Hard to believe that it has already been five years since my son and I went up to Ottawa for the big 150th celebration of Canadian Confederation!
2017 was not the best year that I ever had with traveling, or anything. In fact, it was sandwiched between not just two, but three years when I managed to take my son to trips out west. We went to Arizona and into Nogales, Mexico, for a little less than a week in 2015. We enjoyed that trip so much, that we decided to go out west again in 2016, this time for two weeks, visiting much of the west, from Yosemite National Park, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay area, the Redwoods and the Pacific Northwest of northern California, Napa Valley, Bakersfield, through the Mojave desert and just into northwestern Arizona, then to St. George, Utah, to the northern ridge of the Grad Canyon, into the San Juan range of the Colorado Rockies, Mesa Verde, a bit through New Mexico, then across much of Arizona, to Nogales, Mexico again, up to Phoenix, the Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas, and ending in Dallas. The next year after Canada Day 150, in 2018, we visited Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons, and then visited Colorado around Denver, the Rockies including Rocky Mountain National Park, the Garden of the Gods, and the Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shining."
By contrast, the trip to Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City in 2017 was a trip to places that my son and I had both been to, and going to for years.
Yet, it was still special.
The Canada Day celebration in Ottawa for 2017 was a huge party, to the point where it was described several times on the CBC as Canada's biggest party ever. Not sure if that was true or not, but it was rather spectacular. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was there, as were two member of the Royal Family of Britain. Two members of U2 were there, Bono and The Edge.
It was raining heavily for much of the festivities. indeed, the weather was not accommodating. Still, I was glad to have made it to these festivities. It reminded me a bit of the two trips to Quebec in 2008 for the 400th anniversary of that city, or the trip to France that my brother and I were fortunate enough to go on in 1989 when the country celebrated the bicentennial of the French Revolution, marking 200 years since the storming of the Bastille that traditionally marks the point when it became clear that this was no mere uprising, but an outright revolution.
The next day, we went to Quebec City for a day visit, and enjoyed the Herge exhibit, which would only be in town for a few months. Tintin had meant a lot to me since I was a kid, and my son and I had shared some good times reading those books, as well. So it was really a pretty cool thing to have gone to see. Plus, I took some really cool pictures of Vieux Quebec, some of the best that I have ever taken of that city. So it was a great trip.
And it seemed like a good idea to remember that particular trip on this of all days. Because it is Canada Day, and that was the last really big trip to Canada that I have taken. Hopefully, it will not be long before there is another one.
For today, from afar here in New Jersey, here is wishing everyone a Happy Canada Day!
Below are some pictures, as well as past writings, on Canada Day 150, specifically the Ottawa celebrations, which were historic and huge, and which my son and I were fortunate enough to have attended.
Enjoy!
What a weekend this was, and as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed out, "What a crowd! "
I thought it would be nice to recap these memories from the weekend when my son and I went up to Ottawa to enjoy the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Canadian confederation.
As it turns out, it was a celebration that spanned several days, and all across Canada. But nowhere was the celebration going to be as big as it would be in Ottawa. Figuring that would be the case, I had planned on heading up to Ottawa literally years in advance for this. As it turns out, we seemed to have done almost everything right on our end, but that did not prevent thousands of people from being turned away, as we found out later that evening on the CBC News. Also, the weather did not cooperate, as it was donwpouring almost the entire first part of the day, which both literally and figuratively dampened the mood of the festivities.
Still, it was enjoyable, and we both remember it fondly. So fondly, in fact, that I thought that it would be good to recap it now, by republishing a few old posts from July of that year, when I posted first pictures while on the trip and, later from the comforts of home, wrote about it to elaborate about the specifics.
Hope you enjoy!
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I knew that going up to Ottawa for the Canada Day 150 celebrations would be a priority for me years before it was known as Canada 150. Having been a fan of Canada for a long time (I even once applied to make a move there), I knew that this was the key year to take a trip up there, and particularly to Ottawa, to Canada's capital city.
Knowing the significance of the date, and also being aware of the popularity of taking days off at around that time of the year, I put in for vacation back in winter, months and months in advance, so that there would be no conflict (only one person in my position at a time is allowed to take vacation on any given day).
So, I got those days, and still, somehow, they kind of snuck up on me! I was so busy with things, that before long, my son was finishing school, and I noticed that there were no reservations of any kind for our Canada trip.
Yikes!
Suddenly in a rush, I looked for relatively cheap places to stay in or around Ottawa, and there were none. Literally, the cheapest places for Ottawa during that weekend started at over $1,000 per night when I started to really look, so that was not going to be an option. Having to keep expanding my look to ever increasing circles outside of Ottawa, I eventually found reasonably priced hotels in a town that I had stayed at many years before, back in 1999 if memory serves correctly, in the small city of Rigaud, QuΓ©bec.
Late June and early July proved to be a very, very busy time for me, with or without the Canada trip. But with this trip for Canada 150, it proved rather chaotic.
Still, it was a priority.
And so my son and I went up, and tired our best to prepare for what we knew would be a very busy, most likely a bit chaotic, day.
It did not disappoint, although there were some unforeseen circumstances.
First of all, security was supposed to be incredibly tight. Everywhere on the news, in both French and English, they were talking about the extremely tight security measures, and we were informed that there would be no backpacks allowed, and no food allowed. Still, we decided to take a few drinks and a snack, and I stuffed a kind of light material backpack in my pockets, so that I could carry it on my back once there. Also, no umbrellas, which was a big deal once we learned that it was supposed to be rainy.
As it turned out, though, these security measures in particular proved to be largely symbolic or irrelevant. It seemed that everyone but us had a backpack, and that everyone else had brought an umbrella. And most everyone there also had brought plenty of things to eat, including sandwiches and such.
Had we known that, I would have packed ourselves sandwiches and brought our own backpack, which would have been far better and protected our stuff much more than the flimsy backpack that we used instead.
What really made this day chaotic in a negative sense was the heavy rains. At some points, the rain was just relentlessly pouring down, and there was no escape, no real shelter to be found anywhere. Our clothes and shoes got wet, and would smell later as a result. Plus, it was beginning to be uncomfortable, with squishy shoes and clothes that were just absolutely drenched. Plus, whatever we had brought with us was completely soaked, which also was no good.
To make matters worse, the weather apparently pushed the festivities back by a few hours, while back on the security lines, it was wreaking havoc. We learned later that some people were on those lines for up to eight hours, and still did not manage to get in!
We had avoided that by arriving super early. I woke up at around 4:45 in the morning, and quickly took a shower and got ready. My son and I were out the door by a little after five in the morning, and left Rigaud outright by around 5:07.
At first, I was beginning to question myself for perhaps having been overly prepared, and gone too far in these lengths. There was virtually nobody else on the road on a Saturday morning - and a holiday, to boot - this early. We got to Ottawa very early, and the traffic was not that bad. We found a parking deck relatively close to the festivities, and we were the first ones at the garage, which seemed amazing to me!
Later, however, when we found out about the long lines, and how some people had waited for a long time and not gotten in (including one family from British Columbia, all the way on the other side of the country!), I became happy for these particular measures for preparation that I had taken. Had we known that they would not have been that tough about bringing backpacks and food and umbrellas, we would have been as prepared as possible for the circumstances.
Anyway, we were there, and that was the most important thing. In fact, that was no small feat, given how difficult it would become to actually get inside the soggy, muddy lawn at Parliament Hill.
The show started a couple of hours later than expected, as a result of the rain, because it apparently flooded some train station nearby, or something like that, according to the news that I watched later that evening.
Anyway, the show was pretty good. Here is some of what I wrote about it in an earlier post this week:
Indeed, it reminded me a bit of the Paul McCartney free concert in QuΓ©bec City in 2008, which was very enjoyable, and one of my fondest memories. To some extent, it also reminded me a bit of the Three Tenors concert that we went to see in Paris back in 1998, for the Coupe du Monde/World Cup, when France both hosted and won it. It reminded me a bit of that, as well, because like that concert, this one was under the canopy of the city's most famous and distinguished landmark. With the Three Tenors, it was a stage under the domineering presence of the Eiffel Tower, while in Ottawa this past weekend, it was a stage under the also iconic Peace Tower of that city's Parliament Hill.
Not sure that this compared to either of those concerts, and it was nonetheless different. This was also a concert, although it was a bit more than that, a bit different than those other two, because it was not strictly a concert. Or, at least, not strictly just a concert.
This was a major event - billed by a few people, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as the biggest party in Ottawa's history, and that much I can definitely believe. He was there, and he gave a speech, as did Prince Charles. And other people were there, also in a speaking capacity, such as Shania Twain, who is better known for her singing career (which admittedly, I am not altogether familiar with).
And even though I am not a big fan of the Royal Family and/or Prince Charles, the presence of the Royal Couple also added another dimension to it. Again, it was not strictly speaking simply a concert, as it was more than that.
However, the musical acts were also definitely there. It started with Chorus, Chorus, Chorus, a local act and/or school for singing and performing based in Toronto. But there were other acts, including some traditional native artists and dancers, U2's Bono and The Edge, Buffy Saint-Marie, and Walk Off the Earth. Later in the evening, there were more musical acts, although we were not there for that.
There is a reason for that, however: it was unbelievably crowded!
The lines to get back in for the evening show were already ridiculous, bad enough that I thought it would be best for us to avoid it. Had we been able to pack up a serious lunch, maybe we could have stayed. But as it turned out, that show would be quite delayed, as well, and it would have meant a lot more waiting around, plus massive crowds to try and get out of the city.
In the end, we decided to go to Rigaud to check out what was going on there. Surely, there would be fireworks.
Unfortunately, the skies opened up to thunderstorms and heavy rain that evening, so indeed, there were no fireworks.
Still, ultimately, that was a great show and a great day, and wonderful memories shared with my son! A Canada Day 150 to remember!
The first time that I visited Ontario was in 1999, and I probably mentioned that we actually stayed in Rigaud, QuΓ©bec for that brief visit. It was the first time that we had visited Ontario at all, and the first time in around a decade that I had been to any Canadian province outside of QuΓ©bec. We really were only there for a day or so, and went on to visit QuΓ©bec City and MontrΓ©al, driving through the Laurentides (Laurentian mountains) on our drive from Ottawa to QuΓ©bec City.
For a long time, I had seen pictures of Ottawa, and had been impressed by it. The Parliament buildings reminded me of London, especially the Peace Tower, which was reminiscent of Big Ben. To finally see the city in person was nice, and I was sure that there would be return trip.
Indeed there were, and not just to Ottawa.
Since then, I have visited Ontario numerous times, including visits to the biggest city in the province, and in all of Canada, in fact, Toronto, as well as to Niagara Falls, and have driven from there to Ottawa and vice versa. Also, I have visited some other Ontario destinations, including Windsor (across the river from Detroit), Kingston, London, and Hamilton (particularly the Botanical Gardens).
There are still plenty of things in Ontario that I have not seen yet. I have always wanted to visit Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay (always loved that dramatic sounding name), as well as some of the isolated northern regions. I have traveled near the Thousand Islands which is shared between Ontario and New York, although I have not quite gone there for a visit, sadly. Someday, I fully intend to take a visit there.
Still, I am glad to have seen as much of Ontario as I have. Ottawa is still always an enjoyable trip, and Toronto is an exciting, vibrant city. It might sound clichΓ© to say this, but Toronto really seems like a cleaner, more pleasant, and far less dangerous version of New York City. In fact, Toronto was voted the most ethnically diverse city in the world, and it is also the city in the world with the most green space within it's borders!
Now, those are some impressive credentials, and the stately CN Tower adds a touch of grace and character to the city, and make the skyline both immediately recognizable and highly attractive. I added some pictures from a long ago trip that my brother, my then wife, and my then still baby son took to Toronto dating back to 2007.
Ottawa's skyline is not nearly so high, of course. In fact, from across the river in Gatineau, QuΓ©bec, the skyline of Ottawa, such as it were, is more or less dominated by the Parliament buildings, lending the skyline a Gothic kind of look and feel, at least from afar (see some of the pictures below). Ottawa is obviously much smaller and, despite the fact that it is officially the national capital, it has a bit of a more provincial feel to it then does the much larger city of Toronto. Still, Ottawa does have that status of being a world capital city, and the French speaking element are far more present and clearly visible than they are in Toronto.
Niagara Falls is beautiful, although the city itself has a distinctly amusement park kind of feel to it. Still, the might and majesty of the falls make it a worthwhile trip, and the park that stretches along the way and gives great views of the falls is itself very pleasant. And nearby, Hamilton is a very pleasant, small scale city, and the Botanical Gardens there are surely among the most beautiful in North America.
Overall, I have enjoyed my trips to Ontario. While I have not visited it as much as QuΓ©bec province, and thus cannot claim as much familiarity to it as with QuΓ©bec province, it is nonetheless a province I have enjoyed each time, and admired some of it's considerable beauty. It is a very large province, stretching from it's border with northeastern New York state, across the Great Lakes region, and right to the Minnesota border. If you look at a map, that means that it is within easy driving distance of Vermont, and stretches across most of New York state, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and to Minnesota, an enormous chunk of real estate!
This most recent visit was limited to Ottawa and the immediate areas surrounding it, and the stretch of highway to Rigaud. So, it was hardly the most extensive visit to Ontario that we have taken.
That said, it was very nice to be back in Ontario, which by population is the largest province in all of Canada, and sports both the biggest city in the country, as well as the national capital city.
Well worth a visit!
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