Day 12: Ottawa

We had half a day left in Ottawa, before having to catch a train to the next city Toronto. It was a  pouring morning, which was very suitable for us to plan a visit to one of the museums in the city. We went to the Canadian Museum of History by Uber, which is located just across the Ottawa River, at Gatineau in the neighbouring state, Quebec. 

It wasn’t exactly a museum with a ‘wow’ factor, but it did have a good showcase about the country’s First Nations and the aboriginal people. The totem poles exhibits were great, as were the artifacts from the First Nations. Personally, I do have an interest for the distant history, so the halls that were dedicated to these were quite enjoyable to me. On the other hand, the special exhibition on Hockey didn’t quite resonate with me, since it was more of a Canadian obsession. There was a smaller hall dedicated to the 150 years of Canadian stamps, which was quite interesting.

I was a little disappointed that we were a month early before they unveiled their latest major exhibition about the 150 years of Canada’s Confederation, on 1st July 2017. I was looking forward to understanding how the vast country had changed from being former British colonies to becoming a united country with a land mass that is just second to Russia, and which is also actively creating a unique ‘Un-American’ identity themselves. Nevertheless, the museum still made for a good half day to spend on a rainy day.

We walked back to the other side of Ottawa River and hailed a taxi back to the condominium, where we collected our luggage to head to the train station. I’m not sure why, but whenever I had to leave a place, be it just a city after 2 nights, there would be a tinge of sadness. Probably I know I won’t be back here again. 

We took a Via Rail train from Ottawa to Toronto. This train ride worth a mention here, as it was enjoyable. The reason was almost entirely because of the train attendant, Zachary Wells, who is a freelance entertainer. On top of his train attendant duties of serving and helping passengers with luggage, he would also entertain – by juggling, showcasing street magic and delighting children with tricks etc! I asked him (over email afterwards), and he mentioned that this was his own personal initiative and he wasn’t paid to do that! Impressed by his impeccable service, I decided to follow him on Instagram.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Zach went out of his way to bring us food! We booked the economy class seats for this journey, and so food choices were limited and there wasn’t really a full ‘dinner’ as I had previously thought. Zach promised to help us to check with the business-class-equivalent train carriages, and eventually brought us a full meal from there, which was quite reasonably priced! I was quite satisfied with the meal AND the service!

We reached Toronto in the evening and we proceeded to check-in (illegally) at a new condominium residence. ’Illegal’, because we saw notices put up by the building management that short-term AIrbnb rentals are not allowed. Hence we stayed low and acted as if we owned the unit, to make sure that we would not be evicted during our 4-night stay. Christine arrived at Toronto an hour later than us, and we were finally reunited again, for this last segment of the trip.