parliament hill

backgrounder 
after spending two weeks gallivanting in kingston, it was time for me to get back home to start my summer job at canada post. 


my first night back, i had plans with two of my oldest friends, valérie & caroline. 

we first had dinner at caro and her fiancé justin's downtown apartment at bay & slater and then went for a stroll. we walked eastward (parallel to the river) to parliament hill. 

parliament hill
after ottawa was chosen to be the capital of canada, the parliament buildings were built between 1859 and 1927. they include the east, west and centre blocks (all aptly named) and the library at the back. the centre block is the most recognizable - it's home to the peace tower, senate and house of commons. today, the parliament is perfect for spectacular views of québec as it overlooks the ottawa river. and it's also where justin proposed to caro (cue the awwwwww).

personally, it's one of my favourite places to bring my friends (both from ottawa and from out of town). the lawn in front of parliament hill is a great place to have lunch (or even do yoga) during the summer and enjoy canada day festivities. but around the back is where the action is: not only does it offer gorgeous views but there's lots of statues of past prime minister and tons of plaques (i love plaques.... god, i'm such a geek). 

oh and there are cats! 

parliament cats
if you walk north between the west and centre blocks towards the forest and take the path towards the left (normally, there are tourists) and behind the statue of alexander mackenzie, you'll encounter the cats of parliament hill. 

they might be hard to spot at first, but slowly you'll realize there's a colony of about a dozen stray cats living on parliament hill. according to ol' wikipedia, they were first used to hunt rodents in the 1950s, until chemicals became fashionable. a lady named irène desormeaux began feeding the cats and later, rené chartrand took over and built the shelter. today, the cats are taken care of by volunteers and funded by donations. usually, when i have visited there has been a sign with information on where to send donations... it's now been replaced by one saying they have more than enough money and to please send donations to the humane society. people must luuuuuuuv cats. 

rideau canal lockstation 
after our visit with the cats, we continued to walk east behind the parliament buildings. caro and val chatted as i snapped pictures (i just got a fancy new camera!). we made it back to the front of the hill and down to wellington street. our plan was to head to the market for coffee so we decided to use the locks as a detour. 


these locks are the first of the rideau canal waterway (engineered by colonel by... him again!) that stretches all the way to kingston. any time i see boats pass through them, i'm always so impressed that they were built over 150 years ago! as you walk towards the water, there's a bike path which you can use to walk up to major hill park right near the bridge to québec. 

sigh. gorgeous. 


after coffee in the market, we walked back towards caro's apartment, this time walking along wellington in front of parliament. 

always a good way to feel patriotic.