Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

WW: Byward Market, Ottawa, Canada

Love visiting local market while visiting one particular city?
Me, too!
And we didn't miss the chance to visit Byward Market while we were in Ottawa, Canada.





super cloudy :)


so colorful
It's the beaver :)

Love this colorful market filled with delicious smells of fresh bakery and various food offered on its many stalls, including Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau cookies!


I bought a few and they taste wonderful!

Mr. Obama :)
Not to mention the famous local delicacies, Beaver Tails :).


We love it!

Want some?


Kids love this Beaver Tail

Join us in (almost) Wordless Wednesday  and enjoy fabulous links!

A Visit to Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada



"This is the place where Canadians continue to gather, discuss, debate, define, decide and celebrate..."
Our guide introduced our official tour at the Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada, that day.
"Sitting in the Capital City of Canada, Parliament Hill is the symbolic heart of Canada."
"Today, we are going to see some of the important parts of this historical building" said our guide while escorting us to the Centre block of the Parliament Hill.
Let's take a closer look...

***


Welcome to the Parliament Hill

Hi there...

I'm back with more stories from our Spring Break road trip this year.
After sharing our trip to Québec City and Montréal, Ottawa is next on our itinerary.
Another 2 hours ride from Montréal, we arrived at Ottawa in the afternoon and my kids just directly dragged me to the water park at our hotel, the Travelodge Ottawa. Will share more on that property indeed.


So, after a great night sleep (after spending hours at the waterpark >_<) and the kids enjoyed their lovely free continental breakfast, we headed downtown to meet our dearest friends, Dinie Aldi and her family, who was posted in our Embassy in Canada. Another round of Indonesian delicious breakfast (seriously, lontong sayur will never fail me! Thanks a million, Dinie :) and we made our brief stop at the Embassy as well. It was great to stop by here and had a quick tour. I's a beautiful Embassy and I pray one day I get a chance to be posted here as well. Amen. 

Just before midday, we arrived at the Parliament Hill, Ottawa, to pick up our free tour ticket. You only need to go the office right across the street to get your free ticket for an hour tour at the Parliament Hill. Nice, rights.

Before the tour started, we took the liberty to take pictures here and there as this place is indeed packed with historical landmarks. The Centennial Flame, for example. 



The Centennial Flame

Ignited just before the new year eve of 31 December 1966, the Flame was lit by Lester B. Pearson, Canadian Prime Minister at that time. As you notice from my photo above, it has 12 bronze shields of provinces and territories in Canada in 1967.

Bo posing behind the Flame

We also took some pictures at the West Block as well as War of 1812 monument, Triumph through Diversity.


War of 1812 Monument.


We got our 2 PM tour and after the security screening at the main entrance, we started our tour inside the Parliament. Our guide (I feel bad for not remembering her name!) started the tour with some basic information about the Parliament and what we would see during the tour, which among others, included the House of Commons, the Senate Chambers, the Library of Parliament, as well as the Hall of Honor and the Peace Tower, to those who have extra time to climb up.

I couldn't remember all the stories for sure I took my time to take pictures of this impressive building. As the iconic part of this Parliament complex, the Centre Block has undergone several renovation as well as rehabilitation to ensure this Gothic Revival style building remains at its prime condition.

Under this ceiling, we heard more stories about the Parliament and its history

Cheers..

I was hoping PM Trudeau would pass by but apparently he was abroad for a commemoration of the Vimy Ridge war in France as that time. 

Here's the House of Commons which we took pictures from its locked entrance.



One of the most impressive part of this complex is the Library of Parliament.
I love to see the heavily decorated dome, valuable books and documents, the classic wooden book racks and benches, plus the statue of young Queen Victoria elegantly posed in the middle of it.

the white marble Queen Victoria


The dome

And finally, we got to see the impressive Senate Chamber.
Dominated with red, I love to see all those detailed on its leathered seats, wall dividers, and even the ceilings.







Our tour inside the Parliament Hill was concluded and as I have shared before, we went up to the Peace Tower and took amazing view of the surrounding areas from high above.

And before exiting the building, we took a solemn look at the Memorial Chamber, a commemoration to those who died in military services for Canada.

To those who rested in peace..


And that concluded our visit to parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada.
I have to say that this place is highly recommended to those visiting the capital city of Canada, Ottawa.
So, what do you think? What is your favorite part?
Will you visit Parliament Hill if you get a chance to come to Ottawa?





Magical Old Montréal in less than One Day

"Where are we now, Ma?" asked Obi while I was busy snapchatting.
"Bienvenue  à Montréal, Obi!" I replied.
"What's that mean?' She said back with a frowning face.
"It means welcome to Montréal, Obi," said Bo. "It's French..just like in Québec City, remember? You know how to say 'candy' in French? If you don't know how to say it, Mama won't give it to you" he added teasingly.
My hubby and I were just grinning widely listening to Bo et Obi's conversation in the back, as we saw the cityscape of Montréal in afar.
Our adventures continue....And this time, Montréal is enticingly waiting.




*** 

Hello, there..

I'm back with more story from our last spring break road trip.
After helplessly being in love with Quebec City, now let's take a closer look of the next city we visited, Montréal.

Anybody has been here before?
I bet many of you have. And again, as expected, we enjoyed Montréal as well, amidst the similar but slightly warmer weather than Québec City. 
But enjoying magical Montréal in one day is possible indeed!

And that's exactly what we did when we visited this beautiful city.
Montréal in a big city for sure. Being the second most populous city in Canada and the biggest, busiest one in Québec province. Many of us, including me, might associate Montréal with the Montréal Jazz Festival and Just for Laughs festivals that I keep watching on TV! Founded on May 12, 1642, Montréal was founded with a strong will of  a handful of settlers, soldiers, artisans and farmers, led by Paul de Chomeday, Sieur de Moissonneuve, and Lady Jeanne-Mance. We saw their statues at the Places d'Armes.

So, as we continue our spring break road trip, we arrived at Montréal at around 8 PM after 2 hours drive from Québec City.  It was still drizzling when we left Québec and so was Montréal. We directly headed to Holiday Inn Montréal Centre Ville down town, which was so close to the China Town in Montréal. 

view from our room terrace :)


Hungry after  driving for 2 hours, we had our dinner at Beijing restaurant, just a block from our hotel. We did order a lot, with noddle soup with roasted duck, fried calamari, veggie spring rolls and fried rice for the four of us :). We slept very well that night and woke up super fresh, ready to explore this beautiful city.


bon appetit!

So, what can we see in Montréal if we only have less than one full day?
Indeed Montréal has a lot to offer, but this is what we managed to explore in less than one day. We decided to stroll around Vieux - Montréal or the Old Montreal. Even this historical part of the city is huge. Old Montréal is only 5 minutes walk from our hotel, so we parked the car and explored the old town on foot. It was still cold that day, but not raining anymore, so we had friendlier weather.

Let's take a look at some places we managed to visit and tell me what your favorite spot is.

Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal

For sure, Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal is the gem of the city!
Only with admission of CAD 5 for adults and CAD 4 for kids aged 7 - 17, we were truly amazed by the magnificent Gothic revival church. Built in 1829, all its incredible details are mindblowing!









Place d'Armes

This is a very interesting part of the city, as it has the oldest building in the city, the first parish's church as well as Canada's first skyscraper!





Bo posing in front of Paul de Chomedey statue at Place d'Armes

Marché Bonsecours



This beautiful market is packed with cute small boutiques and some local, trendy designers shops. It took us around 10 minutes walking from the Basilica.



What we love most from this place is the distinct architecture of the market, in Classical Revival style. 




Place Jacques-Cartier

Too bad when we reached this beautiful square, it was drizzling again.
But this marketplace is surely the spots where people love to hang out, as we saw many cozy restaurants and lovely shops around the area.

here comes the rain :)




Of course, again, as I've mentioned earlier, there are soooo many beautiful places that you can explore here in Montréal, but those places I mentioned above can be a good start :). 

We had to prematurely wrap our stroll in Old Montréal thanks to the rain. But if I got a chance to go back, we'd love to see more of this wonderful city. I guess we have to stay at least 2 - 3 days here to really enjoy its beauty. But hey, even with our crazy itinerary, exploring magical Montréal in less than one day is possible :).

Hope to see you soon, Montréal

Next, we have Ottawa, the capital city. 
I know I have shared some photos from Ottawa, but the stories are yet to be published.
Stick around, will you?


Ottawa from Above

A few pictures of Ottawa from above which I took during our tour to the Parliament Hill, including the Peace Tower.








Join us on Skywatch Friday and be dazzled by the magnificent skies from many corners of the world.

Wonderful Wednesday with Oh My Heartsie Girls

How is your spring break?



We have just come back from Boston and the surrounding cities last weekend, as we continue our spring break road trip during the Easter holiday.

the 'fake' John Harvard said hi :)

Tired? indeed.
But super excited as well!


We went to Boston, followed the Freedom trail (and again, this trip is inspired by Bo's Social Studies lesson at school :)), visited Harvard University as well as Salem, stopping at the famous Salem Witch Museum.


a brief stop at Salem Witch Museum, Massachusetts 

Of course, as always, we took tons of photos and I have intended to write all those strories of our trip in my blog. I hope you are patient enough to wait for that :).


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