A Road Trip To The East Of Canada, Starting With Ottawa, The Capital of Canada
Almost immediately upon landing back in Toronto, Canada, I was already planning my next adventure.
For the last several years, I had been visiting places around the world and knew much more about every other country, than I did about my own backyard of Canada.
I had planned to see a french girl I had met in Oaxaca, Mexico, who was living in Montreal, Canada. But unfortunately, by the time I got my trip organized and all bills paid, and all licenses renewed, she had left for the place I just came from, Costa Rica.
Despite this, I decided to do the trip anyways, and packed my typical luggage into my car, I bought an electric scooter with at least a 40km range and started the road trip.
The goal was to visit the cities of Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City, all within just a few days of each other, all while re-learning french using audio lessons, on the way there.
Ottawa, The Capital of Canada, is Only 4 Hours Away
In Latin America, in order to get from major city to major city, you had to pass through highways, city streets, and sometimes even alleyways only big enough for one bus.
On the other hand, Canada has a fantastic highway system that links everything directly. Want to go from Toronto to Ottawa?
Just drive there at 120km an hour non-stop. Want to go even further to Montreal?
Just stay on the highway until the very end! Thus making these trips extremely simple and straightforward.
Within 4.5 hours of leaving my home in Toronto, I was already checked into my hotel in Ottawa, and ready to ride around on my electric scooter within the city.
Heading Towards Parliament Hill
Aside from always seeing Parliament hill on the news and in photos, I was more curious to know what the actual city of Ottawa looked like. Thus exploring the downtown core gave me more intrigue, before getting to Parliament Hill.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Ottawa, despite being the political capital of Canada, isn’t an enormous city and hosts only about 1.4 million people in the greater Ottawa area.
Most businesses here either serve the political elite or serve the enormous influx of tourists every spring and summer.
More than 150 years ago, Ottawa was just a small trading outpost for lumber and other goods. But eventually, Ottawa was declared the capital of the Dominion of Canada by the Queen of England.
150 years ago, Ottawa, was located in a dense region of forest, and on top of a cliff. This location was much more defensible against the looming threat of the post-revolutionary United States.
While riding around, you could feel the cultural significance of Ottawa, with its high density of universities, historic and political structures, and monuments dedicated to various causes and important events throughout Canadian history.
Canada As a British Commonwealth Nation
Ottawa has no shortage of war memorials highlighting when it was part of the British Empire, and required to contribute to the British war efforts, whether in Africa, Asia, or Europe.
Riding Towards The Other Side & Canadian Protests
While riding around I decided to head towards one of several bridge crossings. Along the way were more castle-like structures, monuments to conflicts and movements in the past, and even a protest for allowing illegal immigration (apparently).
Welcome To Gatineau, The French Part of Canada
Just across the Ottawa River, you enter the French province of Canada, Quebec. On that side is the sleepy town of Gatineau.
Because of this duality, the province of Ontario and Quebec are bilingual. When I was in school from grade 4 to 10, we were required to learn french.
Back To The English Part of Canada
Along the way, I passed by the Canadian War museum, a holocaust museum, and a few more things. But eventually, the battery on my scooter was fading away, so it was time to head back to my hostel.
Getting a Falafel Burrito in Midtown Ottawa
After a brief 1-2 hour recharge of my scooter, I decided to venture out, and find myself a falafel restaurant. Along the way, you enter a mix of 1930s to 1970s Canada.
In Toronto, we have a few streets like this still, but most are nowadays gentrified into massive condominium complexes.
Drugs & Homeless Problem in the Political Heart of Canada
One thing that really surprised me was the abundance of homeless and drug addicts on the streets of Ottawa.
Despite being in the epicenter of the political heart of Canada, the government didn’t manage to solve this issue.
Or perhaps it was exacerbated by the pandemic.
Either way, one evening, I had a couple of drug addicts shoot up in front of my hotel. I didn’t encounter any issues with them, but anything could happen if at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
6 Days Later, Back in Ottawa
After about 2 days in Ottawa, I continued my journey to Montreal, and then to Quebec City. After that part of the journey was complete, I decided to venture back and visit a long-lost friend from university who was living in Ottawa at the time.
We ventured into the trendy bar and restaurant district of the Byward Market, had some food, drank some beers, discussed crypto and stocks, and reminisced in this wonderful Canadian version of a market street.
Back Home
Finally, after several days of adventuring outside of my home city, it was time to head back to Toronto Canada.
Ottawa actually made me feel like I could live there. It felt like a Big City, but in a small-town format.
Everything was walkable, or rideable by electric scooter.
Even better, the locals that I met were extremely friendly.
They didn’t have the closed-off attitude that you would get in a large city like Toronto or any other large city in the world.
Very approachable, and easy to converse with.
Thank You, Ottawa.
And then it was back into the car, and back home to Toronto.
Cheers,
Leonidas
