The Bilingual Capital, Poutine, and the occasional cross-provincial journey

So its been a few days since my last update. I have certainly been much busier this week than the previous, what with meeting people, shopping, sightseeing, and my trip to Ottawa. I've been going out a bit too much though I think. Yesterday was a new experience all together though. To start, I went out with Gabrielle and met her and some of her friends at a bar called St. Sulpice. Confused at first due to a largely vacant interior, I walked through the building and saw the prettiest bar I have ever seen. All outside, trees mingling with tables and chairs, vine-covered fences, and to top it all off, a fountain in the building. Between my drink and the garden lights, nothing could have been prettier. I also tried POUTINE at this same place. Poutine is fries, with a brown gravy, and cheese curds. It sounds kind of disgusting, but its oddly tasty. I have yet to meet a Québécois who dislikes it! Its soo gooooood! And I guess there is one restaurant that I should try where you can have poutine with chicken, sausage, peppers, lots of other ingredients too! Will keep you informed of all the recipes :) After this delicacy, we walked around the corner to the Cinéma Québécois du Quatier Latin, I think that was its name anyway. We saw a film about sky-diving, very much québécois and very much sans subtitles. I managed surprisingly well, and there was really only two points where I asked Gabrielle for a quick translation. Also, this movie was main stream in Québec, the adverts for it are all over the métro stops. That being given, imagine my surprise to find not only the normal, rather melodramatic heterosexual love triangle story, but also, A GAY LOVE STORY TOO! And not the kind of gay where its mentioned and you don't see any action, they went all out. And the cinéma was full of males and females alike, none of whom reacted negatively to gay making out in front of them. God I love Canada :)

Next topic! Ontario, Bus Rides, and the Capital, Ottawa!!
Up at 5.30am, bus at 8.00am. The Greyhound bus is surprisingly comfy, and the driver said internet was free on the bus too! Great for longer journeys I imagine. We left Montréal at 8am, and my entire group of 8 fell asleep almost immediately. Luckily though, the first hour was just traffic because of construction anyway. I suppose that its inevitable because they can only do road work 6 months of the year, and in a city of 3 million, you have to do lots of road work. Anyway, the drive through the countryside was gorgeous! Rolling hills and forests do not lack in this part of North America. Honestly, it looked just like Europe, but better because its CANADA! I might have started to tear up a bit. shhhhhhhhh
Anyway, so around 10.30 we pulled into Ottawa, which all of a sudden APPEARED. The autoroute, AKA highway, was in the middle of a dense forest, then all of a sudden, high rise building and you can see the parliament building. Canadians flags everywhere, which stirs pride even in non-Canadians. We walked through the downtown portion for a bit, seeing Scottish street names everwhere. Good sign, I think? We reached Parliament Hill, and then walked around a little bit. Up the Peace Tower we go. Its the tower that is part of the Parliament building, and the British influence is incredible. The view from the top is worth the price of the ticket, free! No I would have paid as the view is 360 degrees around, and you can see all the city and the landmarks from the top. After our lofty tour in the sky, we went down the lift with our bilingual tour guide lady, a symbol of Canada. Everything in Ottawa is in French and English, which I must say is rather entertaining. You can use either languge, and just about everyone will respond in your language of choice. We went for a wee walk, down the ByWard Market. Cheap restaurants are right next to cheap stalls, and cute streets are filled with buildings that remind you that, once again, Canada was so heavily influenced by British people. The houses are big, with a strong Victorian air about them. Next stop was a Cathedral, once again gorgeous with stained glass windows. Then, a quick 1km walk across the bridge (Kilometers) to the Canadian Museum of Civilisation. Two fantastic and very informative exhibits later, and we are on our way back to la Ville de Montréal. Long day ended, a lot learned, and overall, YAY CANADA