Back to Ottawa – December 1

We decided to take Trystan and Owen to Ottawa for a long weekend. Owen has never been before. Trystan visited on a Grade 7 school trip. Michael and I took Megan and Alun to Ottawa in August 2016. Before that we had not visited Ottawa together for 18 years, although we have each been here on our own – Michael for business and I, with friends, for numerous bike trips, including one this July which saw me pedalling my bike back to Brampton over six days. You can read about that starting here. There are ten posts in all.

We arose at the usual time, leaving the house about 8:20, which meant the 401 was jammed, so we decided to take the 407, including the new, cheaper, provincially owned eastern end, and the 412, also a new provincial toll road which connects the 407 and 401. The charge, at the time of day we were travelling, was $0.42 per kilometre for the private section and $0.29, for the provincial section. It saved us about 45 minutes but cost an astounding $29! Of course, this probably represents a more realistic road use cost than Canadian drivers are accustomed to, but even for someone who understands that, it seems expensive. Perhaps all trips should be tolled. I think that would lead to a lot less driving. The picture below is on the 412 approaching the 401. It was clear sailing the whole time in the tolled roads.

Even once we joined the 401 traffic remained light. Michael drove until the Mallorytown OnRoute Service Centre, where we had lunch. When I cycled home from Ottawa, it took me three and a half days, rather than 3.5 hours between Mallorytown and Brampton.

After lunch, I took over the driving. Not long after leaving the service station I saw a sign for Brockville and remembered that they have just reopened Canada’s first railway tunnel as a music and coloured-light filled walking and cycling experience so we decided to detour since our check in time was not until 4pm. It was a great experience and I recommend it to anyone passing Brockville. Brockville has an extensive downtown, much bigger and more vibrant than Brampton’s, despite having less than 4% of Brampton’s population. Next time we would eat in Brockville, rather than at the service centre.

We arrived at 50 Laurier E just after 3pm, but they were able to show us to our apartment after a short delay. We had a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with kitchen and living room on the edge of the University of Ottawa for about the same price as a hotel room. It’s central and has great views. I would highly recommend it.

There is construction right outside our hotel for the tunnel for the Confederation Line LRT to get under the canal.

The dishes in the apartment are appropriately named.

We got settled in then headed to the Rideau Centre where we found coffee at Nordstrom’s.

We then walked to Parliament, passing over the first lock of the Rideau Canal, where we caught the Sound and Music show. It wasn’t as good as the one we saw with Megan and Alun, but was still worth seeing.

The canal has been lowered in preparation for skating, but isn’t frozen yet.

Apparently, the Stanley Cup is 100 years old. We passed by a giant replica of it on Spark Street, which is still the saddest pedestrianized street I have ever encountered. It wasn’t until I was looking at my picture later on that I realized that the “bench” is a hockey puck.

After a rest in the room we went to Dunn’s Deli on Elgin Street for dinner. Michael buys the Dunn’s Montreal Smoked Meat at Costco and wanted to Trystan to try the restaurant experience. Apparently, it was much better.

We finished the day with a visit to the pool and sauna. The pool was a bit cold so I just soaked my feet, but Owen, Trystan and Michael all went in for a while.