Yes, we have been and returned in one piece from the friendly country to the north of the U.S. and I must say, we loved it.
Starting at around midday in Porto Alegre, Clarissa, Nirlei, Cezar, Mauricio, Luciana and I hopped onto an aeroplane and high-tailed it (ha ha haaa) to Sao Paulo. Once in Sao Paulo, we boarded another flying vehicle and landed in the city of Toronto, when in Toronto, we jumped a train and choo chooooed all the way to Ottawa.
During our visit we managed to take in four of Canada's major cities; Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec.
So, starting in Ottawa we took in all the little Capital had to offer. That included a spectacular sound and light show projected onto the side of the 1927, Centre Block building on Parliament Hill called the Mosaika. This took the form of still and motion images set to music and displayed along the full length of the building. The most awe inspiring part clearly being when painted works of art appeared to rain from top to bottom. Beautiful/Lindo/Bonito!
Throughout our journey we stayed in what can only be described as the most opulent of hotels. The Fairmont chain is worldwide and in Canada in particular, it seems to have made the most of the Château's and castles around. In Ottawa, this is where we stayed;
A Castle, slap bang in the middle of Ottawa and a tourist attraction in it's own right.
My God was it HOT?! I know many of you reading may have this thought and I was guilty of it too; "If you live in Brasil, shouldn't you be tanned and used to the hot weather already?!"
Well, the answer is, I do live in Brasil, but despite it's confusing seasons, it isn't always warm (it is right now however) and as such, I am now a touch more coloured than my pasty English skin should be.
Our time in Ottawa was brief, but we saw the Rideau Canal, the Parliament Hill area, the all important drinking and socializing area- Market Square and the National Gallery of Canada.
The Gallery itself happened to be holding a Van Gogh exhibition, of which bore significant memories for both Clarissa and I, given that we attended a similar show in Amsterdam when we first met over 12 years ago and on this occasion, we managed to see, pick up and despite numerous attempts (we left it on the train to Toronto, only for a very well meaning woman to chase us down with it in hand soon after), not lose a print of the Almond Tree.
More to come...next stop- Toronto!
