I am writing this post at the end of my time in Ottawa - sitting in Ottawa station waiting for my train to Montreal. The station is like many US stations in that it has very few trains that go through it - the departures board in front of me suggests there are 18 trains in total (that includes varients where there are differences between weekdays and weekends), and 3 of them are being cancelled from the 3rd September. It is a very spacious station nevertheless, and has free wi-fi (hence the blogging!).
When I first was thinking about this trip I had thought of Ottawa as a day trip from Montreal (the journey is only 1hr45). However, having been here for nearly 3 days I can see that this would not have been nearly enough, as with the time I have spent here there is still far more that I could do.
Today I have been to the National Gallery of Canada, which had a special "Van Gogh Up Close" exhibition on (where the crowds were) as well as a large permanent collection and other temporary exhibits (where there were less crowds!) Overall it took 3 hours plus to get round it all, which is a good sign!
Also today I have called in on the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica, Byward Market, the Ottawa Art Gallery and the Laurier House (although on the last one I did not have enough time to both take the tour and confidently catch my train!)
Overall I have found Ottawa to be a very interesting place to visit. During my time here I have stuck to the centre, with more time I would have liked to have seen some of the government and crown buildings that were further out of town, and there were also several more museums that could have been visited. In a way it reminds me of Washington DC in that it is a place which is "there" because of the function of government, but also has a significant collection of national museums. The highlight has been the access that was available to Parliament which was more than you would have expected. Well worth the time I have spent here.
No comments:
Post a Comment