Ottawa's a great city to live in. It's clean. Not much litter. The people are friendly. When I bike on the road, no one honks (as they do in Hamilton). The neighbours are talkative and seem not to be in a hurry, when chatting for a moment (or a 1/2 hour -- gotta' get used to that!). I've noticed more pan-handlers downtown than when we lived here last, 20 years ago. I wonder what the subtext of that is. Some things don't change. The Sound and Light Show on Parliament Hill is still pure feel-good Canadiana. Some things do change. Stuff that used to be free is no longer; e.g., when we first lived here, the musea were free; all of Gatineau Park was free (now you need to pay to get in to some areas, e.g, the WL Mackenzie King estate. Oh well, it's still worth the 8 bucks per car. The Ottawa Citizen is still liberal (must balance it off with the NP--which wasn't there 20 years ago). Byward market is still a great place to spend a couple hours. There are many good restaurants there. Preaching, again, behind the pulpit of the 132 year old church building to a congregation hungry for the Word is pure delight. We miss our children and grandchildren. We are thankful for Skype. We are thankful that one of our children moved here with us. Back to the biking thing: I really miss the Bruce Trail and the Niagara Escarpment. There are hundreds of miles of level and paved bike paths, but that's no fun. I need to find some trails! Where are the trails?
