Toonie Tours Walking Tour of Ottawa

This will be a long post. 

TLDR: We went on a three-hour walking tour of Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Learned lots of fun facts as told to us by Ibraham of Toonie Tours.

Feel free to read on ... 

As we drove to Ottawa from Smiths Falls we knew there was no chance of us arriving on time for the 10 am Sunday morning free walking tour so I sent the organizers an email apologizing for our delay. Much to my surprise, they emailed back immediately saying they would keep an eye out for us.

Driving my the meeting spot we did not see their red umbrella, though we did see other groups. We parked the car and dashed to the war memorial where we saw others gathering.

Ibraham welcomed us, and put away his red umbrella..

Many ceremonies take place at this location. Today they were honoring those who served in the Korean War. Built originally to honor WWI (1914-1918) veterans, the memorial now commemorates every Canadian who has served starting nearly 250 years ago when they helped Americans achieve independence from our shared monarch. Canada became an independent country nearly 100 years later.

Ibraham pointed across the street to the former Beaux Arts style train station that is the temporary Senate home. More on that during our afternoon tour. He did add that King Charles recently walked from here to there when he was in town to start the new session of Parliament. 

We walked closer to where we parked our car and paused at Canadian Jazz composer and musician Oscar Peterson's  statue. Charming, his jazz music can be heard wafting around the statue of him with his piano. There is a bench encouraging people to sit with him.

The statue is appropriately located near one of the many sites for the annual jazz festival that was happening while we were in town. We did not go to any of the concerts.

For being the capital of a major country, with a population of one million people, Ottawa is a relatively small city. If it was in the United States, it would rank between Jacksonville, FL and Austin, TX (the 11th and 12th most populated cities). It is home to the most embassies in Canada (131) and has the most diverse population. Our guide moved here four years ago from Turkey and has felt at home from the beginning.

In front of a statue honoring indigenous soldiers, we learned about the history of Canada. The British first arrived in Newfoundland in 1497, but didn't settle here. The Vikings arrived in the 11th century, and traveled down to current day Quebec, but left no proof that they were actually here. Frenchman Jean Cartier mapped out Canada and interacted with First Nations people. He and his countrymen found the Canadian winters too harsh and returned to Europe with the intention of returning stronger with more people. Instead he died in Venice. Champlain settled Quebec and learned more about the indigenous culture. He supported the Algonquin who were battling the Iroquois, this became the first known time of Europeans murdering indigenous people.

In 1867 Canada became a Federation.

Lloyd Pinay made this sculpture to honor his father. The number four represents perfection in the First Nations groups, two in opposite directions of the other two. Four seasons. Four directions. The statues has four animals, four objects (two for war, two for peace). 

We walked to the New City Hall. Ibraham shared Ottawa is a very bike-friendly city. We had noticed the wide bike lanes. Unlike Toronto, they do not have a subway. In the winter, when the Rideau Canal freezes over, people use ice skates to commute. The bus system is hit or miss. The building was expanded in the late 1990s. Raymond Moriyama, the architect of the new city hall, visited Ottawa in the winter and studied the tracks people left in the snow to design the paths to emphasize high traffic areas. While we did not go inside, Ibraham shared they the best signage of any bureaucratic building he has visited.

The original city hall is in a classic Queen Anne style. The new building is a modernized version of that look.  

In 2017 Canada created the first monument to Human Rights. With the word DROITS on the top, it shares the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." Simple, yet we can't seem to accept that on a daily basis.

We walked through the historic Somerset Village. The Queen Anne-style homes have been gentrified. Today there are strict rules about renovations. Unfortunately before those rules were enacted some were destroyed. One of the early prime ministers, William McKenzie King lived in one of these homes. The most recent prime minister, Justin Trudeau, still lives in the area with his family. 

Our next stop was Bank Street. At 39 kilometers, Bank Street is Ottawa's longest street. Thankfully we did not walk all of it. Every few blocks the population shifts covering many different nationalities, job, ages, and other demographics. There is a variety of street art on Bank Street. Somehow Bank Street has survived the gentrification that has brought tall buildings to the street just one block closer to the river.

We turned right and walked up Parliament Hill where we took a break. It is good to note there are free bathrooms behind the Parliament.

Parliament Hill is mostly closed as the buildings undergo major renovations. Don asked, why now on different tour, to which the guide tried to give a lengthy answer I summed up as "the hundred year warranty expired." He nodded in assentation.

The current Parliament buildings were constructed in 1919 following a fire that most of the original ones. The only one that survived was the circular national library as its fire doors stopped the damage. The early 20th century buildings were very similar to the original 19th century ones, but a little bit longer and taller. The central Peace Tower (which is between the Senate and Parliament) has a memorial for WWI built at its base. As late as 2019 you could climb to the top of the Peace Tower for views of Ottawa. I didn't realize that during our 2015 visit.

Ottawa was chosen by Queen Victoria to be the capitol of Canada because it wasn't French like Quebec, or too British like Toronto. It is also halfway between the two cities, and not on the St. Lawrence River (which is the border with the United States). In 1867 when Canada became independent there were only four provinces. Now there are ten plus three territories with Nunavut in 1999 becoming the most recent.

We learned Toonie Tours only started offering tours in Ottawa when our guide mentioned he doesn't know what they are going to do in the winter as it gets bitterly cold here. Just as our guide found shady spots on the extremely hot day, I suspect they'll find ways to stay warm by winter.

Fairmont Chateau Laurier, built in 1912, is the oldest hotel in Ottawa. Built on the Rideau Canal and train station it was easy to get to. Famous visitors include Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill. The guide had an odd statistic, Ibraham said it costs 600 pounds a night to stay there, breakfast not included. I wonder why he quoted a price in British currency and not Canadian. A quick search said they are having a sale and you can book a room for $150. I'm not sure if that is Canadian or US Dollars, but in either case, far less than the $825 quoted on the tour.

The Rideau Canal is 200 km long. Somehow
this connects back to the Sparks and Wright families, who were the two wealthiest families in the area until 1823. Lt. Col. John By, and his 2,000 soldiers, began constructing the canal using dynamite and pickaxes. The canal brought industry to the area. The town was called Byward in his honor. Next to the canal, Major Hill Park became the first public park in Ottawa.

Across the street, the 1829 marketplace, Byward Market, still bears his name. Originally a place for farmers to trade their goods, it is now a lunch place with souvenir shops. 

The name Ottawa comes from the First Nations names Owa (place/town) and Ott (trade). Trade City.

At 1 pm we ended our tour at Byward Market. A good choice since we were all hungry,

 

The US Embassy