On Parliament Hill

Hey Ems. Sorry I haven't updated the site but things have been very busy here. My hosts house is really hectic with a busy, curious little toddler running around. It didn't help when the little tyke became sick again with a really bad cold. You know the type I am talking about. Stuffed up nose that has snot pouring out of it all the time (the poor little tykes nose was soooo red it was sad to see) along with a bad cough that kept everyone up at night.  There wasn't alot I could do except stay out of the way. The good news is that the little kid is all better now and things are getting back to normal. I will be leaving here tomorrow on my way home to see you. Can't wait to meet up with you again.  Until then here are some of the pictures from my trip up to Parliament Hill. At first it looked like we where not going to be able to make it, but we finally managed to squeeze in a couple of hours to visit.  Hope you like the pictures.

Here I am across from the Parliament building.

That's the Peace Tower behind me

This is the Centennial Flame, had to be careful not to get to close.

Going up the stairs

Looking towards the East Block

This is a statue of Lester Bowles Pearson

There are a lot of statues on Parliament Hill, unfortunately it was getting late in the day so I was only able to see a few of them.


Nice comfy chair



This is the Library of Parliament building

This is the Victoria Tower bell which was damaged in a fire in 1916 

Not Parliament, but down the street, this is the Château Laurier Hotel which is just down the street

Hey Ems did you know that Ottawa has a canal? Its called the Rideau Canal and goes all the way from Ottawa to Kingston! Here is where it starts on the Ottawa River.

There you go Ems, I have some more pictures that I will post as soon as I can.  Miss you and I hope to be home soon. Till then be good!

Down by the river

Hi Ems! Just thought I'd share some pictures from my walk along the Ottawa River. Did you know that the Ottawa river is 1,271 kilometers long and runs all the way to Montreal where it joins up with the Saint Lawrence seaway? Well neither did I until I checked on the Internet. I also learned it is the second biggest river in Canada, with the Saint Lawrence being first! Anyway, I only had a short time to explore as the sky was grey and it looked like it was going to rain again. Being made of paper I am always worried about being rained on, I think I am going to have to get a rain coat or something. While walking along a bike trail I noticed this strange white sign.

The New Edinburgh Club? What's that?

Just off the bike path there was a set of stairs that led to a bridge, which in turn led to the big house.  According to the sign this belonged to the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club. I of course was curious. There where no other houses here, and why the bridge?

A bridge, and a house

Well imagine my surprise when I went down there and saw that the house was out on the river!

Is it on a small island?

 This is the the New Edinburgh Sports Club, boat house.  Pretty neat huh? Apparently (and according to their web site!) the New Edinburgh Club was was established in 1883 as the Ottawa Canoe Club and is one of the oldest in Canada.

It's a boat house! See the bridge?

 Unfortunately when I visited there was no one there, and almost no boats, I guess its to late in the season and most people have taken their boats home. Still it was neat to see.

Quite a view, I am looking East toward Montreal (sorta)

That was my day, and it didn't rain, at least not until I got home.  Hope everything is alright there, don't worry I will be home soon, until next time be good Ems!

A walk in the park

Hello Ems! Heard you where having a wonderful time there enjoying the fall weather. As you can see the weather is pretty good here, if a little cloudy. Today I went for a walk along the Rockcliff Parkway. Located along the Ottawa River, the Parkway starts just after Sussex Drive (which is where the Prime Minister lives) and has a wonderful view of the Ottawa River. There are bike paths and parks located all along it and at certain points you can even look across the river into Quebec.

Here I am on Rockcliff Parkway. Thats Quebec over there.

This is one of the pathways. The fall leaves make it look nice.

While walking I came across this little plaque

Which was right in front of these big columns

Can you see me Ems?

Here I am, up in the tree.  Good thing there was no wind today

When you go walking in the park who knows what neat things you'll find.

Like this old fountain.

Who knows what  you will find when you take the road less travelled?

Thats all for now Ems. Don't worry I have more pictures and stories that I will post latter. Till then be good!

Rideau Hall

Hi Ems! Hope you are doing well. All is fine here in Ottawa. On Sunday I went with my host to visit Rideau Hall.  Whats that you ask? Well it is the official residence (home) for the Governor General of Canada.  The Governor General is the Queens Representative here in Canada and is responsible for ensuring that Canada always has a Prime Minister and a government that the Canadian Parliament has confidence in.  It sounds like an important job and it is. The Governor General is also the Commander and Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. After I learned this I thought that I would not be able to get close to the Governor Generals home. But it turns out that Rideau Hall is open to the public, which includes me! It was a beautiful sunny day (but windy! Something I have to be careful of so I don't blow away.) I went with my host for a walk among the trees and gardens that surround Rideau Hall. It was very pretty with the leaves changing and all the different trees and plants.  There was a fountain with stone arches that had all the important dates from Canada's history carved on them. Everything from confederation (1867) which is when Canada became a country to when Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces (1905).  There where lots of people visiting, some where from far away places like Germany and Japan and others where from right here in Ottawa. Anyway you can look at the pictures below to see how my day went.   

Here I am at the main entrance to Rideau Hall

This is the Governor Generals House

It had this nice fountain right in front. Pretty cool eh?



It was called the Fountain of Hope



There was even an inuksuk here

One of the arches by the fountain

Peek-a-boo! Here I am by the garden fountain.

Can you believe there are over 10,000 trees here? Neither could I but there are.

So there you go Ems. A wonderful day spent exploring Rideau Hall. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed the visit. Till next time be good!

Going for Tea

Hi Ems

Like I said it was a busy weekend here in Ottawa. On Saturday I had a chance to have AfternoonTea with my host at the Chateau Laurier Hotel.  Afternoon tea is an old tradition that dates back to England in 1700. (I know that is a long time ago! But that is what traditions are for! So we will remember things.) Anyway I had the chance to have some very lovely tea and nummy scones (plus cake! can't forget the cake!) I am afraid that we got so involved in talking, drinking tea and eating we didn't take many pictures. But as you can see it was still a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. 

Tea, scones and cake yum.

Time to enjoy

When I get back, maybe we can go and have afternoon tea as well. You'll have to be sure to dress up though as it is a formal afair and that means sitting nice at the table and being very well behaved.  Not that you will have any trouble doing that.  Until next time be good Ems!

What a busy weekend

Hi Ems

Sorry that I didn't get back to you sooner, but it was a pretty busy weekend here.  Where to start? How about what I did on Friday?  It was a beautiful, but windy and cool day here in Ottawa, I hope you are having good weather where you are. My host decided to take me to the Aviation museum, one of the many museums that are located in the National Capital.   I spent the afternoon looking at planes, some of them very old, and very fragile looking like the Silver Dart which was the first plane to "fly" in Canada in February 23 1908. 

Here I am at the Aviation Museum

Look at all the planes!

This is McDowall Monoplane it was built in 1915.

Look at me! I am a pilot!

Hey maybe I'll go on another trip!



In the cockpit of a Canadian CT-114 Tutor



Hanging out on the Avro Arrow an important plane in Canadian aviaton history

They even had old cars on display. This is a
Reo Touring Car from 1910

A nice person helps me take a closer look

What a neat looking plane. It was called the Tiger Moth

So there you go Ems, a quick tour of the Canadian Aviation Museum.  It was a pretty fun trip and I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Dont' worry I have more adventures to tell you about.

At the NRC Part Two

He Ems here are the rest of the photos I took at the NRC campus yesterday. The first two are of the new Atomic Clock that is being built by the scientists and researchers there. Apparently it is a completely new type of clock that is even more accurate than the old one.  They told me that instead of laying the big metal tube out on a table, they stood it up and put it inside this metal cabnet.  Then they used a series of lasers to make the Cesium (or as I like to call it the sneezium) atoms slow down. Or that is how I think it works.  All that matters is that the new clock will be 100 times more accurate than the old one and that one is pretty accurate!

Me on the new atomic clock

They call it a cesium fountain clock

 After seeing the new clock I was then allowed to go into a very special labatory where they keep samples of various metals.  What is so special about them is that they are formed into super accurate chunks that are exactly 1 kg.  And I mean exactly. 

Here I am in the Mass lab

These are super accurate weights

Off I go



Here I am at the NRC

Hi Ems. Hope you are having a good day where you are! Today started out wet and windy but then the sun came out and it was sunny and windy.  That meant I had to be very careful when I ventured outside.  Today I was invited to go visit the National Research Council or NRC.  The NRC is this big campus here in Ottawa where a whole bunch of scientists and researchers work. 



The big silver ball



So my host and I jumped in the car and drove over. As we got near the NRC I saw the most weirdest thing. Just outside was this big silver ball and I mean it was big, and silver. So of course I had to go and see it. After all if this was a place where scientists worked why would they have something as boring as a big silver ball

Well it turns out this is not just a boring big silver ball. According to the sign that was in front of it this is called the "sphere" and was made in 1966! How old is that? Older than me! The sign then said the sphere was meant to be a symbol of the type of work the scientists do here.  When I went inside I asked the nice man who showed us around what that meant. He said that the sphere repersents a ball bearing which was a very important invention and that without it we wouldn't have things like cars and planes.  Hard to believe that a simple little ball of steel is so important, but it is.



The Atomic Clock



Next I had a chance to see an atomic clock. When I saw it I thought it looked like a simple old digital clock.  But I was wrong.  Apparently this is one of the most accurate clocks in the world and is not like any clock I had ever seen before. In fact it turns out that what makes this clock work is soft metal called Cesium and that the machine the made the clock work was downstairs. So I asked if I could go and see what the "inside" of an atomic clock looked like. So away we went and boy was it neat. 









"Inside" the Atomic Clock



  Turns out that the atomic clock is located in this big metal room, and inside is this big metal tube that holds the Cesium.  Pretty cool huh? Anyway that was my day, or at least some of it. I have some other pictures and stuff to tell you, but right now its late and I have to go to bed so I will post them latter.  Till then be good Ems.

Don't think it will fit on my wrist! 



Me with some Cesium