Ottawa, Canada (May 22nd - 26th, 2009)

I probably won't be much of a tourist during this trip, but it's still going to be nice to have a little bit of time to continue to explore the nation's capital.
I love how bilingual this city is and I always enjoy a chance to practice my French. I get the feeling that I won't speak any French while I'm hear, but I'll definitely keep my ears open to make sure that I can understand all of the conversations that I eavesdrop on.
I rode by the Rideau Canal today and was reminded how much I want to come back in the winter to skate on it.
It's Ottawa Race Weekend (which I only found out about yesterday) and I thought it might be fun to join in the fun and sign up for the 10k - yes, impromptu, but I figure I could handle it. Unfortunately, spots are already sold out and race day was on the one day that I fore sure couldn't attend. There were spots left for the marathon though. Yeah, right.
I also rode by the Glebe sidewalk sale but was too exhausted at this point to stop. I was also being way too rational in that I really didn't need any more knick knacks to clutter up my life. It would have been nice to walk around, enjoy the sun and the atmosphere, but like I said, I was getting tired and actually needed to find some food as I was starting to feel a little bit off.
So, for food, I headed to Byward Market. Love, love, love, markets. I stopped in Le Moulin de Provence to pick up some stuff and noticed that they are madly flaunting the fact that Obama stopped by to pick up some cookies. The line for BeaverTails was long and I kinda wanted to take a break from non-essential food groups. I've eaten a significant amount in the past little while, so I wanted to give my body a break. We'll see if I cave in by the end of the trip. I also had the self control not to buy fudge from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
That's pretty much all I got done today, what with my mega nap and all.
I get the feeling that I'll only have time to pop into a museum for a quick visit and walk the core a little bit more, but I'm not too concerned. I'm not really here to be a tourist this time around.
Of course I'll get time to explore Carleton University, which is great too, because I love the feeling of being on campus. The buildings aren't completely inspirational here, but it still seems like a pretty inviting space. It probably helps that it's 20+ degrees.