This is the 4th post in the trip to Canada series. So far, we've had some interesting moments, including a backstory, a frustrating IVR experience, and the fuel mystery. This time, we continue our journey eastwards.
- The Back Story
- East Canada - Toronto
- East Canada - Niagara and 1000 islands
- Rest of East Canada ← This post
- From Fuel Guzzlers to Frozen Trails and Everything in Between
- Banff & Jasper National Park
Question: What is the Capital of Canada?
Think of the answer before reading further. Its ok, I will wait.
Ready?
If you answered Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver, then sorry, you're mistaken—it's Ottawa.
From 1000 Islands, we headed towards the capital city. On the way, we stopped for a quick snack at a burrito place on the highway in the middle of nowhere. As I was figuring out what to order, the staff member suddenly said, "બ્યુરીટો બાઉલમાં ચણા નાખીને ઓર્ડર કરો, તે સરસ છે" which meant “Order the burrito bowl with chickpeas in it, it's nice,” in Gujarati! I was shocked—it was as if he read it on my forehead that I am Gujju!
Our homestay in Ottawa looked little bit shady from the outside. Sapna literally asked, "Are we supposed to stay here?" Naturally, the Airbnb listing didn’t show the front facade. But once we looked around, we realized the owners had built an extension behind the main facade, and it wasn’t so bad.
Next to the park is Parliament Hill, home to the Parliament buildings, the Prime Minister’s office, and the Supreme Court. These beautiful Gothic-style buildings are amazing to see!
Next on our list was the Rideau Canal, built by the British and over 200 km long. Nearby is Fletcher Wildlife Garden, the most beautiful park I’ve seen. It’s dreamy with giant trees partly overlooking the canal. When the sun’s rays pass through these trees and fall on the canal waters, it feels magical!
Some nights we would have homemade dinner. We would get some supplies from the near by grocery stores and we were also carrying some ready to cook food packets. Cooking dinner together and then having it peacefully were some of the best family moments on our trip!
The next morning, we headed to Quebec City in Quebec province. As soon as you enter Quebec, it feels like a different country. All the signs change from English to French! “Good morning” changes to “Bonjour.” The architecture of the buildings and streets changes too—it feels like you’re strolling through Europe, specifically France. In Quebec, it’s mandated that French is the first language of communication, which affects the number of immigrants living there. For the first time, we saw native Canadians staffing the restaurants and other places.
If you Google Quebec City, you’ll see Château Frontenac, a grand luxury palace hotel. It looks impressive from the outside, and probably from the inside too—wouldn't know, we didn’t go inside.
Château Frontenac is in old Quebec City, with narrow cobblestone streets. Looks pretty awesome.
Next door is Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral, another huge cathedral with beautiful interiors!
The next day, we visited Montmorency Falls, which are taller than Niagara Falls! A neat cable car takes you to the top. The falls aren’t as wide or humongous as Niagara, but the flow of water is magnificent.
You can walk down from the top via a trail. It’s a nice walk, through the misty staircase!
Before saying Goodbye to Qubec City we visited the Plains of Abraham, its a huge park with lots of green areas, the wind was howling and enchanting at the same time.
Next destination Montreal, our apartment in Montreal was a cute and cozy studio. One room was so small it fit only a queen bed, touching wall-to-wall—no kidding!
Next morning in Montreal, we first saw Notre-Dame Basilica, the biggest cathedral we’d seen in Canada. As usual, the interiors were beautiful. We had been to three Notre-Dame's so far but each one is different from the other!
The Old Port of Montreal is within walking distance (Mainly because I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of shelling out extra cash just to park closer to the Old Port), here you can see the "Bonjour" sign and some old and new buildings.
From there, we went to Mount Royal Park, a beautiful park in the middle of the city with ponds and trails. We spent over 3-4 hours strolling through the greenery, sitting by the pond, and just chilling!
Our East Canada trip was coming to an end. Later that evening, we were flying to Calgary to reunite with our family after a long time!
Next Time
We’ll explore the beautiful Canadian Rockies and talk about the notorious Fuel Guzzler!
