The One With Long Walks In The Sunshine

Whisper it: I think spring has sprung.

It's going to snow again now for fifty days isn't it?

Ottawa is currently warm enough and the snow piled far away enough from the sidewalks to sack off the oppressive winter coat and leave the boots to one side and slip back into the flats - and go for walks in the sunshine. Now, when Lydia and I looked at the map for how to get from campus to the Canadian War Museum, at no point did we think the walk might take longer than say thirty minutes at most. This is why Lydia and I are in humanities and not Geography. In actual fact, the walk is about 45 minutes, and two kilometres must mean something different in Canadian than it does in British. However, there is nothing more gorgeous than the fresh spring sun on a warm afternoon. (I say warm, warm for Ottawa means plus two).

Despite having been in Ottawa since September, I'm coming to realise that there's an awful lot I haven't seen. So it was really nice to just keep walking from Confederation Park, which I've ambled through a million times, to going further and further past Parliament, all the way to the Canadian War Museum. Ottawa is not blessed with the most beautiful skyline - but the Parliament buildings more than make up for dodgy decisions by town planners in the 1960s.

As for the Canadian War Musuem...it's a depressing experience. I know that sounds like I'm stating the obvious, but there was no sense of this is war, but here's how we learn from our mistakes. Another stating the obvious thing to say is that the focus of the museum was very Canadian. And very determined to shake off any colonial connection. I also really could not swallow the gross patriotism displayed in the World War II section, knowing that Canada is indirectly responsible for the deaths of many thousands of European Jews. Especially hard to swallow was the art display for remembrance which featured a statue meant to represent Canadians' compassion and desire to help the helpless. Ironic? Yes. A lie? Also yes.

What was meant to be a trip to the museum rapidly became less about the museum and much more about Lydia and I just catching up - and we talked for hours. We also decided to check out Vittoria Trattoria for "research purposes" in preparation for Lydia's birthday dinner. Yes, it's slightly more pricey than say Zak's Diner, but gorgeous food and perfect rose wine, with even better company is worth every penny. And then we finished it with Gregory House MD and an in-depth discussion on the impact of names. All in all, a perfectly beautiful Saturday.

Idiosyncrasies and little things - these are the things to treasure in these last few weeks.