Postcard: Ottawa

OTTAWA -- I've been to Ottawa too many times to count, and every time I come, I'm charmed.
It is a beautiful city, big enough to be called a city, but small enough to not quite feel like one.
Walking through downtown Ottawa is always a treat, whether it's the wealth of restaurant and bar options in the lively ByWard Market area, visiting the world class museums scattered around the city or strolling along the Rideau Canal.

The canal is especially remarkable, a landmark that cuts through the heart of the city and continues all the way to Kingston, Ontario about 100 miles to the southwest, connecting Canada's first capital city with its current one. In the summer it is a perfect spot for a run or a bike ride, and in the winter it turns into perhaps the greatest skating rink in the world.

But what dominates the Ottawa skyline is the Canadian Parliament building, most notably the Peace Tower.

It struck me as I settled in here for Team Canada's training camp to prepare for the World Cup of Hockey 2016 that in all of my visits to Ottawa, I've never even been to Parliament. I've visited the museums, I've eaten tremendous meals, walked along the Rideau Canal, but never seen the one building that puts Ottawa on the map.
As a proud Canadian, I decided this could not continue, so with Team Canada taking a day off from training camp Sunday I decided to remedy this situation.

It's funny, but a modern Canadian probably doesn't think too often about our history as British subjects. Taking a stroll through our Parliament will remind you in a hurry. Over the course of a half-hour tour through Parliament's Centre Block, you run across the likeness of Canada's first monarch, Queen Victoria, seven times. The Parliamentary library has a big statue of her right in the middle of the room.

Of course, Parliament is not just a tribute to the British crown. The walls are lined with pictures of our parents' Prime Ministers, as legendary Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip famously sang in their song "Wheat Kings," though they are in fact painted portraits.
The House of Commons where the government sits and debates laws is true to its name; it feels like a room for commoners. Based on the British House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster, the most striking thing about the room is how small it is, especially when you consider how many important decisions are made within those walls.

The tour continued through the Parliamentary library and the Canadian Senate, which is a room far more ornate than the House of Commons, and finishes with a trip up the Peace Tower, affording gorgeous views of the surrounding area.

After completing the tour, I realized something I had never taken the time to appreciate on my previous visits to this city, and that is just how perfectly suited Ottawa is to be the Canadian capital city. Walk down just about any street in Ottawa and you will experience so much of what makes up this country.
Sitting across the Ottawa River from Gatineau, Quebec, you will hear both of Canada's official languages, English and French, being spoken regularly, making Ottawa a truly bilingual city that blends the two founding cultures of the country seamlessly. You will see the multicultural tapestry of the country represented as well, with people from varying backgrounds living together in harmony. You will have fun, and you will feel safe, two things that make Canada so great.
I've never given Ottawa its due for representing the best that Canada has to offer, but it is something I will always associate with this city from now on.
Never change, Ottawa.