A Little Bit About Ottawa

Ed's first stop was the Canadian War Museum.  

It tells the history of military conflicts involving Canadians.

These go back to the early days of Canada.

Seventeenth Century wars with the Indians, civil war between Brits and French Canadians, and a short war with the United States in 1812.

These are combat uniforms mostly 17th century.

Late 17th Century.  

Canadian forces were involved for the first time in a international conflict, fighting for England, in the war with the Boers in South Africa, 1899-1902.  This war was not popular in Canada.  However, enough Canadian volunteers were available to provide a viable presence.

Canadian soldiers shown in fighting position:

Canada was heavily involved in supporting England in WWI.  625,000 men and thousands of women participated.  There were 10% causalities.

British 8-inch Howitzer used in WWI manned by Canadian crews:

This man was the most celebrated Canadian Indian with multiple awards.  He became very famous for his contribution to the betterment of his fellow natives after WWI.

The expansion of Canadian armed forces in support of England during WWII is just astounding.  1.1 million Canadians served, 45,000 perished.  They had the 3rd largest Navy and the 4th largest Air Force.  They manufactured planes, ships, and war material in huge quantities.  

This is a Mercedes Benz Das Grosser command car used by Hitler

and the highest echelon of the Nazi party.   

This is a one man suicide submarine used to attack shipping in the 

English Channel after the Normandy invasion.  

They achieved little success with this.  It carried one slung torpedo.

The German name translates to "salamander."

 Cutaway of an American Sherman Tank showing the inside components.

The turret with the gun have been removed.

This is a very famous Canadian fighter from the cold war,

The Voodoo F101,

manufactured by McDonnell Aviation.

Battle tanks used by national forces are

in the background.  All the way on left is a Russian armored personnel carrier.

The famous German WWII Panther next to an American Sherman and the Russian T-34:

The German V-1 WWII vintage set up as a suicide weapon with cockpit built in.  (None were used operationally.)  Originally designed as a flying bomb,  

thousands were launched against London 1944-45.

Photo taken into the exhaust showing the shutters used to open and close

the combustion chamber of the engine.

This is a very fine museum for all interested in military history.  I visited this museum close to 30 years ago when it was housed in a different facility.  

It's very comprehensive and very well presented including Korean, Viet Nam, cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union eras.

Next stop was as a couple.  The National Gallery of Canada.

It's an impressive building, modern in design, devoted by half to Canadian art

and half to international art.  The building was designed by Israeli architect, 

Moshe Safdie, and opened in 1988 though the Gallery has been exhibiting since 1880.

The day was an overload and saturation for us both.  What an iconic collection.

The special exhibit, which we could not photograph, was of the French artist, Gustave Dore.

He was a painter, engraver, sculptor, and illustrator.

It's the largest display of his work anywhere in the world.  We learned a lot about the artist and gained respect for his versatility.

We had differing reactions to his work.  We were amazed at the scope of his work and his skill.  Susan did not care for the dark allegorical themes.  Ed found it 

imaginative, broad in scope, and prolific for Dore's 51 years on earth.

Parliament Hill from inside the museum.  

We visited these buildings the last time we were in Ottawa.

 The Main Hallway into the exhibit areas.

 Full of light.

A reconstructed chapel, music playing, a lovely experience

just strolling around in there.

One of the courtyards in the building.  Galleries all around.

Cute guy in a red shirt on the other side... 

One of the galleries.  Each provided a complete experience and flowed into the next.

We really enjoyed the modern art exhibits.  Something new for us...

Ed was amused by the Citroen CV model. Memories???  (His knew which way it was going.)

More of the interior

This huge spider is out on the front plaza.

The Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica across from the National Gallery.

Next door to the National Gallery is the Mint.  No photos again and a tour looking down on the minting of gold and silver collectible and investment coins.  They did the Olympic medals.

We got to try hold a gold ingot...about $650,000 worth of gold ingot.

Ed looks good in the company of gold.  Even the guard next to him thought so.

I found this interesting portrait outside the Mint...

Sir Nothing?

A view of the exterior of the Mint.

Our rv park came complete with this wonderful couple.  Cristina and Paul, who were camping across from us.  They live in Nova Scotia.  They were visiting Paul's 97 year old mom and sister in Ottawa, and headed to Alaska on their 5 month journey.  They may be traveling our way next year, and we hope to see them again.  Another of those chance meetings that

just feel so right!!

This is Randy and Karen Little.  We met Randy when he offered to help us at Starbucks while we struggled to download the Canadian maps on our GPS.  WiFi just too slow.

Randy took us to his home nearby and provided a large serving of Canadian hospitality while he downloaded our maps on his WiFi system.  How does one say thank you for that level of welcome?  Maybe one day they will come our way and we can return the favor.

Thought I would throw this in:  This is the current state of my computer, duck tape to remain open with keys falling off.  Works fine, but you can't close it, and the keys are
dropping faster than I can type.

Heard a rumor that there's a Costco in Halifax.....

We have a long drive ahead of us to Prince Edward Island.  We didn't realize it

is a province all it's own.  What we call a state is a province in Canada.

Gas news:  We have paid $120 for a full tank to fill the Jeep.