Homecoming - Part IV

The next day, Richel and I set out to find one of the Gray Line Tours, a recommendation that Gil and Alice had made the night before as a way of touring the city rather quickly. We had found the spot and had barely enough time to get on the bus. Richel couldn't move very quickly and would constantly get angry if I left her behind. But hey, when I'm running for the bus it's not like I'm just going to get on it and leave her behind! Sheesh, of course I'm going to stand in the bus with one foot in so that the bus driver just can't take off. If he did I'd get seriously hurt and then there'd be a lawsuit. But drivers know better than that.

In any case, we proceded to take our tour around Ottawa and saw numerous historic structures and buildings (I don't remember what we saw, anymore). The 2 salient places that I do remember, however, was the RCMP camp and the Maurice Richard statue. I tried getting a picture of the Rocket, but unfortunately I didn't get a good view of it. Oh yeah, and the Parliament, but that's a given.





While we were on the tour we happened to go through the middle of the downtown area where a Farmer's Market was being held. Normally, we couldn't care less about Farmer's Market in another city, but in Canada they have maple syrup! I mean, REAL maple syrup, not that crappy stuff they sell at the supermarkets. It also brought to mind the time that Goh went to Canada and tried to bring maple syrup back on the plane, but the idiots of TSA wouldn't allow any liquids on to the plane and so they had to throw it all out (now, you just KNOW the TSA ate well the following morning - they should do a 20/20 show about all the stuff that gets thrown out because of this stupid rule and how dangerous people really think it is and what the TSA takes home. But no one has the balls to do a scoop like that and go up against the Bush administration). So Richel and I got off the bus and went to the Famer's Market and bought at least 7 liters of maple syrup to bring home for the family. Good stuff. It weighed a ton and the bag handles were biting in to my fingers as I carried the bags back to the hotel, but it was worth it.

Later on while we were walking arouond the downtown area we saw some of the Canadian Guards. We took some pictures of them but not with them. I prefered to take a photo with me in the same picture but not posing by them. We saw a lot of people doing that, going up to the Guards and making these ridiculous poses. Call me a dud, but I personally thought that was highly disrespectful of the Guards and their role. These people were making a mockery of OUR national Guards! Americans, no doubt. Bloody Yanks. How would they like it if I go pee on the Lincoln Memorial?




Anyway, after walking through the downtown area one more time, Richel and I decided to be on our way. Next stop, Montreal. It wasn't a terribly long drive. Certainly with all the driving I do on a daily basis, this trek wouldn't be much different but we did intend to get their before it got dark.