Civilization

For my second day here I wanted to find out a bit more about Canada itself.  Therefore I headed off to the Canadian Museum of Civilization.  Whilst this was within walking distance, it was actually in the city of Gatineau which is over a bridge from Ottawa.  Gatineau is in Quebec (as opposed to Onterio for Ottawa) and it is noticable that suddenly French becomes the primary language as opposed to the English spoken in Ottawa.

The museum itself is very large and includes the Canadian Postal Museum and several special exhibitions (including one on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and her relationship with Canada) as well as exhibitions that take you through Canadian history and through some of its notable people. 

When going to the Museum of Civilization I was sold a combined ticket to the Canadian Museum of War.  For a combined ticket the museum was a bit further away than I thought it might be (I am sure it is just round the corner if you go by car).  The museum itself was again a lot bigger than I expected, covering the founding wars of Canada, its role in the first and second world wars and where it has taken up international roles since then.  The interesting parts were to see the different perspectives that Canadians will have on the war, and particularly the role that the second world war had on the growth of Canada as a nation.  Also there was a special exhibition on the war of 1812 - possibly a forgotten war outside of Canada (it involved the US, Canada and the UK) but significant here on the bicentenary.

I then walked back along the Ottawa river, up the Rideau Canal locks and caught a small exhibition at the Ottawa School of Art.