With glowing hearts

When I planned my trip to Ottawa, it was from an epicurean point of view.  I thought we would go and wander the stalls at the Byward Market and delight in the sights and smells of what the vendors there had to offer.  I thought I would be returning home with tasty souvenirs from our couple of days in our nation's capital.  I thought we would listen to live bands at a few of the many pubs and have a few cocktails.  Now I'm not saying we didn't do any of those things Dear Reader....we did and it was wonderful.  So many shops and restaurants to stroll through hand in hand.  What I hadn't expected was how I felt when I stood at the foot of our War Memorial and when I visited Parliament Hill.  It caught me off guard because I have been to many Remembrance Day services, many cenotaphs and have seen more than my share of kilties on parade.  Maybe it was because I was in Ottawa.
 
The first morning there, we headed to Parliament Hill to see the changing of the guard ceremony.  We found a spot along the roped off front lawn and waited.  Before we could see them, we heard them. The old guard was marching toward us and their retirement for the day.

We could hear the bagpipes and drums in the distance, slowly getting louder and louder as they made their way to the front lawn of Parliament.  It must be genetics that causes me to feel the swell in my chest when I hear pipes.  It always makes my chest tight with pride and brings a tear to my eye.  And these lads did not disappoint.  They looked so smart, marching proudly and playing those beautiful pipes.  And that's when this trip changed for me.  I felt so proudly Canadian standing there watching this beautiful display of pageantry.  Then we heard the new guard coming with their brass band.

The  new guard was inspected, the colours presented and then the key to the guard house was exchanged.

With the old guard retired and the new guard in place, we headed over to the War Memorial, called "The Response".

I spent quite a lot of time in Confederation Square gazing at this monument. It was built between 1926 and 1932 and unveiled in May 1939 by His Majesty King George VI.  The tomb of The Unknown Soldier was dedicated in May
2000. 

We had dinner in the Byward Market at an Italian pizzeria and bar called "The Grand".  I had the spaghetti polpette for dinner and it was so tasty.  My husband had ordered a wood fired pizza, but he wanted the spaghetti when he saw it. It was a simple tomato sauce with parmesan that was so fragrant.  I shared with him and he shared with me for twice the tasty experience.

After dinner, we walked back to Parliament Hill.  I wanted to take a few more pictures and I was hoping there would be less people there than there had been in the morning.  We were in luck! 

We walked around the back side of the building and found beautiful grounds back there with statues of our past Prime Ministers and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

We spent the evenings in a few different pubs that had live music.....my favourite thing!  Next time we go to Ottawa we are going to take our friends Don and Brenda with us........while her and I shop in the market we can leave the guys here......

Time flew while we were there....There is still so much to be discovered there.....museums, restaurants, pubs, and the market.  I can't wait to go again.  We are already planning our next getaway in October......Montreal!  Any recommendations for what to see and do there Dear Reader?