Cruise Port Day 8 ~ Cyber Cruise

OTTAWA, CANADA

Well since my last attempt at a visit we were taken over by pirates on the booze crooze Cyber Cruise, I now am finally glad to be able to show you my home town, Ottawa, Canada.

Where the heck is Ottawa you ask? Well to get your bearings, click here. Can you see Ottawa? hint, it's in what is known as central Canada. North of New York between Toronto and Montreal. You found it! Good for you! Now I'm going to tell you all that's good about Ottawa, with a little dirt thrown in for good measure, or I'm not Irish Church Lady!

Ottawa is the Capital City of Canada and used to be called Bytown, because it was significantly influenced by Colonel John By when he built the Rideau Canal in 1832. Originally it was home to the Algonquin First Nations Peoples (pssst, we don't say Indian anymore, as a sign of respect, it is not politically correct) and was known as Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi, meaning "Great River". It soon became a booming log town due to the rivers accessibility, now known as the Ottawa River.



Please click here to see a live webcam of our Houses of Parliament (government) and you will know what kind of weather I am having here today! At the right is a picture of the Prime Minister's residence which is currently occupied by Stephen Harper, whom I think, I might add, is doing a marvelous job! (You didn't expect NOT to get editorial comments from the Church Lady did ya? I might get some flack for that one. Bite me!)

Ottawa is not as big a city as Toronto, or Montreal of Vancouver so it often gets forgotten that it is the Capital of Canada. Although at 1.2 million population, we are the fourth largest city in Canada. It is said that "with the highest-educated workforce in Canada, Ottawa has more engineers, scientists and PhDs per capita than any other city in the country." Woot!

It is a beautiful city, full of lots of protected parkland space and lots of activities to do. I would rather not live in any other city in Canada.

In the winter the Rideau Canal is frozen (almost!) solid and becomes the world's longest skating rink and is a popular tourist destination for our winter carnival known as Winterlude. (This is one way we try to make our winter here more bearable!) Have you ever heard of eating beaver tails? Well we do that here, except they are the cinnamon-sugar kind!!

The National War Memorial became a bit of a controversy last summer when on CANADA DAY, a drunken youth peed (is that how you spell that? maybe I should say pissed?) on the memorial which contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (shown right at the base of the war memorial).
Buried in here are the actual remains of a soldier, unknown in name or rank or face, who died in WWI in France. The repatriation of his remains only happened this century, in May 2000. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was created to honour the more than 116,000 Canadians who sacrificed their lives in the cause of peace and freedom.

Notice how the inscription on the tomb is in English and French? We are a bilingual country. The Official Languages Act was implemented in 1988. All federal institutions are obligated to operate in both languages and as a result, Ottawa is a fairly bilingual city. Mais pas moi, je parle seulement un peu du Français, mais j'essaye ! Mon epouse est francophone et mes enfants parlent français aux niveaux variables. (Not me though. I speak only a little bit of French, but I do try! My spouse is Francophone and my children speak French at varying levels.) [Hey, I actually wrote that first and then did a google translate and I did not too bad! I think I am better at writing French than speaking it. My kids couldn't understand when they were young and I used to review their homework and notice spelling mistakes. They'd say to me "Hey, how come you can't speak French but you can spell in French?!! LOL] I digress. :)


Ottawa is known for it's Canadian Tulip Festival held every spring as well. The tulip bulbs planted originate from a gift from Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. During WWII, Queen Juliana took refuge here with her two girls. (Actually Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa) To thank Canada for their hospitality and for their role in liberating Holland, she gave the City a gift of 100,0o0 tulip bulbs.

In Ottawa, on Canada Day (what we call Canada's birthday - July 1), there is a big party downtown at Parliament Hill with fireworks and lots of flags! You see we Canadians are very proud of our flag not only because it is so unique and pretty, but it only became our flag in 1965 when Canada was only 98 years old. Before that we flew a flag containing the British Flag, the Union Jack ~ see all of Canada's past flags here, even before we were an independent country, including one containing the Fleur de Lis.

Well I'd like to thank you all for visiting my humble city at this port on the Cyber Cruise. To find out more about what it is and where it started and where it's going, please read the Cruise Nuise below.

Irish Church Lady (ICL)

All about the Cyber Cruise

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The Cyber Cruise Scheduled ports

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