ELTIPS AV R T

Tourists snapped away at the historic clock tower overlooking the river. A double-decker drifted by.

It was surreal. I could’ve been in London’s Westminster yet I was in fact in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, close to their version of Big Ben.

The city retains an Old World feel in many other ways too, despite the country celebrating a century and a half of independence from Britain.

The mid-rise towers of Downtown and its broad, straight streets are distinctly North American, yet its low-rise red-brick neighbourhoods and lush riverside parks have a mellow European vibe, as do the salubrious bars and restaurants.

Ottawa is a bilingual city. Across the river is the French- speaking province of Quebec.

Street signs are in French as well as English and both languages can be heard – sometimes in the same sentence.

This cosmopolitan city is a far cry from its origins in the 1820s as an outpost for the newly constructed Rideau Canal. The small and rowdy logging town was suddenly thrust into prominence due to its geographical location.

Before, the Canadian Parliament alternated between Quebec City and Toronto in the English- speaking GO to Gatineau Park for the big nature that Canada is famous for. Next to the city yet with 139 square miles of stunning forest and lakes, with vast hiking, cycling and skiing trails. CHOMP on a BeaverTail, the popular local fried pastry shaped like the rodent’s appendage, available with toppings sweet and savoury. GO native and get on an axe throwing and craft beer drinking tour www. brewdonkey.ca.

As befits a capital, Ottawa has many great national museums, including the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Canadian War Museum. The most popular, and my personal favourite, was the Canadian Museum of History, on the Quebec bank of the river.

It tells the human stories of Canada, with a strong focus on the indigenous First Nation peoples.

Its vast Grand Hall houses over 2,0 2,000 historical objects depicting the their traditional cultures and the imp impact of the European settlers.

T The museum also has the best vie view of the Parliament buildings