All the crazy things I did last night (and the night before and before and before), those were the best memories…
This March break was by far the best ever. I mean, it was better than all the school excursions, camps and exchange trips I’ve ever had in my lifetime. And that is not an understatement!
But first of all, I apologize for not posting for at least half a month. For the last week, I’ve been to…*cue the drumroll* Canada’s capital, Canada’s French capital and America’s economic capital. You guessed it- Ottawa, Montreal and New York City!
The following posts will be in three sections, corresponding to the cities because I have a shiatsuload of photos that will overwhelm your eyeballs if it were all in one post. And I definitely wouldn’t want y’all to fall asleep in font of the computer. Lemme tell ya, keyboards do not create the prettiest dents on your cheeks.
As with all trips we woke up bright and early. We departed by bus to Ottawa and we visited two major attractions- the Canadian Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, Quebec. (Ottawa is cut in half by the St. Lawrence.) Whenever we crossed the bridge over the river, us tourists were utterly confused as to which language was to be spoken- French or English!
But our first stop was lunch at the Byward market. Of course, “lunch” was just an itinerary term- we went shopping instead. The market had an array of handcrafted jewelery and there was one boutique that caught my eye.
They had crowded displays of nature- inspired accessories…
There were piles beyond piles of delicate flowery earrings and silicone coral laces.
More eye candy:
And now, real candy!
I actually laughed out loud when I saw this candy store label! This was actually exactly what I thought when comparing Smarties and M&M’s.
I also visited an Asian/ African-inspired furniture and figurine store:
I was pretty scared of knocking the stacks of giraffe statues and monkey masks over!
After lunch, we went to Parliament and I was amazed by the formality of everything.
The architecture was mostly Gothic and looked uptight and historic.
Our tour guide led us to a hall where paintings of British monarchs since Canada’s confederation were hung. A friend of mine pointed this out:
Now that is what I like to call strategic portrait placement! The painting appears to be of a young Queen Elizabeth II and there are stone columns in the background of the painting. There are also stone columns in front of the painting which makes the painting blend seamlessly into the building, if not for the frame! Creepy, isn’t it? It looks like a ghost is actually peering out from a balcony!
We ended our visit with a trip to the Peace Tower, the tallest structure of the Parliament buildings. The view of Ottawa from the tower was amazing!
Here you go, a typical winter day in Ontario- cold, grey and gloomy.
We were able to see the thawing St. Lawrence River from this vantage point.
This is what I wore on that day:
Wearing a scarf from Anthropologie, Nine West boots, dad’s sweater, H&M socks, a vintage cross-shoulder purse and a pair of Baleno jeans.
The next day, we went to the Canadian Museum of Civilization where I saw something with my own eyes for the first time, but have seen up to millions of copies before.
Look familiar?!
Then I headed to one of their permanent showcases where I snapped a photo of the mock- shell deposits:
There were also orange- light stencils that were projected unto the ground so that it resembled a forest floor.
Remember my obsession with shadows?
This is what I wore that day:
Jeans from the Gap, Nine West boots, an H&M scarf and a vintage cashmere green pullover.
On the way to various other destinations around the city, our tour guide told us a funny joke. At least, it was funny at that time. We passed a castle-like structure that our guide pointed out to us as the Cannaught Building. He said that some people think it’s named the Cannaught Building after one of Queen Victoria’s sons, otherwise known as “The Duke of Cannaught.” But this is not the case as the Cannaught Building is also Revenue Canada, where our federal taxes go to. The real reason behind this building’s moniker was that once you put your money in, you Cannaught get it back! Knee slapping wit right there. Why do I remember every single word from this “joke”, our tour guide was to repeat it 21 more times during the duration of our trip. And he does not suffer from Alzheimer’s contrary to what you might think.
We need to get t-shirts made. I’m not joking.
