2012-05-24 Ottawa, jour 54

You know, there's a little something that I wanted to mention in my blog but I didn't really get a chance to say it yet, so I decided that today was the day! Many of you found out that I was going on a long vacation only a few weeks or even just a few days before I left (and some of you only once I was gone!) To you, it may seem like this whole thing pretty much fell from the sky for me, that I'm lucky and that this is the kind of things that would never happen to you. That is why I thought it might be good to clarify a few things.

Ever since I started my career (May 2008), I have placed 10% of every paycheck in a saving account. I know not everyone is able to place 10% on the side but if you have a project, I think any small amount becomes significant when consistently saved over a long period of time. That's how I was able to afford my trip. At first I didn't really know that this was how I was going to use the money saved, but in a way, I've been saving for this trip for 4 years.

Secondly, I was able to have 2 months off because I made an arrangement with my employer to be paid less in order to have more time off. It is called "Leave with income averaging" and the concept is similar to what teachers do. They never work during the summer but during the school year, they are not paid their full salary in order to keep receiving money while they are off in the summer. I have been asking my boss for the permission to do the income averaging pretty much for 4 years. For 4 years, the answer was "not now" until she finally accepted.

And thirdly, I started learning Serbian approximately 2 years ago. At first it was just for the fun of it, I didn't even plan on traveling, I simply have a passion for other cultures. I suppose I do have a certain talent to learn languages, but I did work hard too. I bought grammar books and I studied them. Almost every day, I was using the software called Anki to review flash cards in order to learn Serbian vocabulary. And once my leave with income averaging got accepted, I took my learning more seriously and enrolled in a course. From September to April, every Tuesday evening, I was in a classroom learning Croatian from 6 PM to 10 PM.

So, I'm trying my best not to sound full of myself because I don't want to make this about me. What I'm trying to say is that nothing comes for free. If I hadn't saved up my money right away, I would never have afforded this trip. If I had given up asking permission for the leave with income averaging, I would never have gotten a long vacation. If I hadn't learnt Serbian, my travel experience would have been completely different. I would have had the same amount of pictures but I would not have had the same human contact. I would have felt like a stranger who just comes and goes and does not leave a trace. Instead, I am a stranger who made friends in different cities along the way. These people will remember me, and I will remember them. I think that by establishing friendships with people from a completely different cultures than your own makes you both grow.

Whatever you want to do in this life, you have to work for it. I'm a very very ordinary person, yet, I think I had a wondeful experience during these two months, something that not many people will get to do. Not necessarily because they cannot do it, but because they do not try. Not everybody's wish is to travel for two months, of course. What is YOUR dream? What do you need to do in order to get there? Then start now! Otherwise it will never happen.

Ok I'm done with little attempt at motivational talk :)

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Because of the hour difference between Europe and Canada, I was wide awake at 5 AM this morning. In a way it was a good thing because it enabled me to do the boring stuff such as unpacking, cleaning, washing dishes, etc.

When I was unpacking today I took this picture that I really like:

The same edition of National Geographic in 4 different languages: Serbian, Hungarian, English and German (I found that one at the airport in Frankfurt where I had my connection flight). I know, I'm a little bit crazy sometimes!

Then, as promised, I behaved like a tourist in my own city, took my camera and left the house. I took the bus to go downtown. I have a car but I prefered to take the bus for two reasons: First of all, parking downtown on a weekday is more expensive than bus tickets. Secondly, my level of energy is quite low and I thought that falling asleep on a bus is a tiny bit less dangerous then falling asleep while driving!


Here is one of the nicest buildings in Ottawa, the Canadian parliament!

Not as nice as Budapest's but still not too bad :)

In front of the parliament, there is a perpetual flame:

It burns days and nights, 365 days a year. I'm not sure what is the reason behind though!

Hidden at the back of the parliament building is the parliament library:

I think it is beautiful!

I laughed because I ran into annoying tourists here as well! I was just about to go take pictures of these sculptures but a big group of German tourists arrived and blocked the view so I had to wait until they were gone to go take my pictures:

This is a close-up of the same sculptures as above, to commemorate the fact that women officially became "persons" in Canada in 1929.

Terry Fox is a very well-known Canadian but I don't know if he is known world-wide as well. He has his own sculpture in front of the parliament:

From Wikipedia: "In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, Terry Fox embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although the spread of his cancer eventually forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 mi), and ultimately cost him his life, his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$500 million has been raised in his name."

He is a great example of courage, perseverance, endurance... I think he deserves his place right in front of our parliament.

Here is one of my favourite highlights of Ottawa, the Rideau Canal:

Not only can you take a very long and beautiful walk by the canal, you can also skate on it during the winter. The canal turns into a 7.8 kilometers long skateway and is very popular for both tourists and locals. Skating on the canal is definitely one of my favourite winter activity here!

Boats can get on the canal from the Ottawa river by going through locks:

Another very popular tourist destination is the Byward Market. I think we could call it the heart of Ottawa. During the day, we can see lots and lots of people shopping at the different kiosks and shops:

During the evening, we can see lots and lots of people eating in restaurants or having a drink in one of the pubs.

Today was a bit quiet but keep in mind that it was only 9 AM :)

Next I went to take a picture of the National Art Gallery, mostly to show you the big spider in front of it:

From what I recall, the spider costed $1 000 000 CAD. I'm not sure we should have paid that big amount for a spider but I must admit that I like it more and more every time I see it.

Right in front of the National Art Gallery, there is the Notre-Dame church.

The outside is quite boring but the inside is gorgeous:

I think this competes with the churches I've seen in Europe which is quite an accomplishment!

At around 11 I headed back toward my appartment because I wanted to go have lunch with my colleagues! Unfortunately I ended up falling asleep on the couch by mistake so I was a little bit late haha. It was very nice to see them!!! They decorated my cubicule :)

They made fun of me by installing a bed instead of the chair so that I can live in my cubicle. I tried the bed, it was very comfortable!

I can even work while lying down, the perfect life:

Of course I was just pretending to be on the phone, I'm still on vacation!!

In the afternoon my friend Zoe joined me for a drink at Starbucks, oh how I love Starbucks! Yes it's a big american company and it doesn't have the ambiance of a family owned coffee place but I still enjoy this place very much!

Zoe left early to try to avoid the traffic as much as possible so I decided to go to my favourite spot near my home, Britannia beach:

Today was a warm day but the beach season is not quite started yet so there wasn't that many people. The water is also not the greatest, there is often a sign that advises people not to swim because of the level of pollution in the water... But it's still a beach, 5 minutes away from my appartment by bike. Wonderful!

Speaking of bikes, Ottawa is a city that is extremely bike-friendly. There are over 170 km of bike paths in the city.

My bike:

This is great to keep in good shape while enjoying nice views of the Rideau Canal, the Ottawa river, etc. The bike paths are very well maintained and are often surrounded by trees so it's a good way to enjoy nature.

I hope you like Ottawa so far, more to come tomorrow!!