2019 Road Trip, Part 5 - Ottawa
Jul. 23rd, 2019 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jamesqWe got into Ottawa and checked into our hotel. It was ever so slightly over the line from touristy to sketchy. On the bright side, the rooms were perfectly nice and jizz free. I relaxed in mine watching some classic Star Trek before heading out to supper.
A bit of background on supper. I had been researching restaurants to go to (the family having plans already involving cousins) and had hit upon several really good ones, but some were 1) closed that evening, others where 2) booked solid, and finally a few were 3) booked up but would often squeeze solo travellers like me to a bar stool. I managed to get them jumbled up in my head. This is why when my Lyft dropped me off at Atelier, I discovered that they weren't in the third category, they were in the first. Always double check before driving across town.
Well, I wasn't really across town, it was actually a pleasant, but hot, walk to my second choice, Riviera. This time I managed to make reservations, albeit fairly late ones.
So I walked back towards Parliament hill, through some perfectly pleasant working class Ottawa neighbourhoods. I had an hour to kill before my reservation, so I enjoyed a flight of beer at Three Brewers, a brewery/restaurant chain that's in the same niche as Brewsters. Best beer was their brown ale, appropriately named Brune.
Finally I got into Riviera and enjoyed a very nice prie fixe meal and some fancy cocktails. Being at the bar, I got to watch the bartenders do their art. Of note, the lead bartender (and my server about half the time) was a gent a little older than me, who was clearly a professional who knew his stuff. He crafted drinks with knowledge and an economy of motion that suggested a lifetime of practice. He was a joy to watch. He seemed to have a mentoring relationship with a younger bartender, which, as the place slowed down towards closing, shifted to a sort of intimate familiarity that suggested Antonio and Bassanio.
By the time the food was consumed and the plates were cleared, the place was empty of everyone but myself, the staff, and a scattered half-dozen other patrons. Highly recommended.
I walked by Parliament hill on the way back to the hotel. The light show was just ending and they were playing the national anthem. it was a nice cap to the evening.
Now this was my first time in the nation's capital, and having some time in the morning, I opted to take two walking tours of Parliament offered by Parks Canada. Of note, Parks Canada was a model of efficiency, information, and professionalism. In stark contrast to the private enterprise efforts at the CN Tower. Both tours were informative and the tour guides were a wonder.
Of note, the Centre Block has just began renovations that will likely take at least ten years to complete, so the Senate has moved across the street to the old Union Train Station.
Conversely, the Commons has been moved to the inner courtyard of the West Block. The West Block's inner courtyard having been modified with a permanent roof now, for exactly this purpose.
I'll have to check out the new digs in a decade or so.
Finally, a picture of Chateau Laurier, which isn't a government building, but could be given it's beauty and proximity to the East Block (it's just across the Rideau Canal). I grabbed some lunch in the Byward Market, met back up with the family and we left Ottawa. It was too short a visit and I feel I could spend quite a bit of time there.
A bit of background on supper. I had been researching restaurants to go to (the family having plans already involving cousins) and had hit upon several really good ones, but some were 1) closed that evening, others where 2) booked solid, and finally a few were 3) booked up but would often squeeze solo travellers like me to a bar stool. I managed to get them jumbled up in my head. This is why when my Lyft dropped me off at Atelier, I discovered that they weren't in the third category, they were in the first. Always double check before driving across town.
Well, I wasn't really across town, it was actually a pleasant, but hot, walk to my second choice, Riviera. This time I managed to make reservations, albeit fairly late ones.
So I walked back towards Parliament hill, through some perfectly pleasant working class Ottawa neighbourhoods. I had an hour to kill before my reservation, so I enjoyed a flight of beer at Three Brewers, a brewery/restaurant chain that's in the same niche as Brewsters. Best beer was their brown ale, appropriately named Brune.
Finally I got into Riviera and enjoyed a very nice prie fixe meal and some fancy cocktails. Being at the bar, I got to watch the bartenders do their art. Of note, the lead bartender (and my server about half the time) was a gent a little older than me, who was clearly a professional who knew his stuff. He crafted drinks with knowledge and an economy of motion that suggested a lifetime of practice. He was a joy to watch. He seemed to have a mentoring relationship with a younger bartender, which, as the place slowed down towards closing, shifted to a sort of intimate familiarity that suggested Antonio and Bassanio.
By the time the food was consumed and the plates were cleared, the place was empty of everyone but myself, the staff, and a scattered half-dozen other patrons. Highly recommended.
I walked by Parliament hill on the way back to the hotel. The light show was just ending and they were playing the national anthem. it was a nice cap to the evening.
Now this was my first time in the nation's capital, and having some time in the morning, I opted to take two walking tours of Parliament offered by Parks Canada. Of note, Parks Canada was a model of efficiency, information, and professionalism. In stark contrast to the private enterprise efforts at the CN Tower. Both tours were informative and the tour guides were a wonder.
Of note, the Centre Block has just began renovations that will likely take at least ten years to complete, so the Senate has moved across the street to the old Union Train Station.
Conversely, the Commons has been moved to the inner courtyard of the West Block. The West Block's inner courtyard having been modified with a permanent roof now, for exactly this purpose.
I'll have to check out the new digs in a decade or so.
Finally, a picture of Chateau Laurier, which isn't a government building, but could be given it's beauty and proximity to the East Block (it's just across the Rideau Canal). I grabbed some lunch in the Byward Market, met back up with the family and we left Ottawa. It was too short a visit and I feel I could spend quite a bit of time there.
