June 18-2016   – Staying in Ottawa for a day to tour and relax.   We knew Montreal would be a great city, but we are surprised that we liked Ottawa better.   There are lots of bike paths and trails that are well used, and on Sundays they close some of the downtown roads to cars for “bike only” streets.   No excuses to avoid exercise here!

The parliament area is beautiful, and there are a couple of market/shopping areas close to downtown – Byward Market being our favorite.       Our friend Marte in Cary,  who is from Canada, gave us some suggestions on what to do and this gave us a head start on picking things from a ton of options. There are lots of museums to tour all over town.     It also looked like graduation day was upon us when we got here, with tons of young people in caps and gowns.

Last, and no small thing, is the sinkhole that occurred a few weeks ago near Byward Market.   Although they are not certain what caused it, the hole is pretty big and there is lots of construction (or more accurately, reconstruction) going on to fix the hole!

Next up, the Rideau Canal.