Tourist Sites

After spending the night I got offered to stay on more day and that was a welcome offer. I took the day to assemble the bike and trailer. The box I got from one of the stores fits perfectly in the trailer and tomorrow I will try to get all my stuff in here so it's easier to handle. Every time I have to get my lunch, snack, camera or wallet out of the trailer I have to untie the knots of the tarp to get it out. So maybe this will be an easier solution.

The small town of Kenora is located on the beautiful shore of a huge lake with hundreds of islands. After the summer the population drops by half because so many people spend the summer here and move back when work and school begins.

There is even an island where nuns come in the summer to fish and relax. (with the red roof)

Dawn and Stephen both play bagpipes and went to Scotland to get a degree, the real deal, with skirts and all. I promised I would make them a simple web site for the non-profit organization they play with and where he is the Pipe Major.

I spend the afternoon biking through town a seeing these paintings all over town, the history of this part of Canada. For dinner I wanted to make a Italian mozzarella, tomato and basil salad and it took me an hour and 3 supermarkets to find the cheese. When I got back the plan had changed and we where invited to have dinner at their friends place. This was on one of the islands so we brought the food and headed for the boat. Because of the lack of wind the motor was used to get us to the island where the mosquitoes where waiting. We had a nice dinner with all kinds of salads and bbq hotdogs.

At the fire they prepared a “classic” Canadian snack for me: roasted marshmallows with Nutella paste sandwiched between two crackers. Definitely a sweet snack!

After checking the weather it looks like it's going to be a hot day tomorrow and maybe raining the day after!

Saturday was just rainy, from morning to night, just rain. I spend some time in the mall, buying a new camera. The visit to the market with a lot of fresh produce, mostly from Quebec was very nice.

Sunday was better, I got a tour of the city. Being the capital of Canada (since 1867) it has a lot of government buildings. And of course the Parliament Hill, witch planning and construction began in 1859. The hill is home to the federal government and close to one and a half million visitors a year.

My guide Norah.

These cool locks, I think 5 link the Ottawa river and Rideau canal, witch the royal engineers started building in 1826.

This old jail is now home to a hostel. Through the wooden door on the first floor the bad guys got thrown out with a rope around there neck. This is also the place of the last hanging in Canada, they say it's haunted (wonder why?).

Jut like every city there is cool graffiti!

The thing I really liked about the city is the nice brick buildings, a lot of green and flowers. And the thing I really like, bikes! A lot of people ride bikes and there are nice bike paths through the city.

Tomorrow will be another day of biking, towards Beachburg