It’s hummp dayyy! 🐫🐪🐫 Yes we had the tradition Canada breakfast. Timbits and coffee from none other than Tim Horton’s. The selection of donut holes is amazing. Some are even filled. Heather’s favorite is the chocolate with caramel filling….😋 They have the best coffee in Canada.

We got a good night sleep until 4 a.m. My feet after taking the day off from our daily average of 12k steps decided to cramp. I rolled out of bed tried to grab my foot and pulled my back out. I didn’t know what to treat first, so I tried stretching my foot and couldn’t move. I managed to stand, however bent sideways I gently put pressure on my foot. I thought about waking Heather up and decided to try and go it alone. Two Aleve, stretching my foot, and a full bottle of water, my foot was better. Now my back spasms would take longer to go away. An ice pack (we carry the cold chemical packs) and with a little more sleep it was tolerable. Heather says my lower back is really swollen. I know I am ready for another back procedure when we get home.

Busy streets and no parking available. Just as bad as Montreal. We finally found parking in the City Hall parking garage for a decent price. We just had to walk a mile more lol. Look out feet! Anyway, we scheduled a bus tour that was a water taxi as well.

The next pictures are of ceremonial soldiers guarding the National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Our bus/boat Captain Keith and tour guide Sade were great. Captain Keith is celebrating his 15th year of professional bus operations. He gives me a high five later like a champion hockey player. Go Dallas Stars! Sade talked about all the embassies from around the world that are here in Ottawa. Currently 130. The United States of America Embassy is the most expensive by far for all its security. While the Sadia Embassy is rumored to have golden toilets. He also mentioned that every day a new flag is flown over their parliament building and after its use it is given to a Canadian citizen who requested one being next on the list. Currently the list is 120 years out. So you might have to wait a generation or two to get your flag.

After our tour, Heather and I walked around the US Embassy and cameras were everywhere. It was kind of fortress looking compared to how open the other embassy’s were. We should have went in but we might have ended up in Somalia 🇸🇴 or somewhere halfway around the globe. Just saying…

Again we walked for hundreds of miles to see another basilica. The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica is Ottawa’s oldest and largest standing church, celebrated for its striking French Gothic Revival architecture and richly decorated interior. Timing again was against us. The outside is being restored and the interior was closed due to Ember Wednesday on September 16. It’s the Memorial of Pope Saint Cornelius (Pope and Martyr) and Saint Cyprian (Bishop and Martyr).

The city is so busy and like the rest of the world, everything is under construction.

So much beauty and cultural significance. There’s no way to see and experience it all in our short time here.

We walked back to the car. Bumper to bumper slow moving traffic and we made it to Walmart. You won’t find America made products here. Thanks to the orange man who try’s to bully the world. Canada Strong Babies!

As we sat eating our lunch on the patio of Pub Well of Sussex, just diagonally across from the US Embassy, a motorcade with at least 20 police motorcycles and cars went by. Everyone believed it was the Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney who was due back from France today and due to speak in Parliament tomorrow.

“Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” –Mark Twain