Ottawa round-up!
Well the time has come (or at least it’s coming soon enough – two weeks!). I’ll be leaving Ottawa for Halifax on September 1st and, while I’m sure I’ll be back one day, I thought it a good opportunity to do an Ottawa round-up of all things I find great in this city. So here it is, and feel free to add your own suggestions! I certainly haven’t tried everything in Ottawa, so any input is more than welcome.
Eats/Drinks:
Bakery: The French Baker, Boko Bakery, Le Moulin de Provence
Pub: Chez Lucien, Sandy Hill Lounge and Grill
Restos: Ahora, The Black Tomato, Wang’s Noodle, India Café, Castle Shawarma, Shawarma Palace
Food stuffs/Grocery: Sausage Kitchen, La Bottega, Kettleman’s, Ottawa Bagelshop, Herb & Spice
Coffee: Planet Coffee, Bridgehead
Shopping:
Bike: Phat Moose Cycles, Re-cycles/Cycle Salvation
Specialty: Workshop, Victoire, Milk, Young Janes, Adorit, Lost Marbles, Allegro
Clothing: Norml
Music: Vertigo Records, Compact Music
Instruments: Spaceman Music, Ottawa Folklore Centre, Steve’s Music
Camera: The Camera Trading Co.
Recreation:
Cinema: Bytowne
Salon: BossArts
Venue: Zaphod Beeblebrox, The Rainbow, Atomic Rooster
I have to say, there are still a lot of places in Ottawa that I have yet to try and I look forward to the day when I return and can continue exploring this great city. In the meantime, though, I’m pretty thrilled that I’ll soon be living on the east coast in Halifax. I’ve heard such terrific things about this city and I can’t wait to see what it has to offer. I foresee a post on great Halifax finds in the coming weeks…
Is there going to be an auction nearby? Make sure you go!
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do a post. A long while – sorry!
I went to Saskatchewan last week and was it ever fun. Feeding cattle, going to a farm show, eating buffalo (yummmm)… There was one particular event that stood out, though, and I have to share.
The auction! It was an estate auction in Laird, Sask. and while I was told it was small in comparison to the others that often happen, it was still fantastic in my books. There were lots of household items including furniture, bakeware, appliances, books, and toys, but also farm equipment, trees and even a house. The main reason I wanted to share this is because of the creative potential that can result from an auction. Depending on where the auction is and who else is there, you may very well be able to pick up a great piece of furniture (or another item in which you may have an interest – craft supplies, bakeware, fabric, etc). While the item you pick up may need some refinishing or sanding or cleaning, you could easily turn it into a re-sale product or something great for your home or apartment. The potential is there folks, so go check out an auction! Fun and worthwhile.
If you live in Ontario, you may want to check out this link for auctions near you.
I saw some cool shit in Rome
Yeah, that’s right. I did.
Rome was absolutely fantastic and was a great way end to the trip. I was in the city for a longer time than all the others in Italy, so I could do a bit more exploring. You could spend months in Rome and it would be great. It’s such an amazing city and I’m sure I’ll be back one day. I must say I certainly enjoyed having jam-filled croissants, cappuccino and orange juice in the outside garden patio at 8am in only my sweater (in March). Yeah, I went back to reality when I came back to Ottawa and it was in the negative degrees.
Rome was one of the few cities were I actually did some touristy stuff: Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Baths, Vatican Museum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. I’ve posted some of my favourite photos from each of these places, but, honestly, I took so many that it would probably be best to check out my flickr account to see a few more if you’re interested.
What were some of the highlights? Well definitely the breakfast I mentioned before. Yum. That was the best way ever to start the day. The Roman Baths were amazing – they didn’t have the chaos that comes with all the tourists, such as at the Colosseum. It’s a beautiful area to spend a few hours, the landscape is amazing and the area is essentially a huge park, filled with ancient ruins. What could be better? I also really enjoyed Vatican City, simply because I’ve never seen anything quite like that before in my life. It was beautiful – there was so much to see and think about (trying to imagine how old things are and how they were made and used). The Colosseum was neat, too, especially when you try to imagine the events that went on there and the complexity of what the building was and served as. The Pantheon was interesting for its architectural qualities. Look it up on the web – there was so much symbolism in the way things were build.
Also, I can’t forget to mention that Rome had the best pizza place ever (Pizza Pazza). SO GOOD. Love pizza. Also love gelato. And cappuccino. Good food and drink add so much excellence to a city. Fantastic times!
Florence is cool
It’s true – Florence is cool. It was a great post-Venice city, a nice change of pace. Very different from both Venice and Rome. A city with more of an energy than Venice, probably due to the fact that you can actually feel that people live and work in Florence, but it wasn’t as large or metropolitan as Rome. Regardless, I really enjoyed Florence and would definitely go back. The leather market was good, the people were friendly, and the food and drink was deliciously fantastic.
Flickr
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