This is my second post in a series where I share photos I took in the Ottawa area. Click here to view my photos of the Almanzo Wilder Farm and click here to view my photos of Glengarry, Ontario. In this post I will share photos I took in Ottawa itself.
I don’t normally post hotel room pics, but I loved the living area of our room at the Fairmont Château Laurier.
The view of Parliament from the hotel was spectacular!
A view of the National War Memorial from La Terrasse Restaurant.
It turns out the view from La Terrasse wasn’t quite as good as from the room itself.
Back in the room, I captured this shot out the window.
The next morning, we took a tour of the House of Commons. This is the new home of the Canadian House of Commons while its previous home gets renovated. It is actually in a former courtyard. Most Canadians can’t tell the difference when watching the goings on on TV, because the chairs and desks are the same and they only show the bottom level. When learning about the House of Commons on my tour, I found it interesting to compare and contrast it to its American counterpart, the US House of Representatives. I learned a lot about the Canadian government on this trip!
In the same building is this committee room.
Next on the itinerary was visiting the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral.
The architectural details inside were just stunning.
Across the street is the National Gallery of Canada and this immense spider sculpture.
If you’re in Ottawa, you must tour Rideau Hall, the official residence of Canada’s Governor General, the Queen’s representative in Canada.
The tent room is designed to look like a circus tent. They have many special events in here.
This room is used as a living room. Luckily Governor General Julie Payette was not there the day I toured, so we got to see this room.
A look out the window into the gardens.
A lovely park surrounds Rideau Hall.
Being an equine lover, I couldn’t visit Ottawa and not check out the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stables. I have to say, from a photographer’s perspective, it was a bit of a disappointment. The view above is really the best view I got of any of the horses, and any view of their heads was inside their stable, which was through a grid.
I did manage to photograph this guy being led out of his stall by a handler, though. It would have been neat to see the mounties practicing their show out on the arena.
I’m sort of cheating including this photo here, because I took it in Parc Jacques Cartier in Gatineau, Québec, which I will be chronicling in my next post. In this photo, though, you can see right across the Ottawa River to the Fairmont Château Laurier and Parliament.
Another shot of Parliament from the hotel, this time with part of the hotel itself in view.
In this shot, I zoomed in on West Block (try to ignore the scaffolding).
Ottawa’s Parliament is lit up at night with a stunning projection show. This photo was actually taken prior to the start of the show. They test out the colors prior to, so you can get some nice shots without having to deal with the crowds.
Also around that same time, I captured this photo of East Block.
Another photo of Parliament all lit up. I love the lights here!
This building, formerly a library, is the current home of the Canadian Senate while their building undergoes renovation.
A photo of the Fairmont at night.
Again not wanting to deal with crowds, I opted to photograph the fireworks over the Ottawa River (supposedly best viewed from the Gatineau side) from the tranquility of my hotel room. Yes, this involved a rather awkward setup with my tripod at a very strange angle trying to get all the bursts in, but I think it came out nice.
This area is known as Peacock Alley, which is interesting, because the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando has a lounge area known as Peacock Alley.
They call this area the reading lounge. I didn’t spend any time here, but I was just excited for once when I went by there wasn’t anyone sitting there so I could get this shot.
And finally, the lobby.
Well, that’s not all! In future posts I will share photos I took in Gatineau and Montebello in the Canadian province of Québec.
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