Ottawa, Part 2
September 14, 2014
After the art museum and church, I hopped back on the tour bus. It turned out to be the same bus and guide I had had earlier. The guide's commentary was bilingual. He did a great job describing twice what he could of things as we passed them. When he spoke French, I would usually look at him, since I could pick out more of what he was saying when I both saw and heard him. When he spoke English, I was looking around at what was being described. This communicated to him, probably subconsciously, the opposite of reality, so the eye contact suggested that I spoke French and not English. When I got off the bus the first time, he asked me (in French) which of the sights near the stop was I planning to visit, so he could direct me. When I looked puzzled, he repeated the question in English.
When I rejoined the bus, the Skinnerian positive reinforcement of the eye contact had won out over the negative reinforcement of my puzzled look, so he greeted me in French. I replied, "Bonjour."
The next-to-last stop on this round of the bus tour was in the Byward Market. I decided not to get off there, but to walk back later from my hotel. The area is filled with restaurants and shops serving plenty of locals as well as tourists.
After the bus tour I wandered around a bit and stopped by the hotel. Then I walked back toward the Byward Market to eat supper and look around some more. On the way I passed the National Arts Centre. Outside there is a statue of Oscar Peterson and a somewhat foreshortened piano. Remarkably, there were recordings of his music playing from near the statue.
I passed the WW I monument from a little different perspective and got a better photo of it.
When I got to the canal bridge, I got a better photo of the Fairmont Hotel. My neighbors Meg and Cliff have since told me that they stayed there one time.
Here's another shot of the canal from the bridge. The building on the left used to be the main train station. Now it is some kind of conference center.
When I got to the Byward Market area, I headed for a seafood place that the bus tour guide had said was his favorite. I was considering different kinds of shellfish, so my waitress suggested the bouillabaisse. It was very good. The flavors blended as in the seafood paella I used to get at a great Spanish place on East Boulevard, so that brought back pleasant memories. I've also had cioppino in Seattle. It is the same idea, but from Italian fishermen in the SF Bay area. I really wanted to eat at another restaurant, but they said they weren't seating any new customers since the wharf was on fire, so I went to a restaurant on the next wharf. Anyhow, back to Ottawa, as I walked back through the market area, I stopped at a stand on a corner to get a beavertail.
The farmer's market is there on weekends. They appear to grow really big vegetables up north.
On the walk back to my hotel, I passed the changing of the guard at the WW I monument again, so I took some more video from a different angle, and that furnished the conclusion for the video I put together from my short clips.