Discovering Ottawa One Week At A Time

About 6 weeks ago in Ottawa (May 23rd), restrictions eased a bit regarding the coronavirus. We were able to drive out to take a walk. For about 2.5 months before this (starting March 14th), we can only stay close to home.

My family and I moved to Ottawa late last summer from Vancouver, so there are many parts of the city we’re not familiar with. Even though most of the shops and restaurants are still closed, it was a nice change to be able to take a drive and go for a walk somewhere else. We pretty much limited ourselves to being out for about 2 hours because there are no washrooms to use and with 2 young children, that’s always a concern.

Each Saturday, we chose somewhere new to explore. We had to be mindful to stay away from others. Even though none of this is normal, we really needed to be out and do something different for everyone’s sake.

I’m sure this situation has created different levels of difficulty for everyone. We try to cope as best we can and make the most of it. On the upside, I’ve been spending a lot more time with my family and getting a lot more exercise. Here’s a few photos from out outings.

Our first outing on May 23rd was to Lansdowne Park.  There were some people out and it felt like the city has come to life again. Lansdowne Park also houses TD Place which is a beautiful and fairly new stadium for football games and big events. This area is one of my favourites in Ottawa. It’s located just outside downtown, right by the Rideau Canal, with plenty of interesting shops. It’s just a beautiful place to walk.

Little Italy, near Chinatown, is a neat area. It’s a small neighbourhood with boutique Italian shops and restaurants. I’m sure it has a long history in Ottawa. I just haven’t had the time to do my research on it yet.

One Saturday, we went to the Dominion Arboretum, which is a botanical garden. Usually there are a lot more flowers and plants in bloom, I’m told. A short walk from there, we found ourselves at Dow’s Lake. It’s beautiful lake where people go to kayak, walk, run, bike and picnic.

We also went to the Byward Market in downtown recently. It’s one of my favourite places. The last time I was here was February 21st of this year (about 4 months ago). I remember it so clearly because my youngest son loves coming here for the open air market and a French bakery called Moulin De Provence. That was the last time we were here before everything was shut down due to Covid 19. Now some shops and restaurants have opened up, but not to any large extent.

I have seen this orange Lamborghini in downtown a few times before. When I saw it, I thought… things are getting a little bit more normal when the orange Lamborghini comes out.

I have been busy with Modern Coup during this time, but I have also made time to go biking. Before this, I was always saying that I’m too busy to go out to exercise. I always tried to do as much work as possible when the boys are at school. However, without school now, this situation made me make time because we needed to keep the boys’ spirit up. Also, kids are not like us. They need to be out and active.

I haven’t rode since I was maybe 12 and it brought back the freedom I felt as a kid. Now I’m really into biking. The city of Ottawa is mostly flat and the bike paths are just incredible. Now I’m thinking about getting a foldable bike and one where I can ride longer distances.

We have also been planting a few things. I’m not much of a gardener. I once killed a Chia Pet (the Chia Guy, if you remember that one).  I decided to grow some herbs (mint, Thai basal and chili, green onions, cilantro) and some beans. These are very easy and all they need is a lot of sun and water. The boys like watering them and we needed a little greenery for our back deck anyway.

So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last few weeks. I hope you’re doing as well as can be. At this time, I’m trying to just keep on working. I do have a lot of ideas for what’s to come, but that’s for another post. Thanks for coming by!