It seems like the jet lag is finally going, although waking up about 2.30 am every morning and not going back to sleep for a couple of hours and then getting out of bed might explain otherwise.
Today’s plan was simple and hopefully involved a lot less exertion than the last two days. Quite simple it was, go to the National Gallery of Canada and have a look round, then go shopping for some singlets because I only packed particularly warm stuff and it is 30c + and finally find somewhere for dinner.
Simple eh? Well we hoped it would be.
The morning started, as it seems every morning will do from now on with study. A couple of hours work done before we headed out of the door around midday. Our attempts to find a coffee shop are always pretty long winded but today we settled on the Canadian chain, Tim Horton. It was surprisingly alright, we don’t tend to visit the chains if we can avoid it, but under a new theory I have of trying not to spend too long finding somewhere for a coffee that tastes exactly the same as anywhere else this was the choice. The service was quick, the coffee was the most normal one I’d tasted to date so no complaints there from me. Oh and the size was largish but not quite as large as yesterday.
The National Gallery is a short walk away from our hotel and after barely finishing our coffees before arriving we headed into the gallery. We had three floors to explore and a café that I know promised me one beer I’d never tried before. And what a surprise that was, but I’ll cover that in a bit.
The gallery was over three floors with sections for Photography, European artists and Canadian and Indigenous artists. This is quite a lot to get through in a half day really. But we eagerly set off for the photography section, which is always a nice place to start, and I never find it too taxing. As I was wandering through the gallery and looking at the photos of normal scenes but from 30-40 years ago, I started wondering whether if I took a picture of a car outside a shop today, how many years it would be before we considered it art. I think the photos give us a glimpse into the past and probably are more intriguing for people who weren’t even born in those times.
The next move was into European Art of which we’ve seen quite a lot between us in various galleries. There were some nice pieces by Monet, Cezanne, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollack. It is always nice to see an original rather than something you’ve just seen on a computer screen as well.
The gallery had these two big atriums that spanned the three floors, in one was a square plot planted with various greenery whilst church music played in the background. I didn’t look for the description of it but it was quite a peaceful place and sometimes I like to take my own interpretation of the art rather than listen to what the artist wants me to see. The other atrium was again a square but this time filled with water. Two oases in the middle of the National Gallery.
We popped to the cafeteria, which we visited the other day where I’d tried a new beer to add to my extensive list. I picked one off the shelf this time that I thought was a new one. Ordered a very delicious and reasonably priced Bacon Cheeseburger (these are the types of art galleries I like to go to) and sat down to consume these with Claire. I get my phone out to log my beer only to find out, the screen is telling me it’s a non-alcoholic beer. I thought that’s silly, who would create such a thing. Upon checking the can, it was confirmed! I still drank it though. It tasted a bit like beer and I wonder how much psychology would play if I’d drunk it and thought it was beer. Would I have been staggering around?
After the disappointing beer we headed back in to look at the Canadian art, which I found quite refreshing. A mix of different pieces, from paintings, sculptures to giant piece of art (a whole bedroom for example). It’s always nice to see something different and a different perspective on things. This was probably my favourite section of the gallery and probably, so it should have been. The shop was quite disappointing and seem to stock a lot of postcards and fridge magnets of art that wasn’t actually in the gallery.
After that we wandered on what should have been a quick adventure to buy the aforementioned singlets. After about an hour and a trip to H&M we got there and I dangerously left Claire in a shopping district with our visa card to continue whilst I went back to the hotel to begin work on my first assignment, I failed to mention the couple of beers I had in the fridge! But we’ve both got to have some fun eh?
Dinner was booked on the basis that there was jazz playing at the establishment we were going too. We didn’t hold out much hope that the place would be that great considering it was in the Bytown Market area of the city which appeared to be full of plastic pubs and absolutely full of tourists eating seemingly terrible food there.
We wandered down stairs into the cellar expected the worse of Vineyards but we couldn’t have been more mistaken. The place was quiet, we were given a booth right opposite the two jazz musicians who were playing and the menu included an item, which is often referred to as food of the gods (in my mind anyway). Although saying that I had never seen a chicken parma served on top of a bed of pasta before. But you know what we’re on holiday and sometimes you have to be a bit adventurous and head out of your comfort zone. So, I avoided the two pages of fish on the menu and went for the parma. I wish I could tell you it was disappointing and not up to Australian standards, but if I did, I’d be lying. It was a delight, the linguini underneath the parma went down a treat and unlike chips when they put them under the parma, it didn’t matter if the linguini was soggy. The parma itself was amazing, good piece of chicken, well cooked breadcrumb and the sauce was delicious! I will be cooking these at home from now on (when I went to have a meal that compromises as many calories as I should eat in two days!). The bar also served flights of beer and interestingly flights of wine. This place was a find, I will create my own treasure map and bury it so if I ever find myself in Ottawa again I’d dig up the map and go back.
Our plan was to stay out later tonight to watch the light display on the Canadian Parliament building. Previous nights we’ve failed because we just got tired and went to bed. We were happily strolling up to the Parliament building tonight giving ourselves a good old pat on the back for managing to stay out late. Our understanding was this light show went on all night and would repeat every so many minutes. We arrived, joined the massive crowd and watched the show. After 5 minutes it ended and everyone went home. Little did we know the show only happens once a night and lasts 30 minutes. So now we are faced with one last night in Ottawa and a crucial decision on what we do at 10pm. Will it be devour chicken parmas on beds of linguini, will it be drinking alcohol at a local venue, will it be going to bed or could it be returning for the light show and watching the whole 30 minutes.
I suppose as always tomorrow will tell.
On an interesting side note we are currently experiencing a milk shortage in our hotel room. In our fridge on the first day were about 8 little tiny plastic pots of milk. We drunk them, they got refilled. Yesterday they didn’t get refilled. Today we left a note asking for the to be refilled. They weren’t refilled! Who will win this standoff?
I’ll leave with the following, on the way back to the hotel, I saw one of the best pub A-frames I’ve seen in a while. It simply said ‘buy two drinks, pay for both’.
IJS 18/7/2017