Following Easter, I needed a little break, so Beth and I took the train from London to Ottawa to have our first holiday as a couple since... well, since we had children! Our holidays had always been family ones and lately, included campfires, canvas tents, gun powder, and reenactments.
Although I going to eventually focus on one particular museum, we did visit three in all and has a number of wonderful meals.
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At an Irish pub in Ottawa...
Shepherd's Pie with Guinness gravy for the lady,
Spicy curry chicken for her escort.
Oh, so good! |
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| Perfectly poured |
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| Thoroughly enjoyed |
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A "Beaver-Dog" at the Canadian Museum of History in Gateneau.
A hot dog wrapped in beavertail dough and deep fired.
Beth loved it! |
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| Meanwhile, I had pulled pork poutine and we split a chocolate croissant. |
At the Museum of Nature, I was enamored with the blue whale skeleton on display. I was awed by the immensity. The skeleton is over 90% complete, with replacement parts for lost dorsal fins. The whale encountered a ship or so it seems.
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| An amazing sight. |
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| ... from any angle. |
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| The grey-ish vertebrae is a moulded replica of a lost piece of the skeleton. |
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| Self-explanatory... obviously. |
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| The outline on the floor of the size of the tail fluke which held no bones. |
There were also... DINOSAURS! Little else in the world will reduce me to a Grade 3 boy than dinosaurs!
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| Even the shadows are impressive. |
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| Sea-going beasties |
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| Horns and frills for defense |
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| One of the duck-bill clan. |
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A carnivore from South America - the ONLY replica on display.
All the others are the real thing, actual fossils. |
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Another top-of-the-line Alpha carnivore.
I can't remember all the names and so many new names have been coined, that I
can't keep up. |
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| A massive sea-turtle |
More contemporary displays were available as well... and some prehistoric mammals.
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| A diorama of very small mammals of the distant past. |
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| Brontotherium? Megatherium? Can't remember whichium. |
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| The male and a calf |
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| the female |
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| Carnivorous boar or a fevered nightmare |
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| Outside, a mastodon model is on display. |
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The museum building is a gem in and of itself.
Beth took this photo from our hotel room, which was literally around the corner. |
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The main entryway.
This was once the Parliament building when the original building was
destroyed by fire. |
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| Looking up from the entryway. |
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| Some iconic Canadian wildlife in diorama - beavers |
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| Porcupine |
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| Skunk |
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| Wolves |
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| Bison |
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| Moose |
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| Mountain goats |
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| Prong-horn antelope |
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Not Canadian!
This is an actual skull of platypus put on display for comparison to other small skulls.
I'd never seen one before and I had to take a photo. |
We spent an afternoon at the Canadian Museum of History across the river in Gateneau, Quebec. It is quite a place to visit.
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| Parliament Hill in Ottawa from the Quebec side. |
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| A walking trail at the Museum of History |
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| Steps to the walking trail on the river front |
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| A "transformation mask" from one of the First Nations on the west coast. |
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The museum has an incredibly impressive collection of totem poles
displayed in the main hall. |
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| The explanation is below. |
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| One of the most beautiful Transformation Masks there. |
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| The colourful face which is revealed during the dance as the outer mask unfolds. |
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| The Spirit of Haida - with many traditional figures and symbols of that people. |
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| Another beautiful painting from the far West. |
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| Beautiful weaving |
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| The Haida canoe from a different perspective. |
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| Faces... faces and symbols... and stories retold. |
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| The Museum itself is something to see. |
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| And wisdom to be remembered. |
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| Why am I fascinated by Quebec's traffic lights? Two reds! |
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In downtown Ottawa, this stand was open and doing a brisk business.
Sad to say, we were too full to indulge.
(Really, they're a flat dough patty coated in sugar and cinnamon and deep-fried.) |
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Private joke. I minister to a congregation in Aylmer (Ontario)
and this STO bus is going to Aylmer (Quebec).
Even on holiday, I can't get away from Aylmer!! |
We visited the Canadian War Museum, but deserves an entry of it's own. I know more than a few of the blogs I follow do museum expositions, so I did as well. For those interested in the more military entries, wait for these words: Brock's coatee... T-34/85... squeeze-bore...
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