#10 Home Is Where The Heart Is

We all know that Home is where the Heart is…but does everyone really know where their Heart is?

Canada is where my Heart is.  I had high hopes of taking my Hubby up to the place I remember so fondly.  I wanted him to love it, really love it the way that I do.

He’s always said that he doesn’t feel like he was born to live in the States, and since I’ve felt the same way since moving here, I thought him loving Ottawa would be yet another reason why we are meant to be together.

We had an amazing trip.  A really awesome time together.

The verdict?

Hubby LOVED it there.  He loved the city, the people, the culture, the way of life, the smaller portion sizes, the eco-friendly advances, the old world – yet contemporary blend that makes Ottawa such a beautiful place.

He loved it so much, that it’s now #1 on our list of places to move once he graduates. We both have a lot of work to do though to make that happen, so it will be a long few years, I’m sure.

So without further interruption, let me take you on a photo tour of our trip in my all time favourite city.

Ottawa

It honestly is the most beautiful place in the world to me.

Maybe it isn’t a tropical paradise, but where else in the world are you gonna see one of these?

Parliament, where all the government magic happens.  We took a tour through the centre block building (pictured above) and even went into the library, which is the only original building on Parliament Hill.  I love this story.

The whole complex was burned down in 1916 by an accidental fire.   One of the library employees at the time, saw the fire and immediately locked himself in the library by closing off the thick steel doors.  While everything else burned, he and the library stayed safe in the stone building.  Simple smarts.  Proof that sometimes it only takes one person to make a difference.

My absolute favourite thing on the Hill, is the eternal flame

Go Hubby on taking this shot!  It’s one of my absolute favourites, and he did it all by himself!

The flame is surrounded by the coat of arms of each of the provinces and territories.  It’s such a unique and beautiful piece of art.

Unlike this thing

Which is definitely unique, but not what I would call beautiful – click on the photo to zoom into the realistic eggsack.  The giant spider hangs out in front of the National Art Gallery, pictured here – next to Notre Dame Basilique

On Canada Day we watched some pretty amazing fireworks

and sang Oh Canada! in Franglish with some fellow Canucks.

Independence day brought us a picnic at Nepean Pointe, overlooking the city.

Our lunch spot was shared with groundhogs

and this aviator

We checked out Notre Dame Basilique

I was so excited to find out that the Museum of Natural History was finally reopened fully after years and years of renovations!  So off we went to the best ever museum.

The place of a many childhood field trips, and legendary ghost hauntings.  The best place to go if you want to see some amazing dinos and some gross bugs.

For a beautiful, scenic walk, the canal is the perfect place to head to, and head there we did.

After long days out in super heat and 100% humidity, we would head back to our hotel and enjoy some Canadian snack time

So there you have the city of Ottawa,close to both of our Hearts, and a super great trip.

We relaxed in abundance, watched a whole lot of HGTV Canada, ate a lot of Poutine and drank gallons of Tim Hortons.

Stay tuned for a few more trip related posts, including Favourite Things – Trip Edition, Best Trip Moment, a road trip and lastly, the question I know you’re all dying to know the answer to…Did I overcome my fear of flying enough to travel again in the near future?