I've spent all week trying to figure out the best way of summing up this vacation and settled on just sharing a few points I found interesting or special or whatever about our trip. There are a whole bunch more pictures in my Flickr set; I'm pretty sure I already warned you but there are lots of sock-in-progress pictures in there too.


- Ottawa is the most bilingual city either of us have even been in. Not only did every written word, from street signs to maps to menus, appear in both English and French but conversations everywhere could be heard occurring in either language or, surprisingly frequently, both at once.


- There is something tremendously powerful about walking around your country’s government buildings. There was so much symbolism built into everything and so many names and words and portraits remembered from history lessons.


- You can find wildlife anywhere if you are looking for it (which I wasn’t but luckily Rob was).


- Beaver Tails are really good. (It's worth saying twice).


- Big cities have big candy shops and I was able to get some of my all time favourite candies – chocolate covered gummy bears. I'm eating some right now.


-Knitters are everywhere and a bunch of them were keeping the trees warm for Winterlude.


-Maple syrup candy is really awesome, especially while it still has snow stuck to it.


- I had lots of opportunities for knitting - from airplanes and airports to pubs, coffee shops and a bus trip. I finished one sock and started the second before we left. After finishing my first sock I took it shopping and bought shoes to go with it this spring.


- There are lots of good places to eat in Ottawa. You don't even have to look hard.

I thought I'd lump weeks 8 and 9 into one post since I wasn't around to post last weekend anyway.




I saw the sun as I left work for the first time since October. It was a pretty fantastic moment.


We woke up to a very frosty world on Tuesday morning. On closer inspection it turned out to be very directional frost - only in the lee of the wind. I though the branches viewed from the bare side made interesting patterns.


Some more interesting patterns. This is frost on the car viewed from inside the window. It's amazing how many different kinds of frost there are.


One of Abby's favourite games is to put a toy on a chair under the table and then bat at it through the slats on the other side of the chair. It's pretty cute to watch.


I had my camera out while walking home from downtown and caught this plane on its way somewhere. If you look at the larger version you can also see the moon.


We were Canadians travelling ... Tim's was inevitable. As it happened they were also the only place still open when we arrived in the Toronto airport. We both thought the Canada doughnut looked pretty good.



The wall of the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa. I really liked the cracks and patina.


Another shot on the Canal. We went skating for the first time in many years. It was a lot of fun but we both need a little practice.


Fried pickles. So good. At The Auld Dubliner if you're in the area.


Iron work gates outside Parliament.


The Canadian Museum of Civilizations. A truly fascinating place but don't be surprised if you spend a lot longer in the galleries than their time estimates say.


The clock at the top of the Peace Tower at Parliament. We had about fifteen minutes to look around the rest of the tower before we needed to be down at the bottom again for the building tour.


Beaver Tails are fantastic. We ate them three times while we were in Ottawa. This was dessert for our last evening in town.


Pretty much the same thing everyone else was doing Sunday afternoon I imagine. The suspense of sudden death overtime was too much for me and I had to go somewhere I couldn't see the screen until it ended (still close enough to hear Rob's responses to the game though ;). It couldn't have been a good match without being so close.

We got home yesterday afternoon but I felt too tired (especially of sitting) to write anything. It feels good to be home, to see the critters, and to sleep in our bed. Vacation photos - and a bit more text - will follow soon, along with Weeks 8 and 9 of 2010. Be warned - there are a lot of sock knitting pictures.