Two girls...no, let's call them women...alone. In a city just slightly smaller than their own. Armed with cash, credit cards and a whole lot of energy. Pauline and Mai-Liis left for their three day vacation. Little did they know what waited for them in Ottawa.

Here's an overview of the trip....

Day One:

We left from Toronto Union Station at 8 am on August 17th. We took a VIA train - a 4 hour trip filled with lots of funny moments. Arrived in Ottawa station at slightly after 12 noon. Promptly hailed a taxi, and off we were to Nicholas Street, to stay at the lovely Novotel in downtown Ottawa. Not only did the hotel look nice, but we quickly learned that we were basically within walking distance to the ByWard Market, the Parliament buildings, Rideau Canal, the Chateau Laurier and many other famous Ottawa tourist spots.

On our first day, we headed immediately to the Rideau Mall, which happened to be right across from our hotel. It was a nice looking mall, but had basically the same stores as in all the malls in Mississauga. We then wandered to the main streets of downtown to check out the tiny shops. It was then that I decided I wanted to do something crazy on this vacation, but I'll get to that later.

After a nice long tour of the downtown strip, we headed to the ByWard Market, or "The Market" as it's called by all the locals. And it was there that a lot of damage was done�well, damage to our wallets. Pauline and I are absolute bead fanatics, so when we walked into "The Sassy Bead Company", a large bead store, we freaked. About 20 bucks later (each), we had pockets full of beads and smiles on our faces. We strolled through the various vendor booths of the market, where they sold vegetables, fruit, jewellery, really nifty "chicken" bags (a fluffy bag that resembled a chicken), and Beaver Tails, a local yummy bread snack.

In the evening, we met up with my good friend Lisa who lives in Nepean. I hadn't seen her in 2 years, when she came down to my house for a day, so it was wonderful to meet up again! The three of us had a blast, walking and shopping, and eating gelato!

Mai-Liis ... and Pauline...(being crazy, as usual)

Day Two:

After a recommendation the first day from the awesome reception guy Garry, we decided to sign up for a trolley tour of the city. For $17, we got 2 days of riding a trolley � sometimes even a double-decker one�where you could stay on and hear the history of the city, or even just hop on and off the trolley as you saw things you wanted to do. We boarded the trolley at 9:15, and headed off for a 2 hour guided tour of the city.

The trolley took us through the Parliamentary block with all of the government buildings, across the Portage bridge into Hull (Quebec), through the Rockcliffe area where all the rich people live, past Rideau Hall (the residence of the Governor-General of Canada, Romeo LeBlanc), quickly past 24 Sussex Drive (the home of our Prime Minister, the sexy man Jean Chretien) and past several museums and galleries.

We arrived back at our hotel, grabbed some McDonalds (got some cookies for Garry, the reception guy!) and relaxed for an hour in our room. Then we were off again, checking out the Museum of Civilization in Hull, the National Gallery of Arts, Rideau Hall etc�

And of course, we did more wallet damage in the bead store.

In the evening, we met up with Lisa again. Pauline and Lisa came with me and kept me from fainting as I got my navel pierced! WOOHOO! I absolutely love it, and it didn't even hurt! After my ordeal with the thick piercing needle, we went to Lisa's house in Nepean. On the way, she showed us many of the local sights, including her university, Carleton. Gorgeous campus! We hung out at Lisa's for a few hours, giggling over her adorable cat Sparky, and then we parted for the last time...I miss her already!! :(

the famous Sparks Street ... The Basilica, a gorgeous church...

Day Three:

We hopped on the trolley again and stayed to watch the 10:00 Changing of the Guard ceremony at Parliament Hill. Loads of sexy men (and a few women) marching in uniform, playing music. Really awesome! Then we headed off to check out the PM's house. If you know anything about me, you know that I have a wild crush on the PM�so I needed to see his house. I decided to get up the nerve and ask the RCMP guard a favour�and quickly, I watched him stroll up the driveway to the PM's house, and he took a picture of the house (under major renovations) for me!! I was so thrilled!! Then after talking to the guard for about half an hour, we checked out the Rideau Falls, then ventured off to the War Museum. Really depressing stuff. We then walked back through the Market, this time not stopping for beads, and then up to the Rideau Centre for some mall shopping. Tired with blistery feet, we went and relaxed in the lobby of the hotel for the rest of the afternoon, chatting with Garry and Robin, the wonderful guys at the Reception desk.

It was an amazing vacation, and I am so seriously thinking of when I will go again.

M-L calling Lisa from the Hotel ... inside joke with the Spyhnx...

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