Around ten days ago, the 27th November, was the holiday of Thanksgiving in America. Although, historically it comes from when the pilgrim fathers landed and white America at least began to grow, today it literally is a day of encouraged giving of thanks. People often spend it with their families and loved, those that they are most grateful to have in their lives. Even though I am very appreciative of those I have come to know in Texas, those I am most thankful for in my life are dotted around the UK or chilling (literally) in Canada. Therefore, I decided to spend the holiday weekend (Thursday-Monday) in Ottawa, Canada with Alex.
San Antonio airport stylises itself as an international airport, however, the amount of direct flights it has to other countries are limited and very expensive, therefore I knew that I would have at least one change of plane going to and from Ottawa. When I booked, it turned out I would have two changes on the way back and only one on the way there. However, when I arrived at the airport, my first plane was delayed for more than an hour and my connection time was only 50 minutes, which is usually plenty of time, unless of course you're delayed. Thankfully (optimum word of the moment), I was a found a new route to take: San Antonio - Houston - Toronto - Ottawa and I would arrive a couple of hours later than expected. It was very annoying however, I could take my plane to Houston immediately and was transferred free of charge so no huge complaints.
My day had started at 3:45am as my plane was supposed to be at 7:16am and I had a 25 minute walk to the hotel where the shuttle bus would pick me up from. Why not get a taxi I hear you cry? Well, the taxi would have been around $10 more expensive, which is a lot of money at the moment as I am finding there is quite a large amount of term left and the end of my savings... Also, the housing I live in has very secure gates and unless the taxi company has been given the code to get in, we have to let them in but as I am only using my phone when connected to wifi here, I would have had to stand in the cold morning for ages to make sure I didn't miss the cab - not worth it. All this meant that I was rather tired, especially with the slight stress of changing planes, so I was really looking forward to a three hour nap between Houston and Toronto. However, I ended up sat next to a lovely Turkish lady who only knew around 5 words of English - no kidding. I managed to gather that she had been travelling around the Southern states and was now off to Toronto, she also has three children and a selfie of her and I on her phone - awesome! I am really glad that I managed to keep my patience even though I was tired and not fall into patronising her as I attempted to explain things, especially as the air hostesses clearly could not be bothered.
When I finally made it to Ottawa, Alex was there to greet me and we went straight to his student house which was about 2 mins walk from the university, 5 mins from a pub that did an amazing breakfast and 7 mins from a Subway. I loved that you could walk around everywhere, something that I have really missed and craved for in San Antonio. It was also, only 12 mins walk from the pub/bar we ended up in that night, after I had taken a nap and been given presents, with most of the friends he has made. They were all incredibly welcoming and lovely to me the whole weekend.
As Alex only remembered once he'd got me my presents, I could not take food back to the States with me as I only carried hand luggage, this meant a big bar of Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut had to be eaten everyday - boss!
The next day we went for an amazing breakfast at the pub I mentioned earlier. It's called Father and Sons and HAS to be eaten at if you make it to Ottawa (which you should). For around $10 Canadian, I had a plate filled with bacon, home fries, sausage and toast, toast that I hasten to add that was not made with sweet American bread but darn tasty English like stuff with melted butter - delicious! Alex then had class but kindly, Clemence and Rachel, two of his housemates that are also studying abroad for a semester in Ottawa, took me to the mall not too far away. It was Black Friday, the maddest day of shopping with greatest sales of the year apparently, but this was a Canadian mall, Canadians have manners. Yes the place was busy and I got in everyone's way if they dared near Kat Von D's Sephora collection, but it was definitely not the anarchy American shoppers experience/avoid. Afterwards, Alex and I walked to Parliament, as Ottawa is the capital of Canada.
It looks like Hogwarts!! And the flame at the front is an ever burning one, very symbolic as it sits in line with the Peace Tower (the clock tower). We wanted to climb the Peace Tower that day but unfortunately were too late, we were also too late for any remaining English tours of Parliament inside but we were just in time for the last French one. Now, Alex and I have not studied French in around 4/5 years, he has the slight advantage of having now lived in bilingual Ottawa for nearly 4 months but still French is neither of our strong points. However, the tour guide was lovely and spoke very clearly and not to quickly so we understood practically everything - yay! I was amazed at how many areas of the building we could wander around. Though of course there were guards and security about, I definitely felt a freedom to explore and learn there something I recommend other Parliaments pursuing, perhaps people would be more intrigued and interested by there governments if they could see them in action more freely.
Afterwards we headed to the Market area where most of the shops, restaurants and bars are. We ate in the Auld Dubliner which did a fantastic stew and it almost poured a Guinness correctly! A guy sang and played guitar for about an hour, a mixture of Irish and Canadian folk songs, it made for a brilliant atmosphere. For dessert, we crossed the road to Sugar Mountain, a massive pic 'n' mix shop, I was in absolute heaven! I bought chocolate raisins and cola bottles galore and discovered chocolate covered gummy bears which HAVE to become a thing in the UK, they are delicious.
The next day, Alex insisted on taking to try poutine at the best poutine place in Ottawa, Smoke's. It was soon tasty and incredibly filling. They haven't quite got the gravy down but the gravy, mozzarella lumps and bacon were top notch. We returned to Parliament to climb the Peace Tower but were told that unfortunately it had been closed early that day so instead we walked straight to the war museum. It was a pretty hefty walk, especially in the cold but it was worth it, the war museum has a fantastic collection that is laid out clearly and interestingly.
I couldn't resist snapping this part of the exhibition because I'm a history nerd and well, scouse. On our way home, we went to the LCBO. It is basically a Costco for alcohol as alcohol selling is controlled by the Canadian government so is not sold in supermarkets as in the UK.
I was amazed by the sizes of some of the bottles available and their really decent prices. After not being near alcohol really for 4 months due to American law, this was a big deal. That night, Alex's housemates joined us for dinner at the 3 Brewers. It is a really lovely restaurant that brews it's own, really tasty, beer on site. I was a little disappointed with the food, as the flatbread I ordered was sold to me as I kind of pizza but it did not really deliver nor did it fill me up but that was not to dampen my experience in the restaurant.
We then headed back to the house where many more people joined us, two of whom I know from Keele and are also studying abroad in Ottawa. It was really great to have familiar faces in the midst of brand new ones though they all made me feel very welcome. One of my favourite nights of study abroad then followed, we went dancing until 2 in the morning! It was so much fun! I have always maintained that I don't alcohol to have fun but there is definitely something so relaxing about a couple of beers and Jack Daniels' and lemonades mixed in with a load of dancing and laughing that really chills me out, I love it! I also felt rather like a
student. (See what I did there?)
The Sunday of my brilliant weekend was as busy as the other days. After trying out Subway's new rib sandwich, it's not that great to be honest, meatball marinara for the win! we finally managed to go up the Peace Tower and it was so worth it. The only other place to have as amazing views of the city is the top floor of one of University of Ottawa's buildings. The hodgepodge of architecture is a sight for sore eyes, I haven't seen another city like it and I've seen a fair few cities. The next sights we saw were at the Nature Museum, it interested me slightly less than that of the War Museum but it still had a great collection, particularly of dinosaurs. To commemorate our final evening, Alex treated me to a meal at Vittoria Trattoria in the Market area. It was a fairly swanky Italian but not so swanky I felt awkward not being in heels. On the way in, in fact, I was made to force my way past the Attorney General - the only Canadian without proper manners. The food more than made up for that though, the soup and pasta were homemade and phenomenal.
The next morning was bittersweet. I am currently all over the place. I am swamped with exam work, I'm going to miss Texas, I hate that I have no more adventures until home time but I'm also incredibly excited to get home and see everyone and thing that I have been missing so much. The three flights back to Texas helped me get my emotions together and sort myself out a little, though watching Fault in our Stars may have definitely made me work out how to surreptitiously cry in public...
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