban had just been lifted here.

Small digression: we are so glad that we were in the Rockies weeks ago. Over 200 forest fires are raging there, and you can even see smoke in Calgary. Hiking 7 km is like smoking a pack of cigarettes. Not to mention the romantic campfire, which has been prohibited for weeks now. Terrible images, hopefully the Canadians can soon contain the fires, they are still far from extinguishing them.

After the short hikes, we went to a beautiful lodge for coffee. 2 coffees, 2 colas, served on the wonderful terrace: 3.60 euros. I thought Sandra was joking, but the lady at the reception really didn't want any more money 💰 we will gladly come back 😄 I still believe it was a mistake, because one night at the Arowhon Pines Lodge costs 344 Canadian dollars in the summer - per person!

We saw countless squirrels and chipmunks (A hörnchen and B hörnchen), a black woodpecker, frogs, a small snake, and 2 black bears. Unfortunately, they were crossing the highway or the road right in front of us, so no photos.

Then we continued to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. A beautiful city, unfortunately it was raining all day. The tickets for the Parliament tour were sold out. So we didn't get to see that. But we visited the Royal Mint, where they make coins for collectors and investors, as well as medals and orders, including for the Olympic Games. The coins for everyday use are made in Winnipeg. It was a very interesting tour. No photos allowed for security reasons. You see a lot of gold and silver. Canadians produce the purest investment coins in the world. Even the stolen 100 kg gold coin from Berlin came from this mint. Originally, they only wanted to produce one of these coins as a promotional item. But then they received several orders from all over the world, so they made 5 coins. The price is approximately 2.5 million Canadian dollars. One of them serves as a coffee table in Dubai. The Sheikh attached 4 legs made of platinum. The value of the table today is approximately 7 million Canadian dollars. Some people just have too much money ...

Since Ottawa looks pretty English, there are also plenty of pubs. Since it was still raining, we enjoyed ourselves in a nice pub with cider, beer, shepherd's pie 🥧, and fish and chips.