Odds And Ends Within The City

I begin today in the Glebe neighbourhood. Late one afternoon, I saw this car, which I've featured before. I consider it hideous and ugly, but the car (and its owner) have drawn a lot of attention in social media locally, where a lot of people seem to like it. Each year, the owner seems to add more junk to it, and when he's not at work, he likes to drive around from place to place in the city.

This is a photograph from the archives- obviously with the snow. I featured this building for a theme day in February 2024. At the time, it was still in use as an office building, and there was a retail unit on the ground floor still in operation- a running store. 

This is a more recent photograph, taken just a bit further east along Slater. The building is presently being demolished in favour of a complete rebuild, and the company doing it is demolishing it from the top down- as you can see, there are less floors now.

The same building is seen in the background in this shot, from the west. Its neighbour is a former parking garage awaiting demolition. This is the garage I featured several months ago, the one that suffered a partial collapse of its roof due to heavy snow packed in one area (plus the negligence of the ownership).

One day I stopped in a downtown office building for lunch at one of the food vendors. I didn't buy from this one, but noticed this sign in the neighbouring unit to where I was buying from. 

And now a real cat. This one lives close to home from me.

I headed out to the campus at the University of Ottawa one day, with this church in mind. The Paroisse Sacre-Coeur d'Ottawa is a French language Catholic church on the campus, one of two Catholic churches found here. It is very contemporary- its predecessor building burned in a fire. This one is open to students during the week, as the university has some classes here. And it also has a beautiful chapel, with stained glass windows that I had intended to use for the theme day.

Alas, the building was still locked. I photographed the front bell tower.

On my way out, I passed by Tabaret Hall, one of the university buildings, and my favourite on campus in terms of architectural style.

The National Arts Centre has a statue outside of the great Canadian jazz musician and composer Oscar Peterson. This year marks the centennial of his birth. The statue, by Ruth Abernethy, was unveiled by the Queen in 2010, and feels very lifelike. Music by Oscar comes from speakers mounted overhead. In my opinion, one of the greatest in jazz, and the greatest musician this country ever gave to the world.

Just down the street is Confederation Park, which has a number of monuments. This is the largest of them. The National Aboriginal Veterans Monument pays tribute to indigenous warriors who have served the country in war and the military, featuring four warriors, an eagle, and four animals around the base- the bear, the wolf, the elk, and the bison.

Here it is from the far side, with the Lord Elgin Hotel across the street.

Some of our national birds could be seen in the park eating. They're all on the way south.

And I end nearby. The main Ottawa Courthouse shares the property with City Hall. I spent some days here in late April and early May. I was testifying for the Crown in a criminal trial. The accused was later found guilty on multiple charges. 

I personally found the experience of testifying in court to be draining, particularly since some of those days I wasn't testifying at all, just waiting. The building itself I have always liked.

Odds And Ends Within The Capital

 I have some odds and ends from the last few weeks for you today and tomorrow. I start with sunflowers, planted around the east end of the property at Lansdowne Park in the Glebe. These were taken around mid-August.

A couple of days later, when I went to visit the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, my route took me on foot from where I had left the bus. The path that parallels the Aviation Parkway goes through wild grasses, bordered by woods. An ideal late summer spot to be in.

After my visit, heading to meet another bus for the return trip home, I took two shots of Beechwood Cemetery from its east side. This cemetery is a national cemetery, including sections set aside as a military cemetery. Along with many regular people, those buried here include a prime minister, and many historical figures from the city and the nation.

I chose to head back by going through the St. Laurent LRT station a short bus drive away. The LRT line has an art program, with a work of art in or around each of the stations. This one features a large wall mural, titled I Gave It All I Had, by Andrew Morrow, done in 2020.

This is close to home. This summer at a park near my place, this statue set of a dalmatian and fire hydrant was put up.

A pair of sculptures downtown that I occasionally photograph- the hunter and the prey. They stand opposite each other, with an island of vegetation between them, outside an office tower. The deer is alert, as if hearing something.

At the far side, an Indigenous hunter has the deer in his sights, reaching for an arrow. But already too late- the deer's posture is as if it already knows he's there, and is about to sprint away.

This used to be close to home to me, as I lived just up the street beyond the next intersection, but I still see it often enough. The Chinatown Arch spans over Somerset Street, with the bulk of the Chinatown neighbourhood to its west, behind me. I photographed it one evening while in between buses, on my way home.

A regular feature, though one I haven't photographed from this angle. The future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library, which will share some space with Library and Archives Canada, is near finished at Lebreton Flats. I've normally photographed it from the north or the east, but this is from the west, on the bridge passing over the Pimisi LRT station tracks. 

As mentioned above, each station has some sort of art. This station has part of that art in the adjacent water channel. This channel is an artificial channel, from the Ottawa River that feeds into the Fleet Street Pumping Station nearby. A platform in the channel provides the base for this sculpture, which looks like an eel. Appropriate, because Pimisi means eel in Algonquin, a nod to the presence of eels in the Ottawa River.

A short walk away, I stopped at the Canadian War Museum, where the national, provincial, and territorial flags are lined up on the plaza, looking dramatic against that sky. I took advantage of my  museum membership to stop in for a bite to eat- they make a good burger in the museum cafe.

And I finish today with summer flowers. These are in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Glass

 The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo. For October, that theme is Glass. Check out how others are interpreting this theme right here.

The Ottawa Convention Centre is downtown, on the east side of the Rideau Canal. It replaced the former Ottawa Congress Centre, and has a dramatic glass wall, four levels of promenades, and a multitude of meeting spaces within.

I was not able to get up to the third and fourth floors due to events going on inside. I walked down the long ramp to the ground floor, photographing the wall of glass.

The National Arts Centre, Parliament Hill, the Government Conference Centre, and the Chateau Laurier can all be seen through the glass.

On the outside, I took some shots of the curving wall.

Taken from across the Canal inside the National Arts Centre.

My last shot, taken through another window in the NAC, looking towards the Chateau. The three-lined symbol embedded repeatedly in the glass is an NAC symbol.