We spent a couple of days exploring Ottawa and parked the Salty Dog in the Marina de Hull in Gatineau QC, the town on the opposite side of the Ottawa River from the capital of Canada. Gatineau (in Québec) and Ottawa (in Ontario) share the honor being integral parts of the capital metropolitan area bringing the population to about 1.2 million.

Pont Alexandra joins Ottawa with Gatineau and Ontario with Québec; Salty Dog cooling her jets in the Marina de Hull in Gatineau.

The city, although small, is a stunning one - you never get tired of the view of the Parliament buildings and the Chateau Laurier from the Ottawa River.

We took a free walking tour of the city taking in the Parliament building area, the War Memorial, Elgin and Sparks Streets, the Ottawa Locks / Rideau Canal and the Byward section of the city.

Changing of the Guard; War Memorial; National Gallery of Canada (r) - Basilica Notre-Dame (r)

Parliament Central Building by day and by night

Ottawa does not suffer from a lack of dining opportunities of which we took advantage before heading into fine dining-free zones. The Byward section offers a full range of Irish pubs and poutine joints in the shadow of the US Embassy. There, we tried the one Canadian treat we hadn't yet had: a Beavertail (sort of a fried flatbread with cinnamon and/or other topping options).

Byward Market; Beavertail Menu

Even though the Ottawa is not an old city - the first permanent non-aboriginal inhabitant of the area dates to after 1800 - there is a deep history in the region. This area was the westernmost leg of Samuel de Champlain's voyages of exploration in the early 1600's (he is embodied for posterity in a statue holding his astrolabe upside down). The Museum of Canadian History in Gatineau offers a fascinating and artifact-rich glimpse into the lives and history of the first peoples in Canada - definitely worth careful study if you are interested in the lives of the aboriginal peoples of North America. And of course, Ottawa is the home of the Stanley Cup, named for Lord Stanley of Preston, the 6th Governor General of Canada and hockey enthusiast.

Champlain Statue; Lord Stanley's Gift; and the Museum of Canadian History

We kept a keen eye out for what was happening in the Ottawa Locks however - as we were going to climb up them on Sunday morning and it looked daunting.

Ottawa Giant’s Staircase Locks (Rideau Locks 1-8); Rideau Canal at the top of the Locks looking north.