Merry Christmas

Dear friends and followers, we wish you a merry christmas! Best geratings from Canada your Hans and Paul!

Ottawa Adventure (part 3)

 There's not much water in the canal right now because it's being drained to make it better for skating. Someone is keeping a very large boat in this lock over the winter.

This is the oldest building in Ottawa. It was built in 1826 and was part of the headquarters for 

building the canal. Today it is a museum about the history of Ottawa.

Ottawa Adventure (part 2)

 This is the library on Parliament Hill. It's not open to the public because it's only for people who work in the government. In 1916 there was a fire that destroyed most of the original center block of parliament. The library is the only part left from the original building.

 Here we are sitting in front of the Canadian flag along with the flags of each of the provinces and territories.

We decided to get a closer look at the canal so we walked down to see it. In about a month the canal will be frozen thick enough that people will be able to skate on it! Each winter, 8km of the canal in Ottawa is open for skating. It's known as "The World's Longest Skating Rink".

Next part is comming tomorrow...

Ottawa Adventure (part 1)

Here we are sitting on a bridge in downtown Ottawa over the Rideau Canal. The canal runs 202km from Kingston to Ottawa and was built in the early 1800's. This is the end of the canal where it runs into the Ottawa River. The strange gates are locks that let the boats pass between the different water levels of the river and the canal. 
 

Here we are outside Parliament Hill. This is where Canada's government meets. The tall tower in the middle is called the Peace Tower and it has a clock at the top that chimes every hour. Our host assures us that Parliament Hill is much busier during the summer, especially on Canada Day when there are people everywhere! 

 his is the view from the back of Parliament Hill. You can see it's a very tall hill! The building across the canal on the right is the National Art Gallery. Across the river in the distance is the province of Quebec.

Next part is comming tomorrow...