2017-05-29

【Aiden in English】

        Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is our final stop of this so far chaotic journey. After day one, it looked as if we would never see our trip in Canada go anything like it did. The fact is that I woke up smiling in the morning, anticipating the next leg of our adventure shows exactly how this vacation turned around. Ever since the beginning, I thought that this Memorial holiday weekend was going to be a nightmare. Luckily, someone flipped a switch, and suddenly, everything fell our way.

        However, a large change was made to our tour schedule. The trip to Ottawa was postponed until the final day, today. It is a long trip, which means sacrificing certain events and attractions. Still, I believe it was worth it.

        Ottawa turned out to be a rainy day. Truthfully, I can’t be mad, as we’ve already avoided most of the storm clouds. And I don’t really mind a trip to the water park. Fortunately, mom was prepared and brought three umbrellas for each of us. Therefore, I wasn’t afraid to wait outside in a line to enter our destination, the Parliament of Canada.

        Driving into the capital, I must say, the rain really turned up a notch. It doesn’t seem as if the rain was a drenching downpour. It was, however, constant rain that slowly soaked through every part of my body. Due to the popularity, the Parliament had an enormous line out front. Security, tight as usual, stopped progress multiple times. Essentially, we were going to be drenched if not for the umbrellas. However, they did not protect our shoes, which meant we were going to be squeaking around all day.

        Parliament Hill is probably a place one wouldn’t wish to vacation. However, Canada is extremely friendly and welcomes all to its nation’s control building. Besides, what’s the point of hiring great architects if no one can see their work? The main spots on our to-do list were the library and the Peace Tower. In this case, both were successfully seen.

        After the long, long wait to reach the inside, we approached the library, the only true untouched building from the original. I say “original” because the first Parliament building was actually burned down in 1916. Fortunately, because of some quick thinking, an employee saved the library by closing the two large double doors leading to the room. Now, it houses thousands of books and resources for the government to use.

        Upon entering, the first thing I noticed was the circular shape. All the shelves were positioned at certain angles to lead towards the exit, which was neat. Furthermore, and possibly the most noticeable item, the giant statue of Queen Victoria. It’s a 10-foot sculpture sitting right flat center of the room, and to all those who enter, it’s impossible to miss. In a room full of color from the books and signs, the pure white statue stands out from the backdrop. It is definitely the most attractive characteristic of the library.

        In Ottawa, we also stopped by the Royal Canadian Mint, which the only real substantial image I remember would be the 99.999 percent gold bar. I think that gold sums up our trip this time to Canada: priceless. Truthfully, it was only a matter of time before something disastrous occurred at the airport. I mean, because my family traveled a lot, we were testing our luck every time we checked in and out of an airport. And I am not saying that there weren’t any problems in the past; this is just the first time we had to reschedule our entire vacation.

        So in the end, we virtually saw what we wanted to see. Canada has been quite a lot of fun, albeit the stressful beginning. But maybe next time, we’ll take a road trip instead.

        加拿大首都渥太華是我們這次曲折旅程的最後一站，在經歷了第一天遭遇之後，我們決然想象不出加拿大之行仍會如期進行。早起醒來我面帶笑容，希望以後出遊都能像這次度假否極泰來，雖說當初我蠻以為這次國殤節長周末時運欠佳，所幸的是一切不快突然間煙消雲散。

        偏巧碰上渥太華陰雨天氣，說真的我不能抱怨什麼，畢竟我們已躲過大片暴雨雲層，何況現在即使奔向水上樂園我都在所不惜。謝天謝地，媽媽準備了三把雨傘，讓每個人都能兵來將擋水來土掩，為了到達下一個目標──加拿大議會大廈，我不怕站在外面冒雨排隊等候。

        然而我們的活動日程全部打亂，渥太華之行只能推遲到最後一日即今天完成，言外之意某些景點必須從原計劃中刪除，不過我相信適當改動還是值得的。

        我承認，駛入加拿大首府雨量開始小了很多，好像不再滂沱狂瀉，但我渾身上下還是慢慢地被持續太久的雨水打濕。由於名聲在外，議會大廈前排起長龍，安檢照舊按部就班，而且動不動就中斷進度，要不是雨傘給力，我們准被淋成落湯雞，不過鞋子沒沾上半點光，這意味着我們腳底整天都會吱嘎作響。

        國會山莊大概沒被老百姓當成度假勝地，然而加拿大異常好客，歡迎五湖四海的遊人到政府立法機構作客。話說了回來，如果沒人出面賞光，何苦要聘用頂尖設計師打造奇蹟？我們感興趣的景點是圖書館及和平塔，就眼下進度而言，這兩項全都勝利在望。

        經過長時間風吹雨打好不容易捱到辦公樓內側，我們朝圖書館走去，這是唯一保持原貌的建築，我所說的“原貌”是因為國會大廈前身實際上已在1916年大火中燒毀，幸虧當時有位工作人員機智鎮定，及時關閉通往圖書館的雙層大門，才使其免遭滅頂之災；如今成千上萬的藏書成為政府部門有用資源。

        一走進圖書館，首先映入眼帘的是圓形結構，所有書架均與出口處呈一定角度，極其別致。也許最引人注目的莫過於維多利亞女王巨型雕像，它高達10英尺／3米，佇立在圖書館地面中央，凡是到圖書館來的人都不可能看不到。館內書籍符號五顏六色，潔白的雕像與周圍形成鮮明對比，堪稱圖書館獨一無二最有凝聚力的標誌。

        在渥太華逗留期間，我們還參觀了加拿大皇家鑄幣廠，唯一給我留下深刻記憶的當屬純度高達99.999%的金條，我想借用這個無價之寶來概括總結本次加拿大旅程。說實在的，之前機場遇到的挫折再所難免，我的意思是，我家經常外出旅遊，實際上每次進出機場都有運氣好壞問題，過去不是沒有麻煩，但重新安排全部行程確實是破天荒頭一次。

        最後好事多磨，我們終於達到預期目的。加拿大有許多值得回味的東西，儘管開場不利，不過也許下次我們應走陸地才是。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2016: Pittsburgh the Steel City, PA(賓州匹茲堡—鋼鐵之都)

2015: Sixth Grade Pool Party(初中一年級泳池派對)

2014: 2014 NPSD Art Show(2014年北賓州學區藝術展)

Crosslink(相關博文):

Canada(出遊加拿大)