Rideau Centre and Rideau Canal!!!

Day 7 (Monday, May 20, 2013): Rideau Centre and Rideau Canal

Being in downtown, we looked no further than Ottawa's premiere shopping destination: Rideau Centre.  Apart from having some really awesome stores that operate internationally, such as Zara, American Apparel, and Aveda, it was connected to our Westin Hotel (which was a bonus!). It is located one block east from Parliament and is also connected to the Ottawa Convention Centre. We did some shopping in the morning and ate a quick lunch in the cafeteria. It had good store hours, at least on the holiday (Victoria Day), from 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m.

Lower level of the mall

The rest of the afternoon we spent walking along the Rideau Canal neighbourhood. The Canal is both a Canadian Heritage Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It winds through the heart of downtown and is connected to the Ottawa River. In the summer time, it is a lovely place for walking right next to it, which we did, and taking a boat down the canal. There are services that can take you from Ottawa to Kingston and back! In the winter, the canal turns into the world's largest skating rink. It spans 7 kilometres and goes from the National Arts Centre to Dow's Lake Pavillion. I've heard there are several booths and snack shops along it during the winter, and we look forward to coming back to skate on it.

Walking along the canal was sensual and peaceful. There are bike and pedestrian paths, which allow for easy strolling to get a great view of several sites in downtown.

Boats are travelling through the canal frequently