Well here i am in Winnipeg! i arrived into the bus station at 7.30am this morning! The bus journey to get here was ok - though i was ready to get off the bus when i got here! I was on the bus from Monday evening throught o this morning so 2 nights and 1 full day! On Monday i caught the bus from Montreal to Ottawa and spent the day in Ottawa so that i could see the nations capital but not stay. i am glad too that i chose not to stay there. I think i would have got fed up and partly because although it is again a very clean city - there are a lot more homeless people - or there seems to be - they are on every corner asking for money. I didnt actually arrive in Ottawa until 4pm! i was a little late as the bus from Montreal to Ottawa broke down - well the tire burst!! but we only had to wait literally 5 minutes for the replacement bus to come and pick us all up (the bus was full). Thats still wasnt enough though for the lady sitting next to me. over and above anything else she was smelly! So i took an instant dislike to that - it was one of those 'why me??!' moments - she could have sat next to someone else - i don't mind sharing a bus seat as long as they've had a wash and soap is not expensive!! And she wanted all the elbow room!! She was sitting on all of her seat and half of mine!! Anyway - she never stopped puffing and sighing for the whole journey - no matter what we just weren't getting there fast enough for her... and i have never seen anyone get off the bus so fast ever. It was like the bus was going to blow up if she didn't get off! Maybe she was going for a shower?!!!

I locked up my baggage into one of the lockers in the bus station in Ottawa and headed out toward 'downtown'. Well - i though i was heading to downtown anyway! The bus station isn't as close to town as i thought!!! I took a right out of the bus station; a little further along the road i asked a lady which way i needed to go; she said i could take any of the roads on the right and walk up into town but it would take me about half an hour!! It didnt matter i had loads of time - my bus didnt leave until midnight!!! I kept walking and decided to stay with the main roads! In the end i probably walked for about 40 minutes!! The main road into town wasnt that great. The area seemed a bit rough and for the first time i felt a little bit...threatened (i think thats not the word i want to use!!) erm..i just felt very aware of my surroundings and there was lots of people sitting on the pavement or on steps and begging insistently. As i got closer to town it wasnt as bad. I could see the Parliament buildings up in the distance and they were signposted too. That was where i wanted to be! The buildings were beautiful and the sun was shining too so they looked even better! I walked right round and up the back of the building to the top of Parliament hill and there was a stunning view out of Ottawa and also down onto the Rideau canal. In the winter the canal completely freezes and becomes the worlds longest ice rink. In the summer it is used for boating. i saw it in a bit of a transition phase! There were big lumps of ice floating along the water!

I then had a walk down to the market area - when i got there a lot of it was closing up but it was a cute little area - just over the canal from the Parliament buildings. At the top of one of the streets though i could see just what lady rachel had told me all about - Beaver Tail stand!!! The queue was huge!! So i joined the queue as i knew it would take me forever to decide exactly what i wanted anyway!!! Beaver tails are originally from Ottawa but the company now franchises all over Canada. Beaver tails are yummy and famous!!! After much deliberating i had half and half - half Avalanche (sweet cheese with crushed almonds and a drizzle of choc sauce) and half maple buter and walnut - yummyyy!!! www.beavertailsinc.com they are so famous there is a website!!!! At some point i want to try this recipe and see if i can make my own- maybe my super taleted brother will be ale to o it - he's so good in the kitchen...

"Beaver Tails"
Canadian Doughnuts
" If you ever visited Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in the winter months on the Rideau Canal, which is the longest skating rink in the world, they serve a sweet pastry, that is essentially a flat doughnut with sugar on top.

Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
5 teaspoons dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
4 1/4 - 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
oil for frying
granulated sugar for dusting
cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast, warm water and pinch
of sugar. Allow to stand a couple of minutes to allow yeast to swell or dissolve.

Stir in remaining sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs, oil, salt and most of flour to make soft dough. Knead 5-8 minutes (by hand or with a dough hook), adding flour as needed to form a firm, smooth, elastic dough. Place in a greased bowl.

Place bowl in a plastic bag and seal. (If not using right away, you can
refrigerate the dough at this point). Let rise in a covered, lightly greased bowl, about 30-40 minutes. Gently deflate dough, (if dough is coming out of the fridge, allow to warm up about 40 minutes before proceeding).

Pinch off a golf ball sized piece of dough. Roll out into an oval and let
rest, covered with a tea towel, while you are preparing the remaining
dough.

Heat about 4 inches of oil in fryer (a wok works best but you can use a Dutch oven or whatever you usually use for frying). Temperature of the oil should be about 385 F. Test by tossing in a tiny bit of dough and see if it sizzles and swells immediately. If it does, the oil temperature is where it should be.

Stretch the ovals into a tail - thinning them out and enlarging them as you do. Add the beaver tails to the hot oil, about 1-2 at a time.

Turn once to fry until the undersides are deep brown. Lift beaver tails
out with tongs and drain on paper towels.

Fill a large bowl with a few cups of white sugar . Toss beaver tails in
sugar (with a little cinnamon if you wish) and shake off excess.

You can also top off Beaver Tails with whatever preserves, pie fillings or even just powdered sugar.

In the queue for the beavertail i was behind a large couple (of people!) they ordered 2 sweet beavertails each and then.... just as the girl was about to charge them and take my order the big man said'oh actually can we have 2 garlc and cheese ones aswell please!!!!' oh my goodness... i thought - i dont want to be unkind but do you each really need to eat 3 beavertails!!!!! Plus they were now holding my order up!!!haha! Im not sure ow much a savoury one wouldwork - garlic and cheese wasnt quite as appealing!

I enjoyed Ottawa very very much and the weather was very sunny - incredibly cold but the sun made the evening so beautiful. I walked back to the bus station a much more direct route than i had when i walked into the city!! It only took me abot 30 minutes - i was glad to e getting back there as the night was setting in and more andmore homeless people seemed to be coming out and i again i did feel a little aware of my surroundings - this really was the first time i had this feeling while being in Canada. When i arrived back in the bus station i cold see a lady sitting on her own at the same bus stand i wold be leaving from. I was sure she wouldnt be getting on the same bus as me because i was there 3 hours early!!!! She kept looking at me in a strange sort of way. I made my over with all my bas out of the storage locker and sat down to read my book. I could feel the ladies eyes on me! ............