A Trip to Ottawa

The Canadian History class at the University of Vermont took an annual trip to Ottawa. Invited to go along was a Canadian Studies class from St. Michael's College. Since I'm currently taking the class in Canadian History, I signed up to go with the students. We were in Canada for three days, two nights.

One of our first stops was Parliament. We went through some serious security, and anything that could be tossed from the gallery, literally, was temporarily confiscated, including purses, cameras, and cell phones. We proceeded to the House of Commons for Q&A.  A myriad of topics were covered, accompanied by loud partisan cheering and clapping by the members. Everyone in the gallery, however, needed to be as quiet as a church mouse!

We had an informative tour of Parliament, including the library (shown on the right of the Parliament building in this photo). On display were news stories and clippings of the times Queen Elizabeth had visited Canada.
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Later that afternoon we personally met with five members of Parliament of different parties. For me, this was a real highlight of our trip. They responded to our questions clearly and directly, each from their own points of view. No matter what the topic, no one wanted to give the other "the last word." It was quite a lively discussion.

We also visited the Museum of Canadian Civilization (soon to be renamed the Museum of Canadian History). This is a photo taken near the front entrance. (See the view of Parliament in the distance.) We breezed through an overview of Canadian history through the 20th Century.

Here's what the ground floor looks like. There's an impressive collection of totem poles here.

 We also had a tour of the National Gallery where we viewed art. The interior hallway and atrium are stunningly beautiful.



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 I found one Rene Magritte here, and also an Alexander Calder mobile. The Canadian artists I discovered were Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. They primarily painted scenes from the Canadian Shield of water, rock, sky, and trees. This one by Tom Thomson is entitled The Jack Pine and dates back to 1916.

A huge part of Canadian culture is ice hockey. So we took in a game of the Major Juniors, the Olympiques (home team) playing against the Titans. The Olympiques won 4-3.

No visit to Ottawa would be complete without a stop at one of the local bakeries. I just had to splurge on a croissant with almond filling. It was delicious! Really interesting, though, were the Obama Cookies. The Canadians were pleased about President Obama's first foreign visit to Canada, and the bakery where he stopped still commemorates his visit by selling sugar "Obama Cookies" in special tins. Wow, three cookies cost me more that $8.00 Canadian.

Our hotel was near the Byward Market. We had plenty of time to visit this outdoor market before heading home to the USA.

This was my second visit to Ottawa. Hopefully, it won't be my last!