I've always loved Ottawa more than ever when I come home from traveling around, but before I had moved overseas I had never been away for more than a month or so. The beautiful parliament buildings and the Ottawa river, the canal, the trees, the cleanliness, the parks, the sense of security. What a relief to come back to.
This time, however, after being away for a year and a half, I'll admit it doesn't feel like quite the right fit. There are a lot of wonderful things happening in Ottawa, but often it takes a bit of time to get into. It's downtown core is pretty easy to navigate, but to truly know the city takes effort.
There are a few main areas worth noting:
The Byward Market & Sandy Hill
Centretown & Chinatown
The Glebe & Old Ottawa South
Little Italy, Wellington Village & Westboro
Some favourite bits I'll talk about:
punkottawa.com, Xpress's Best of list and the underground community
Aunt Olives, Victoire, Orange, Ragtime, Venus Envy, Workshop and other great shops
Ladyfest, Aunti Loos and DIY culture
Babylon, Zaphods, Black Sheep Inn, Cafe Dekcuf, and other bars
La Petit Mort and independent art galleries
More on the ups and downs of growing up in Ottawa to come...
Photo: Kara Watts
Clayton's basement, December 2006
Remind me to to talk about basement shows in Ottawa later.
Photo: Cait Powers
Dancing with Dario at Babylon during Chromeo's set
July 2007
Bustin' out moves with Pauline "Poppy" Garcia at Barrymores in Ottawa. Winter 2006.
I think this photo was by Paul Galipeau, thought it could have been Cait. Anyone?
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