While Ottawa is a really nice city (especially in the spring and summer), the cold and the snow really got to me in the winter. This was particularly on that one morning my first term there (January 2000) when it was -51C with the windchill while I was on my 3-bus trip to work.

I lived in two different neighbourhoods during my stays in our nation's capital. Westboro was quiet place off the main street, but now it's really turning into a happening place - the Mountain Equipment Co-op store had just moved there when I was leaving in April 2000, and there are lots of nice restaurants, shops, etc. along Richmond Street. My old stomping grounds in the west end included Carlingwood shopping centre ("the old peoples' mall, as we all used to call it!) and Lincoln Fields - both the plaza and the transitway station. I also was a frequent rider at the Westboro and Dominion transitway stations. While the west end was a nice place to be, my living arrangements (yuck!) caused me to pursue other locales for my next venture to O-town.

My second and third stints, with National Defence and Environment Canada, respectively, were in the Fall of 2000 and the Summer of 2001. I lived both times in typically suburban Alta Vista, in Ottawa South. While a less lively neighbourhood (you couldn't even walk to a corner store!), it was pretty quiet and scenic - right near one of the greenbelt parks! - plus a direct bus to downtown using the transitway (#8 or #88). I was a frequent visitor to Billings Bridge mall/transitway station. My third term I also attended a night class at Carleton University (the Geography of Europe).

So what are my strongest memories of Ottawa?

Places to eat?