Ottawa and Montreal Trip with my sister~

August 4 - August 6 2012

Day 1 Toronto to Ottawa
Day 2 Ottawa to Montreal
Day 3 Montreal to Toronto

Day 1 
We took the Via Rail from the Union station downtown Toronto. Took almost 5 hours until the arrival to Ottawa Ontario. Once we arrived to the station we immediately head straight to our hotel to check-in at Arc Hotel. It is a very nice hotel within walking distance to Parliament Hill!

First day we were so glad to be able to check in at 1pm which was when we arrived by bus. The hotel is clean and very modern. The pillows were so soft and the sheets were soooo soft. Just perfect.
After an hour of settling in our bags and taking a mini break.

We head out to explore Ottawa! Not much here, but I mainly went to see Parliament Hill, The Royal Canadian Mint, The National Gallery (only lobby and outside), street exploring and the market.
What I can easily say about Parliament Hill is that it is very beautiful and very Gothic inspired. Lot's of history and story can be told at each corner of a room.

We checked out the Royal Canadian Mint and did a small tour. There wasn't production during the weekend so it wasn't as much as I would want it to be. It was still interesting to hear about how coins are made from around the world. There were sheets of gold and silver worth millions in there ready to be made into coins! Pretty neat stuff and should at least visit once to learn about it. Royal Canadian Mint produces the most purest of silver out of the entire world.

$700,000 gold bar!!! security guards around and its chained!

Parliament Hill light show MoSaika

At night we were able to catch an awesome 45 minute light show by MoSaika. It's a beautifully choreographed lightshow displaying the history of Canada. Learn more about MoSaika here.

Day 2 and 3- Montreal

Took the bus back to Viarail and off to Montreal! Montreal...everything here is French. Which is pretty foreign to me. As I walk through the stations and the streets..all the advertisements are in French. Once we reached the station in Montreal the trip took about less than 2 hours. Upon arrival, we immediately took the bus to our hotel, Nelligan located in the heart of old Montreal.

The metro system is great here. It is much more fast and easier to follow. There are obviously more ways to get to one place since there are about 5 different subway lines.

Highlights on this stay in Montreal were; old Montreal street shopping and exploration, the Notre Dame, Au Pied Des Cochon (duck fat restaurant), desserts (Juliette & Chocolates), people watching, chilling at Hotel Nelligan. It did end up pouring on this Sunday but we were so close to our hotel we kept on taking our breaks there. Besides it is a beautiful hotel and so relaxing (5 out of 5 for me). It was an overall great experience here in Old Montreal. There were so many little boutiques and restaurants to go to. The cobble stone streets make this old town a very charming place to visit. It very much reminds me of Europe but of course not as great ;)

Old Montreal Streets

Hotel Nelligan

Notre Dame

On the next morning of Day 3 we explored what's left for exploring in Montreal and head out back to Viarail roughly at 3pm. I would definitely explore more of Old Montreal and try out some more desserts, go to lounges, seek out different foods, and shopping.