Day 6: 15 May 2017, Monday

This morning, we would be leaving Algonquin Provincial Park for our next destination, Ottawa. However, before that, KP and I found time to go for an early morning run. It was 6 degrees Celsius when we started our run at 7am. We didn’t have any fixed route in mind so we just ran around our cabin area, covering 6.5km before we called it a day. It was very cold but my body felt super awake after that!

At about 9:30am, we reluctantly checked out of our cabin at Wolf Den. It had been such a cosy and comfortable home and we were really quite sad to leave. I enjoyed being isolated in nature and having fresh air and greenery all around. However, it was time to return to city life. KP would be driving back to Montreal by himself while we headed to Ottawa. But it wasn’t really goodbye because we would be meeting him again at Montreal in two days’ time. As we went separate ways, we thanked him for his companionship and for cooking dinner the past two nights. It was great having him around!

The distance from Algonquin to Ottawa is 310km. The drive took under four hours and we arrived at around 1:30pm. I had booked an Airbnb apartment at the Centretown area of Ottawa. It was another heritage house, similar to the one we stayed at in Toronto.

Airbnb Apartment
Address: 355 Waverley Street 3rd floor, Ottawa, ON K2P 0W4, Canada
Price: S$195 for 3 persons for 1 night

The first two levels of the building were occupied by a health clinic. To get to our apartment on the third floor, we had to lug our suitcases up the stairs and tiptoe past the clinic, careful not to make too much noise and affect the clinic’s business. It was a little inconvenient and I was a bit self-conscious because of that. Nevertheless, the apartment was very big and it had two bedrooms. A family of five could easily sleep here, or even seven if they sleep on the couch.

As we only had one night here in Ottawa, we didn’t waste any time. At 2:15pm, we went out to explore the city. From our apartment, we walked for about 20 minutes to The Glebe area, a relaxed and historic neighbourhood comprising many shops, restaurants and pubs. We popped into a café called Wild Oat for lunch, where we had crepes and sandwiches.

The vibe in The Glebe is indeed quite laid back and we had a pleasant time taking a stroll along Bank Street, admiring the street art and visiting the shops. We also walked past some very nice (i.e. expensive) houses set in a leafy neighbourhood. We each picked our favourite house and imagined that we owned it. It can’t hurt to daydream a little, right?

We then walked along Bank Street towards Parliament Hill in the north. Most of Ottawa’s main attractions are concentrated around the Parliament Hill area. We soon encountered the impressive-looking Confederation Building, a huge, chateau-style building with stone exteriors and beautiful, green copper roofs.

Next to Confederation Building is Parliament Hill, the political and cultural heart of Ottawa. As Ottawa is the capital city, the parliament of Canada sits here. Several gothic-styled blocks collectively form the Parliament Buildings here, overlooking Ottawa River. The centrepiece is the Peace Tower, a 92.2m tall bell and clock tower right smack in the middle of the centre block. The buildings here all look very grand and stately, very impressive.

Sitting across Parliament Hill, with the Rideau Canal in between, is the Fairmont Château Laurier, a magnificent luxury hotel. The building is massive and it’s seriously beautiful.

We then walked to ByWard Market, an area comprising outdoor farmers’ market stalls and many hip restaurants. In case you’re wondering why it’s called ByWard Market, it is because Ottawa was once called Bytown, named after the Colonel John By. It was here at ByWard Market that I found a BeaverTails store, and tried it for the first time.

BeaverTails is a pastry snack that originated in Ottawa in 1978, and it is basically fried dough topped with sweet condiments like chocolate hazelnut spread and banana slices. The dough is shaped like a beaver’s tail, which is flat, long and oval-shaped. The beloved beaver is Canada’s national emblem and it is featured as the mascot or symbol for many Canadian companies and organisations.

I bought a Classic BeaverTail (CAD$4.75), which was topped with cinnamon and sugar. It was sooooooo good! Too bad this was the only time I had it because I didn’t come across any more BeaverTails stores after this. You should definitely try it if you visit Canada!

After that, we went to the CF Rideau Centre shopping mall to hide from the heat. It is a modern, 4-storey mall with many international brands. Opposite the mall is the huge Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s most established department store. We just shopped around for a while to pass time.

For dinner, we found a Chinese restaurant called Oriental House. We ordered a bowl of spicy-sour soup, a plate of fried rice and a plate of seafood hor fun to share. As usual, the portions were huge. The hor fun was especially good and it was nice to have some Chinese food for a change.

After that, we called it a day and went back to our apartment to rest. As Ottawa is the administrative centre of Canada, it is not really a touristy place, so one day is sufficient to cover most of the sights. End of Day 6, off to Montreal tomorrow!