OTTAWA

Al was in Ottawa: September 2013
Number of days: 1
My score: 3/5

The great unknown and often forgotten capital of Canada (though not of Ontario, territory to which it belongs) is an interesting half day stop for fans of the Gothic architecture of its historic center and to know part of the story and politics of this country, and is a really interesting destination for museum lovers, because as any good capital, best national collections are here.

And why is this city chosen as the capital of what back then was the British province of Canada? In short, because it was on the southern border between Ontario and Quebec, whose two main cities by the time (and today), Toronto and Montreal, would not stop fighting to run the show; so Queen Victoria decided back in 1857 neither one nor the other; opted for what at that time was little more than a tiny lumber town in the middle of nowhere. Thanks to this decision, today is the largest cultural (in terms of patrimony, in terms of events loses to Montreal) and political center of Canada, one of the best cities to live in, and for tourists, a mandatory stop on the route through southeastern Quebec and Ontario.

THINGS TO SEE AND DO