Welcome back to Traveling with Krushworth.
On this travel guide, I'm in Ottawa, Canada's capital.
Not only is Ottawa the seat of government, but it's
known for its art and heritage.
May is a perfect time for the famed Tulip Festival.
Seventy-two years after Canada helped free the
Dutch people from the Nazis, the flowers are an annual gift
from the Netherlands for Canada's role in housing Dutch royals during the war.
To this day, the Royals and the Dutch Bulb Growers Association
sends 10,000 bulbs each a year, as a lasting legacy for the
assistance Canada provided during dark times.
2017 marks Canada's 150th anniversary since its founding in 1867.
Ottawa offers museums, markets, natural areas,
government buildings, but also surprises like yoga on Parliament Hill.
The Ottawa Jail Hostel, which was once the Carleton county
jail from 1862 to 1972, welcomes visitors like myself,
but the building has been named one of the world's most haunted sites.
The stairs are guarded by grim anti-suicide grates,
and the old cells have been repurposed into rooms.
The cell blocks are eerie, but no where near as strange as floor eight.
This is where the hostel remains much the same as
it was when the building ceased to be a jail 45 years ago.
This floor was the jail's Death Row, and the gallows remain in
a dingy, dark cell.
This place is giving me the willies and I have to sleep here tonight
On level four, so the ghosts, I really hope (they) stay up here on level eight.
Alright, and that's enough of the Death Row
Canada's Centennial Flame burns bright in the Parliament buildings'
public grounds.
Located just inside the Queen's Gates, the
monument was erected 50 years ago in 1967.
Built in the Victorian High Gothic Style, East Block
houses the historic office of Canada's first Prime Minister,
John A. MacDonald.
Massive renovations are ongoing on Parliament Hill.
If you're lucky, visitors might see the current Prime Minister,
Justin Trudeau on government business.
I had the opportunity to
see him open a monument to Canada's tradespeople.
The National War Memorial is a solemn place to
reflect upon the immense sacrifices all Canadian military
personnel have made in years long past, now and into the future.
The memorial was installed in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War
to remember those who served and made the ultimate
sacrifice during the Great War from 1914 to 1918.
In 2014, Corporal Nathan Cirillo was gunned down while
guarding the memorial.
The attacker stormed Canada's Parliament
where he was killed by former sergeant at arms Kevin Vickers.
Cirillo's death shocked the nation, but Canadians came
together stronger than ever to protect the democratic values our
forefathers fought for us to keep.
I crossed the bridge from Ottawa to Gatineau, Quebec to visit
the Canadian Museum of History.
Close to 20,000 years of
human heritage await travellers when they walk inside.
My first steps into the Grand Hall offered a striking view
of the Pacific Coast's First Nations, but other exhibits are dedicated to
indigenous peoples' art, culture and artifacts through the ages.
To this day, the museum, the country's most visited,
continues to be a necessary addition to the city and
nation's landscape, as Canadians find it vital to learn the events that shaped the past
The exhibits I saw are a true celebration of First Nations culture.
But, the facility continues to grow and change.
As the country celebrates 150 years, the museum opened
its new Canadian History Hall in July 2017 for all generations to enjoy.
Construction of Ottawa's Rideau Canal, which is now
a UNESCO World Heritage Site, started in 1826 as a
reaction to the War of 1812, which saw an American invasion of what is now Canada.
The goal was to form a secure waterway from Montreal to Kingston, Ontario.
Lieutenant Colonel John By oversaw the canal's
construction and Bytown, Ottawa's early predecessor,
boomed around the massive undertaking.
The 202 kilometre long waterway was finished in 1832
and is navigated through a system of locks and dams.
19 of those kilometres were man-made, dug by hand.
The Canadian Parliament buildings have existed at the
very heart of Canada since the early days of the country's founding.
The initial buildings on Parliament Hill were finished by 1876.
A massive fire, however, devastated Centre Block on Parliament Hill
and shook the young nation in 1916.
Early structures were
incinerated, but the country's famed Parliamentary library was spared.
Librarian Alpheus Todd had once asked for iron
fire doors, and these were shut before library staff fled
into the cold winter night.
Canadians have always been resilient and Parliament was rebuilt.
The library was absolutely unbelievable.
For me, it was if I stepped back to a time when early
Parliamentarians were using the knowledge housed within to shape the country's foundation.
To this day, bullets scar the wooden frame of the
library's door and the very walls of Parliament.
These are grim reminders
of the 2014 attack on Canada's Centre Block.
I was fortunate to have a tour of Canada's Parliament by John Barlow, MP for Foothills.
Visiting the Canadian Senate, the house of "sober second thought," was one of many
highlights.
Every morning as the clock chimes 11, the Turning of the Page
Ceremony takes place in the Memorial Chamber on
the second floor of Canada's Peace Tower.
A member of the House of Commons Protective Services
turns one page on each of the Seven Books of Remembrance,
including the First World War, to honour the wartime dead.
100 years after the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge, I
visited the Canadian War Museum to reflect on Canadians'
sacrifices as they took the French hill from the Germans in the First World War.
This battle was a first for the early nation, in that each
and every division of the Canadian corps fought side-by-side
on the same field.
I'm deeply proud of what these men did.
Two years previously, the British had attempted to take
the hill in 1915, but couldn't.
Enter the Canadians and these men were
unstoppable, using the creeping barrage to do the impossible.
To this day, the Vimy Ridge Memorial is a Canadian pilgrimage.
Two of my great-grandfathers fought at Vimy for the Canadians,
one of whom died, and is named on the memorial.
The Canadian War Museum houses a vast collection from
this country's service men and women who fought in conflicts
worldwide, and all guests should visit these exhibits.
However, nothing prepared me for the emotional experience
that was taking in the paintings from First World War masters, many
of which feature deadly battlefields to mustard gas attacks.
These works of art offer an entirely new take on war,
one that comes from the brush strokes of the very people who
lived, breathed and returned home to build the nation we have today.
Thank you for watching this Ottawa episode of Traveling with Krushworth.
To follow me to historic Quebec City, click the video link on the right.
If you'd like to return to Montreal, click the link on the left.
If you enjoyed the video, make sure you like it
And don't forget to subscribe to my channel.
Thanks for watching and see you next time.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét