EXPLORING OTTAWA
The weather this week was beautiful for the most part. Dee dropped by Monday after work for a visit and a light dinner on my balcony. It’s such a treat that we can have time together so often now after all those years living so far apart.
Tuesday, I walked to the Parliament Buildings – the furthest I’ve set out to walk since my leg healed. Once there I spotted a ticket booth for the city tour buses. A waiting double decker bus was parked beside the booth. Before I thought much about what I was doing, I pulled out my Visa, purchased a ticket and boarded that bus – happily getting a seat with a perfect view.
Within minutes, off we went to see all the major sites of interest in downtown Ottawa; down the canal, around Dow’s Lake; across the bridge over the Ottawa River to Gatineau, Quebec, past the Museum of Civilization, and the Museum of History; back into Ontario to drive past Rideau Hall, the home of the Governor General and Rideau Cottage where the Prime Minister now lives instead of the reputedly decaying Official Residence at 24 Sussex Drive; then all the way out to the RCMP horse stables. This is where they practice the world famous Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, showcasing the equestrian skills performed by 32 cavalry who are regular members of the force. Unfortunately, no horses in sight today. We then returned to our starting point across from the Parliament Buildings.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 90 minutes fresh air drive - the wind blowing my hair and the sun shining brightly, looking at wonderful scenery, museums, government buildings and embassies - some buildings appeared as though they’d been built centuries ago. I would certainly do it again but next time taking the amphibius bus to visit sites on land and on the Ottawa River! Fun!
A side note - One building, the Government Conference Centre, that currently houses the Canadian Senate, brought back memories. I attended many meetings there during the first Free Trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. when I represented the Canadian Cosmetics, Fragrances and Toiletries industry on the Sectoral Advisory Group on International Trade (SAGIT)
The end of August is only a week away now. The days are getting shorter and you know the lovely warm weather isn’t going to last too much longer, so you must take advantage of every good day. With that in mind, on Wednesday afternoon, with the book I’m currently reading in my purse, I set off to Major Hill’s Park to spend an afternoon reading and people watching – more of the latter than the former.
Each time I walk in that direction I take a different route and find places I had no idea were almost around the corner from me. I tuck that information into my memory for future lunches, happy hours, shopping, or whatever.
The new movie, Golda, starring Helen Mirren, who is one of my favourite actresses, is playing this afternoon (Sunday) at the old ByTowne Movie Theatre. I invited Judith and Mimsie to join me today for a glass of wine to catch up on what we've been doing, then attend the matinee.
All was set until Mimsie phoned. Apparently a number of streets are closed today for a Pride Parade between the area where she and Judith have homes and where mine is. This would make their drive very difficult to avoid the street closures and the traffic, so our plans fell apart. We'll do it another time.
It’s also been an interesting week for other reasons. I began delving into the use of AI to help me with a document I was asked to edit. What an exciting learning experience it is - and fun. I’m a real novice at this technology that I thought was so new, but, I have discovered, has been used for years! For instance, if you use GPS you’re using an AI-enabled navigation system without realizing it. It’s only since Chat GPT became a ‘thing’ so recently, and so many people around the world are beginning to understand how useful it can be for them personally as well as for their business, that there’s been a lot of news about it.
I’m really not a techy person, but, because of my curiosity and desire not to be left behind, I’ve been able to keep up with a lot of the technology available to us today. Hopefully I'll become more comfortable with AI as I use it. Learning is definitely a lifetime experience and I’m thrilled to continue to learn new things.