We spent a few days in Canada's capital, Ottawa. The city was really clean, pretty and quite warm. The hostel we stayed in was fab. It was a short walk from the main market area and just minutes away from the Parliament buildings. Only one block away was a bottle shop and supermarket which was very handy. There was one English lad working in the hostel who we had a few beers with. One of the workers was really weird. He looked like Homer Simpson, spoke so softly and tended to add so much detail into what he said. Often we'd catch him having a sensitive goodbye to travellers which made us laugh. On our first day we walked around town. We saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath a war monument. The Tomb was created to honour the Canadians whether they be navy, army, air force or marine, who died or may die for their country in all conflicts - past, present, and future. There were two ceremonial guards stood in front. As we made our way further into town we arrived at the Parliament building in time for the changing of the guards ceremony. On the grass in front of Parliament the guards dressed in their ceremonial scarlet and large bear skin hats perform the historic military tradition. The guard members are inspected by their officers while the band entertains. It lasts for about thirty minutes but we got the idea after fifteen and decided to wander around the grounds. We realised that there were free tours of the Parliament buildings so booked on a tour. Whilst waiting for the tour we ate an amazing Italian sausage hot dog with all the trimmings and had a look at the statues and monuments dotted around. Trotting back and forth in front of the building we spotted a horse ridden by a Mountie. At closer inspection we realised the horse had a Maple leaf imprinted on its back which looked really good. In the early afternoon we started our tour of Parliament. To get into the building we had to go through the usual security checks and metal detectors. It seemed to take forever! Finally the tour began. Our guide spoke fluent french and English and was studying politics at University so was very informative. As she took us round the rooms she explained the decor and numerous other facts. It was mainly Gothic in style, apart from the Parliament library which was wooden and hadn't been burnt down in the fire of 1916. Sadly we couldn't go into the best two rooms, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as they were in use. Following our guided tour we went to the top of the Peace Tower, (the middle of the Parliament House where the clock is). From the top we had awesome panoramic views of the city. Below us on the grass outside were a large gathering of people doing yoga on their colourful mats. At the bottom of the Peace Tower was the memorial chamber. The small room had stained glass windows and a book of Remembrance housing all 66,000 names of those who died in service. Each year the page displayed is turned to ensure every name is seen. Back in town we decided to have a browse around the market and surrounding shops. We found a cheese shop that had both Red Leicester and Shropshire Blue! The market stalls sold crafts, jewelery and food. The vegetable stalls had multi-coloured carrots!! Very strange! There were lots of gorgeous bakeries and we happened to go into the same on Obama had visited. Si treated me to a yummy fruit tartlet . The cakes were so fresh and looked delicious, but Si dragged me away saving me from clogged arteries! The next day we had a look in the Notre Dame Church. The detail and colours were amazing!! The interior of the church was painted brightly and decorated with carved features, stained glass windows and hundreds of statues of various religious figures. We crossed the road and chilled in the park for a while. At night we made our way to Parliament Hill to watch the thirty minute sound and light show called Mosaika. Using lighting effects, clear, detailed image projections and a variety of words, music and sounds we were told the story of Canada. It was narrated and all projected onto the Peace Tower and front of the main Parliament building. The free show was informative and very entertaining. Both me and Si felt that Canada had such pride in their nation and it definitely made us want to see more of the country.