Monday morning I kissed Sheila Marie goodbye as she headed out the door for work, lugged my suitcase down the 4 flights of our building, loaded it into a waiting town car and just like that, I was back to life on the road. At the airport, I started bumping into other members of the Spamily as we all reassembled the circus from our various lay-off destinations. As we waited for the plane, we started swapping stories from the two weeks off. We really had flung ourselves far and wide during the break: Chris Gurr hiked across Britain, Jamie got a learner's driving permit, Jeff Brewer started working on his pilot's license, Ken visited Montreal and New Orleans, while many of us visited family and home.
The flight to Canada's capital city was a quick one. When we dropped down below the clouds on our approach to the airport, I was surprised to see snow on the ground! It was just the remnants of drifts and piles left in the shady spots, but still, it was the first snow on the ground I'd seen this year. (It snowed great, fat flakes one day while I was home in NYC, but it didn't stick...) Despite that first glimpse of snow, the weather here in Ottawa was quite pleasant most of the time. The snow had all melted by Tuesday morning and the temperatures were in the 60's most days.
Things went smoothly at the airport and I sailed through customs. Before long, I was in a taxi zooming toward the hotel. I often really enjoy the taxi ride from the airport in a new city - I like to try and guess at the character of the place from those glimpses through a speeding window. Ottawa made a good first impression. Like so many of the Canadian cities we've played, it doesn't seem to have American-style freeways. There are major roadways, but nothing with cars flying along at 70 MPH. My taxi mostly followed the Rideau Canal through the city giving me some pretty vistas.
Most of the company was ensconced at the Extended Stay Deluxe near downtown Ottawa. In general, I'm not a fan of the Extended Stay chain, but this was, quite possibly, the nicest Extended Stay in the world. My room was actually a two room suite; with a bedroom and kitchen/living room. It also featured a big balcony as well as a big desk and a small table where I could eat. I was quite pleasantly surprised!
TVFMHRW - Or more appropriately, The View From My Hotel Room Balcony
Readjusting to life on the road took a minute. Even in just the short while i was home, I got quite used to it. Quickly, though, I remembered the routines and habits. I did try to use this opportunity to change a few of those habits. I tried to examine all the stuff I carry with me in an effort to lighten the load in my suitcase. I guess we'll see how that went when I check in for the next flight...
Spamalot's home in Ottawa was the National Arts Centre (Le Centre national des artes in French - everything in Ottawa is labeled in both of the national languages). The building, designed in the shape of an hexagon by the architect Fred Lebensold, opened in 1969 and was constructed as part Canada's centenary celebrations. It's a huge building with four different performance spaces. All week we shared the backstage corridors with all kinds of other performers. The best part of the National Arts Centre was the Green Room. They had cafeteria service! While there were plenty of restaurants around, it was awfully nice to have hot food waiting at the theatre.
The National Arts Centre
The Green Room/Cafe
The interior of the theatre - Ken aptly described it as: "the Kennedy Center of Canada"
We welcomed a new company member in Ottawa: Steven Wenslawski will cover the role of The Monk until Lenny Daniel is well enough to rejoin the company. Steven's on the express track to the stage - we'll have a put in for him early in the week in Norfolk. As Ottawa is our final scheduled stop in Canada, it's also the last stop for John Beatty our Canadian electrician and pyro man. It's been enjoyable to have John around as our "Canadian Cultural Attaché" and I will miss him. Also on the personnel front, we held a group birthday celebration for the five Spamily members who had birthdays during the lay-off. The cake read: "Happy Birthdays" in celebration of Cara, Jason, Gurr, Jamie & David Havasi's birthdays.
The lay-off birthday gang blows out their collective candles
Rehearsal with Steven ate up one of my free afternoons. I spent another afternoon sorting out my electronic life. Sheila and I replaced our 4 year-old Dell laptop during the break with a brand new MacBook. (Scott called it "the super-Mac for the Mac Daddy" and made me grin!) I really like the new machine and I was able migrate most of the files from the old computer to the new before I left New York, but I spent an afternoon exploring the new software and reorganizing all my photos, music and financial information. That left me one free afternoon to really get out and explore Canada's capital city.
Ottawa sits on the south bank of the Ottawa River at its confluence with the Rideau River opposite Gatineau, Quebec. The city grew out of the construction of the Rideau Canal which was begun in the early 19th Century. During the War of 1812, the British feared that the Americans would blockade the St. Lawrence River and cut-off Montreal. They decided to build a canal to circumvent the river as a defense measure. The canal begins in Ottawa (then known as Bytown for the canal's supervisor, Lieutenant Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers) and travels south some 125 miles through rivers, lakes and man-made waterways to Kingston. The canal was completed in 1832. Though it was never used for its intended military purposes, it spurred the economic development of the region, especially the lumber industry. Today, it's mostly used by recreational boaters. It's the oldest continually operating canal system in North America and most of its original structures (including the hand operated locks in Ottawa) are still in use.
Eight manually operated locks (giant levers and winches open and close the locks) raise boats from the Ottawa river to the first section of the canal in Ottawa
Through Ottawa, the canal is lined with jogging, biking and walking trails.
In the winter months, it becomes a five mile long ice rink! They build stairs down to the ice and add bathrooms, skate rental sheds and concession stands. During our visit, things were all set up for ice skating; just waiting for the freeze.
When Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital city in 1857, it was a small, unruly lumber town. Ottawa was selected instead of Toronto or Quebec precisely because it was a small town: mobs unhappy with the government had already destroyed government buildings in Toronto and Quebec. The government also already owned easily defensible land on a bluff overlooking the Ottawa River (it was home to the army barracks built for the canal). The government buildings on Parliament Hill (as it was renamed) took shape in the late 19th Century overlooking the canal and the river.
The buildings of Parliament Hill overlooking the Canal
There are three buildings on Parliament Hill. They're creatively named the Centre Block, East Block and West Block. The Centre Block building was destroyed by fire in 1916 during WWI. Only the beautiful Library of Parliament survived the fire. The building was rebuilt with the same specifications and the addition of the 300' Peace Tower to the front of the building. The tower is a memorial to Canadians killed in service of their country.
The Centre Block of Parliament
JV & the Peace Tower
I toured the Centre Block building on Friday, learning about the government of Canada as I went. It's a parliamentary system (obviously, as the locale is named "Parliament Hill") composed of The House of Commons, The Senate and the Queen. The 308 members of the House of Commons are elected to represent "ridings" or districts. Currently, the members come from four political parties (The Conservative Party, The Liberal Party, The New Democratic Party and The Bloc Quebecois) with two Independents (the Green Party lost their two seats in the recent election). The party with the most seats selects the Prime Minister from their members in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister selects the cabinet (from among the other Members of Parliament and occasionally the Senate) to head the various government ministries, initiates legislation, nominates Judges, Senators and The Governor General (the Queen's representative to the government). 105 Senators are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and serve terms lasting until they are 75 years old.
The House of Commons and the Prime Minister are the dominant forces in Canadian government. The Senate rarely rejects bills passed by the House and the Queen's role as executive is ceremonial. I admit to not understanding the system of "Constitutional Monarchy" and to having been the stupid American on the tour. When my tour guide was explaining how bills are passed by both chambers of the legislature and then forwarded to the Crown for "Royal Assent" before they become law, I raised my hand and asked "Does she ever refuse?" "No." replied the tour guide while she looked at me like I was crazy. I thought, "So what, exactly, is the point?" but kept that thought to myself...
The Senate Chamber
The building is beautiful. It's very Gothic, more like a cathedral than our Romanesque capital. It's full of high arches, gargoyles and carvings. There's also more pomp and circumstance in their government than ours: the Speaker of the House (elected by the body from any of its members) wears a tricorn hat, carries a mace and is ushered in at the start of each day by the Sergeant at Arms in a little parade. The House of Commons has regular "Question Periods" where the Prime Minister and his Cabinet must sit and answer questions from the other Members. There are two thrones in the Senate chamber: one for the Queen (when she's in town) and a smaller one for the Governor General. I found my whole visit fascinating!
Vaulted ceilings in the rotunda
The exterior of the Library of Parliament
I really enjoyed Ottawa, the city. Though it's not an especially old city, it has a great deal of historic charm. ByWard Market is the historic market district in the city's Lowertown (unsurprisingly located down the hill from the Parliament). It was the center of the French and Irish neighborhoods (the English lived up the hill) and maintains a turn of the century feel. The main market building is home to several restaurants and souvenir shops while produce, meat, cheese and bakery stalls surround the square with all manner of pubs and more restaurants. It's easy to imagine the area full of lumberjacks fresh out of the woods with a year's pay to spend at the pubs and brothels (that have since been converted to boutiques).
La Cathedrale Notre-Dame with it silver spires commands the area just north of ByWard Market - a bastion of rectitude since 1865 against the drinkin' and whorin' just blocks away
For sale at the market is Ottawa's culinary claim to fame: the Beaver Tail. It's an oblong piece of fried dough offered with all manner of toppings - this one sports a maple butter topping. DELICIOUS, but when have I ever met a bit of fried dough that I didn't like?
As the nation's capital, Ottawa is home to lots of museums. I regret that I didn't visit the National Gallery, the Museum of Civilization or any of the dozen or so attractions, time just got away from me.
Sunday morning dawned bright, clear and cool, inspiring me to get out and about. I stopped at the busy Elgin Street Diner for a big Canadian breakfast: eggs, brown (wheat) toast, beans (yup, baked beans for breakfast!) and peameal bacon (what Americans call "Canadian Bacon" - a pork loin covered in corn meal, cured, thin sliced and then fried). After a breakfast like that, I needed a walk! On my walk, I came across:
The American Embassy
(I like to imagine that important Peameal Bacon trade deals were being worked out inside...)
I thoroughly enjoyed Ottawa. It was a great wrap up to Spamalot's time in Canada and a great city all its own. Monday morning I was in a cab again and headed to the airport, bound for the States again.
JV
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