We arrived at the University of Ottawa residence on Tuesday afternoon and kicked off the start of our visit with a haunted walking tour of the city. Our tour guide Marie-Pier gave us an eerie historical tour of the city. We learned that much of Ottawa was built on top of a cemetary which was mostly comprised of Cholera victims which they often piled in pits. Apparently, when building many of the modern buildings in the downtown region, workers discovered human skulls and various bones when they were digging the foundations.
On Wednesday, over half the group went white-water rafting in Beachburg, Ontario, while the rest of us toured the Byward Market, the Rideau Canal and the surrounding region. For some of us it was a fast-paced, exhillerating day in the rapids and for others the day was spent relaxing and strolling around the city.
Thursday was an educational day as we learned all about Canada's Parliment. We started off in the morning watching the "Changing of the Guard", which the student's thought closley resembled the ceremony in London, England, and took a tour through the Parliment Buildings. Our tour took us through the House of Commons, the Senate,the Reading Room, the Francophone Heiritage room and the Library. We went back to the residence for dinner which was a plate of Spanish Rice courtesy of Stephanie and headed out to the Museum of Civilization.
After walking across the provincial line into Hull, Quebec, we arrived at the museum to find that it closed at 8pm on Thursdays! Luckily there was a free show called "Mosiaika: Sights and Sounds of Canada" that took place at 10pm. We quickly got back to the Parliment Buildings and witnessed a phenomenal, creative display of the history of Canada. We all sat on the lawn infront of the parliment buildings and were awestruck by the beautiful artwork projected onto the face of the Parliment Building. Check it out - http://www.mosaika-sl.ca/mosaika.asp?lang=en
We are now excited to reach Quebec City! Stay tuned.
Katherine, Stephanie and Fraser
5:53 AM
7:17 PM
Day 3 and on
We last left our audience in Toronto. Since then, we have travelled to Niagara Falls and are currently residing in the Algonquin Vicinity (Maynooth, Ontario).
Aside from our questionable hostel in Niagara Falls, the group thoroughly enjoyed the sights and beauty of the region. We had the opportunity to ride the Maid of the Mist and see a fireworks display over the falls at night. The group also described Clifton Hill as a "Baby Las Vegas". We have pictures posted on our "Photos Page".
We then left Niagara Falls to start our camping adventure in Algonquin Park. We arrived late in the evening to find an uneven amount of buns, hotdogs and hamburgers and no grill. The idioms we've been teaching the students would have deemed us to be "up the creek without a paddle". We quickly made friends with a church group of campers who kindly lent us their barbeques to cook our dinner.
The following morning we started a canoeing trip with a very knowledgeable park ranger named "Kevin". We all learned 6 different canoe strokes and practiced them on a day long excursion up to Pog Lake, Whitefish Lake and Two Rivers. We also portaged across a bank to stop for lunch, many of us were exhausted. Somehow, we managed to get back all in one piece and we ventured out to find showers. We all made it back to our base camp and played a game of "Chubby Bunny" where we shoved as many marsh mellows that we could fit into our mouths. The highest number anyone of us could fit was a total of 7.
Today we had planned on having free time filled with canoeing and kayaking. This plan was rudely interrupted by a swarm of rain clouds and storms. Once we realized that our tents were soaked with rain, we checked the weather forcast to see how long the rain would last. The forcast called for rain all day and into the night. We quickly diverted our plan to include a dry hostel. At this moment, half of us are staying at the South Algonquin HI and the other half are residing at the Mad Musher. The students seem to be relieved to leave the wet campground and seek shelter in a warm dry place with a shower.
Tomorrow we plan to launch off to Ottawa. Stay tuned for more posts!
Katherine, Fraser, Cathie and Stephanie
Aside from our questionable hostel in Niagara Falls, the group thoroughly enjoyed the sights and beauty of the region. We had the opportunity to ride the Maid of the Mist and see a fireworks display over the falls at night. The group also described Clifton Hill as a "Baby Las Vegas". We have pictures posted on our "Photos Page".
We then left Niagara Falls to start our camping adventure in Algonquin Park. We arrived late in the evening to find an uneven amount of buns, hotdogs and hamburgers and no grill. The idioms we've been teaching the students would have deemed us to be "up the creek without a paddle". We quickly made friends with a church group of campers who kindly lent us their barbeques to cook our dinner.
The following morning we started a canoeing trip with a very knowledgeable park ranger named "Kevin". We all learned 6 different canoe strokes and practiced them on a day long excursion up to Pog Lake, Whitefish Lake and Two Rivers. We also portaged across a bank to stop for lunch, many of us were exhausted. Somehow, we managed to get back all in one piece and we ventured out to find showers. We all made it back to our base camp and played a game of "Chubby Bunny" where we shoved as many marsh mellows that we could fit into our mouths. The highest number anyone of us could fit was a total of 7.
Today we had planned on having free time filled with canoeing and kayaking. This plan was rudely interrupted by a swarm of rain clouds and storms. Once we realized that our tents were soaked with rain, we checked the weather forcast to see how long the rain would last. The forcast called for rain all day and into the night. We quickly diverted our plan to include a dry hostel. At this moment, half of us are staying at the South Algonquin HI and the other half are residing at the Mad Musher. The students seem to be relieved to leave the wet campground and seek shelter in a warm dry place with a shower.
Tomorrow we plan to launch off to Ottawa. Stay tuned for more posts!
Katherine, Fraser, Cathie and Stephanie
8:03 PM
Day 2
July has finally arrived and we have started our journey! With us are Carlos and Laura from Spain, Felix, Freya, Antonia, Oskar and Marc from Germany, Guilia, Rebecca, Paolo and Giancomo from Italy, and finally Adrien from France.
Last night we walked through China Town and enjoyed a refreshing Bubble Tea, today we did some orientation and the Germans were let down when they lost to the Spanyards in the World Cup game. This evening we also had a chance to go up the CN Tower and enjoyed it immensely.
On the way back from the CN Tower, the students got treated like royalty as they walked through the Royal York Hotel and were spectators as we passed by the Air Canada Centre. After a long walk through the Yonge-Dundas Square, the students were glad to return to the hostel and rest their sore feet.
Stay tuned for more updates and pictures!
Katherine, Cathie, Fraser and Stephanie
Last night we walked through China Town and enjoyed a refreshing Bubble Tea, today we did some orientation and the Germans were let down when they lost to the Spanyards in the World Cup game. This evening we also had a chance to go up the CN Tower and enjoyed it immensely.
On the way back from the CN Tower, the students got treated like royalty as they walked through the Royal York Hotel and were spectators as we passed by the Air Canada Centre. After a long walk through the Yonge-Dundas Square, the students were glad to return to the hostel and rest their sore feet.
Stay tuned for more updates and pictures!
Katherine, Cathie, Fraser and Stephanie
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