November 10, 2004

• Life in Ottawa? I think the results came back negative. Here all week! Try the steak.
• I recently moved from Ottawa after completing my 6th year of my (4 year) degree. Which school is your friend attending? I know good hangouts near each. Things to check out in the general city: - All the wicked cool museums, notably the museam of civilization (with the best view of the parliament buildings in the city) and the museum of science and technology - The Byward market for dozens of alcohol dispensing institutions, some of which are frequented by the PM and pals - Get yourself a student discount for the National Arts Centre, where you can see the best live theatre in the country for less than the cost of a movie - Speaking of movies, the Mayfair and Bytowne theatres are great for catching second run movies for less than five bucks. - Ottawa has a http://www.octranspo.ca/>Bus Rapid Transit system which is reasonably quick. The 95 and 97 travel the busways every five minutes. Monthly passes are about fifty bucks for students. There are lots of other cool hangouts I could tell you about. Send me a note. PS, did you see the CBC political drama H20? Man did that ever make Ottawa look alot sexier than I remember!
• I'm in Ottawa currently as well (after this term of school is over, I'm definitely arranging a meetup, damnit!) I'm out in the 'burbs so I don't have too much info on the city itself. For downtown living, I think the area around the Market or in the Glebe are great choices. It's also really easy to get into town from out in Nepean (where I am) or other further-flung places. I have a lot of friends living around McLeod, Lyon, and Bank, but my one friend had her house broken into, and the area seems less nice than others. You can see stats on crimes at the police website, which is a good way to gauge the neighbourhood. My favourite restaurants are Pancho Villa on Elgin and Baan Thai out in Centrepointe. Preston St. in general is great too, Ottawa's own Little Italy. I have a few clarifications on PopularEthics' otherwise excellent post (sorry to do this!) The Bytowne isn't only second-run movies - it's a rep cinema, and they show all the interesting, small, and foreign films that aren't at the multiplexes. (This is exciting after coming from Halifax, which I loved, but had no access to these movies!) They do also show a few repeats. Tickets are $9 or so, unless you buy a yearly pass and then they are $5.50, which is good. Also, the 95 comes every five minutes but the 97 not quite as often - can be 15 minutes at different times of the day. It's still an excellent bus (I take it five days a week!) and seriously, the bus system is really good in Ottawa, with dedicated bus lanes, roads, etc. etc. There's also light rail, but I've never taken it. I think it goes over to Carleton. My email is in my profile - feel free to give it to your friends, I don't mind answering questions, or meeting up with them in January if they want.
• Oh dear me, I can't believe I forgot the world's longest skating rink. How many other cities let you skate from school to downtown? Good times.
• I took the skilled worker test and scored 93%. (Pass is 67%.) So I'll be seeing you reasonably soon. Or I would be, had I thought of moving.
• Ottawa be plenty cool. In the summer you gots the Jazz Festival, the Chamber Music Festival (biggest in the world), the Fireworks Competition, the Buskers festival. If you come during the winter months there's also Winterlude, featurin ice sculptures, shows etc. Great biking trails in gatineau park across the river. And so on...
• Where are they moving from? They should bring lots of warm clothes, or their first shopping trip should be to Mountain Equipment Co-op. I remember a January in Ottawa where the temperature never went above -20 Celsius.
• Thanks so much everyone, this is great! I'll point my friends at this thread, and they may well take those who volunteered further contact up on their offers. You guys are the best. v-tachThey've lived in the US (the temperate middle and southern bits) all their lives, and have spent the last six months in Florence Italy. Yes, I think the cold is going to come as a bit of a shock...
• That World's Longest Skating Rink is the coolest. I visited Ottawa for the Ottawa Blues Fest last June and I loved it. A guy we met there said he ice-skate commutes to downtown on the river in the winter. How fun is that! As a visitor I really loved it. Fun places, nice green spaces (in the summer), great museums, and interesting folk.
• Best neighbourhood: The Glebe. Upscale, but not as snotty as Rockcliffe. Has real sidewalks, a main street with real (and interesting) stores, resto's and pubs, a fabulous recently reno'd community centre, good schools, and you can walk downtown to work in less than half an hour. Absolutely the best thing about Ottawa: The Works. And there's one in the Glebe now, so life is complete. Absolutely the worst thing about Ottawa: It snowed like a bugger on Monday, and that's a bit late for the first big snowfall.. (Melted, though. The snow won't stick around until December.)
• Absolute best thing about Ottawa: Oh no, not the Works! Instead the table d'hote special at the National Arts Centre for $20. Absolute worst thing about Ottawa: The Lyon Street on-ramp to the Queensway.
• Argh, no wait. The absolute best thing about Ottawa is the annual World Trivia Nite, when 2200 trivia freaks fight for the Trivia Cup. Serious brain power megawattage at Landsdowne park causes auroral glow in Eastern Ontario.