OTTAWA: CANADIAN CAPITAL WITH A PUPPY
- coupkovasvatava
- Aug 20, 2018
- 3 min read
When Ottawa became a Canadian capital in 1850s, it was just a little shantytown called Bytown full of drunken lumberjacks. Since then it has become a beautiful city of almost one million people… and at least one dog. His name was Maverick, he was a huge boxer and I got to look after him for 10 days while his family was on holiday.
My house was not right in the centre but it was huge and most importantly full of toys. Mum told me that they belonged to a little girl whose name was Maddie, but I didn´t care much and I decided I was going to play with them like they were mine. And I can tell you I made maximum of it – I was so busy trying out everything that I didn´t even have time to put those things away! Mum didn´t seem to understand a bit…
I also had to take care of Maverick of course: in the morning he had his breakfast, in the evening he had his dinner and sometimes when I thought he was hungry in between I shared my meals with him. He was also very good on a leash and I wanted to walk him all the time but sometimes he spotted a squirrel and started to run so fast that I had to let him go. Then mum had to show me how good she was at sprinting.
When we were not walking our new doggie, we went out to explore the city. First two days we had a great company as well: our old friend Mira hitched all the way from Calgary and stayed with us for a bit. Together we went to have a look at the Parliament buildings and Rideau Canal, the UNESCO site and a technical wonder built in the first half of the 18th century. It was a shame it was not winter because when it is cold it freezes all over and you can go ice skating. It must be a great fun! There is a very nice part of Ottawa where only Italian people live and where they have small shops, cafes and restaurant. It is called Little Italy and we went there for a nice brunch. And then Mira had to go and it was just mum and I again.
Mum says we spent a lot of time at playgrounds but I think it was still not enough. Fortunately they had a lot of toys and funny activities almost everywhere we went. In Bytown museum in the oldest building in Ottawa I even joined a scavenger hunt and won an amazing pen. There were no real toys in Diefenbunker Museum, which is a huge underground bunker from the Cold War era, but we could touch everything and there were so many interesting things all over the place that I didn´t know what to grab first.
I also went to a library twice and joined a kid´s books reading. There were a lot of little people around but I was a little bit shy.
But I think the best I liked the Experimental farm with horses, pigs, sheep and heaps of cows that were so close that I could pet them and no one could stop me. And I even took part in ice cream making. It was so much fun that I almost forgot how badly I crashed on my “caa caa”.
The bruise my “caa caa” accident gave me was especially bad the next day when there was a very important social event happening. The street party in Westboro was full of music, bouncy castles, bubbles and balloons. The first one I got was just pain because it was coming off the stick all the time and eventually popped. But the second one was flying on its own and was attached to my wrist. I almost lost it when it ended by the very high ceiling in a French bistro but fortunately they had a ladder and rescued it for me.
So that was my life in Ottawa. Yesterday we cleaned our mess, said bye to Maverick and off we went. I know his family was coming home, but now when I learned how to say his name?! Mum says that in a few days I will have a new doggie. He better is at least as amazing as my beloved Maverick!
Your Annie
