It seems fitting that the very first vacation to a foreign place would be to Canada. The city of Ottawa to be precise. Why is that? For several reasons.

• Mostly, they speak English in Canada. I know there are some areas that speak predominantly French. We will try our best to avoid those areas if we can, and learn to ask questions if we cannot.

• Ottawa is driving distance. Which means a weekend getaway is doable.

• We know someone in Ottawa. So while still 100% unfamiliar territory, we can get help.

• There is a certain amount of familiarity with Canada, almost like the state that never was.

One thing to keep in mind, Canada is fully metric. They do not use the English System like in the United States. Kilos instead of pounds. Kilometers instead of miles. Liters instead of gallons. Canadian Dollar instead of US dollar. That last one was a joke. Watch your speed and driving distances.

The Drive North

The drive up from Maryland was uneventful, although the roads were surprisingly good, and we made good on timing. Google maps estimated a travel time of approximately 10 hours, and we came close to that. We took a break at St. Lawrence Islands before continuing on to Ottawa.

Documentation you need

The only documentation we needed to get into Canada was a valid passport. No visa required. This is good news because it means we can drive up as often as we wanted. Not that we plan to be here every weekend, but you never know.

What to do in Ottawa in a weekend

Visiting friends means we have more option than just site seeing or eating out. We got to have a real backyard barbeque and squirt gun battles.

That aside, we found time to visit a few of the tourist areas in Ottawa.

The Parliament and the changing of the Guards

Ottawa is the capital city of Canada and hence is the seat of parliament. There are tours available if you are interested in entering the Parliament, senate and the house.

But for a weekend trip, the changing of the guard may be an easier task. Not exactly London, but maybe similar? I wouldn’t know as I have not yet been to London.

Anyway, the changing of the guard in Parliament was about 30 mins marching and ceremonies as the tourist watched. Then it was over. We spent the rest of the day walking around parliament hill. Did you know that parliament cats are a famous fixture around Parliament hill? Well, it seems parliament squirrels and raccoons chased the cats away on the day we visited.

In the evening, the parliament building is lit up. There are plenty of people, maybe mostly tourists, who just sit around the grassy area to enjoy the sights, sound and weather.

Weekend Over

The weekend was fast ending, we spent whatever is left heading to parks around Ottawa, and spending sometime along the Rideau canal.

An interesting item about this canal. It was built to help defend Ottawa in case of another conflict with the United States. Thankfully, it was never needed for its intended purpose.