A Capital Day

For the last three years we have had travel to Baltimore Maryland to connect with our grandchildren. From Penticton, the trip required three flights and 14 hours of travel time, getting up at 4:30 am PST and arriving to arrive  6pm EST. With their return to Ottawa we were looking forward to reducing our number of flights to two and travel time to 8 hours.

When we went to book our flights to Ottawa, we discovered that of 5 available flights from Penticton, only one would get us into Ottawa in two flights and 9 hours and it was fully booked. All other options were three flight minimums that got us into Ottawa after midnight and 12 hours of travel time. WTF! Our dreams were dashed.



But the upside, we had day to spend in Ottawa. Rather than make our son pick us up at that ungodly hour, we ubered into Ottawa and booked into a hotel a block away from his office where he could pick us up the next day after work.

It has been a decade or more since we last visited downtown but the parliament building hadn't changed much. The clock is still keeping time and the construction is on going. Given the age of the Parliament building, constant repairs and renovations are inevitable.

The elections are over and it is a Liberal minority goverment that will be hosting the 43rd session of parliament beginning December 5th assuming Justin can get  few parties on board to vote with him. We had booked tours into the Senate and Parliament.

The Senate (the Red Room) is being used for the Speech from the Throne so they had to remove all the furniture to be able to fit in all the politicians and media. We caught this action shot of the maintenance guy vacuming the carpet in preparation for the big event.

Parliament (the Green Room) was all buffed up and ready for the what we hope will be a partisan parliament where all the parties can get togther and MACA. (Make Canada Great Again). Silly dream really.

With a major 10 year renovation happening in the Centre Block, the parliament has been relocated to the West Block atrium, The atrium was once open air but has had a glass roof installed over it to keep the politicians dry.

Nonie took some time to enjoy a chat with Nelly McLung, one  of the Famous Five. In 1929, five women went to court and won the "Persons Case" that ruled that women are people under the law and made them eligible for appointment to the Senate in Canada. One more step in women's suffrage.



The scupltures have been relocated temporarily while the Senate is under construction.

We had one last stop before we were to meet up with our son. It has become a tradition for us, everytime we get to downtown Ottawa. A visit to the Beaver Tails kiosk in the Byward market and  schlepp down a decadent beavertail.

A big greasy hunk of dough smothered in butter,  sugar and cinnamon.

Only in Canada, eh!

Some Sunshine and a Goose

One more trip to the coast while the sweet autumn weather was holding out. First stop was a few days on the Sunshine Coast with friends. The question begs to be asked; "Is the Sunshine Coast actually sunny". The following is a direct quote from the Sunshine Coast Tourist Bureau, "The Sunshine Coast area's climate is characterized by mild, moist winters and warm dry summers. Temperatures on the Coast can range from a damp cold and wet 0C in winter to highs of 30C in summer. The annual rainfall is approximately 100cm (40".)"

According to the Bureau "the naming of the Sunshine Coast originated with the pioneer Roberts Family. Harry Roberts painted "The Sunshine Belt" on the side of a freight house located on the first wharf built in Roberts Creek with the name used to promote the area as a summer resort destination. In 1951, Black Ball Ferries started a car ferry service and used the term Sunshine Coast to promote the whole area. Real Estate salesmen jumped on the band wagon and the rest is history.

There is now a public ferry that runs from Horeshoe Bay in North Vancouver to the town of Gibsons which would be our base for the next few days.  You baby boomers may remember that Gibsons was home to Nick Adonis, Molly and Relic. The Beachcomers ran from 1972 to 1990, the longest running TV series in Canadian history.

We spent the day wandering around Madeira Park and Garden Bay with a pleasant hike along Garden Bay Lake.












We capped our visit with a fire, a bottle of wine and dinner on the beach.

A great end to our stay.

Tomorrow, we are off to Vancouver Island with the plan to spend a day on the Galloping Goose. A bucket list item for over two decades.

The Goose is a 55 kilometre rail trail that starts in downtown Victoria and terminates just north of Sooke. It is part of the Trans-Canada Trail. Kilometre 7 of the Goose is conveniently located across the highway from our family's home in Victoria. Previously we have cycled the Lochside Trail which intersects the Goose and terminates at the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay,. Here, we caught a ferry to Saltspring Island. I remember that it was a wet and rainy trip.

Our plan for the Goose was to ride from kilometre 7 to kilometre 50 and the Sooke Potholes Provincial Park. Our first 15 kilometres of the trail were mostly urban with lots of street crossings which had us stopping and waiting for traffic lights before we could proceed making for a slow trip.  The trail slowly morphed from streetscape to a nicely maintained bike trail that took us by Matheson Lake Regional Park.

A windy ride along the Sooke Basin.

Ignoring signs indicating that the Todd Creek trestle was under repair and map misread had us backtracking 5 kilomtres to Sooke Road.

We continued along Sooke Road eventually arrving at the entrance to the Park.

Spoiler alert, they are not really potholes.

The Potholes were created about 15,000 years ago by glacial activity that carved basins deep into the bedrock. Huge boulders were carried by the glacial melt swirled around the canyon walls carving out the huge basins (potholes).

Despite the misleading advertising and our sore asses, the park was well worth the 90 kilometre ride though I think we will drive next time.

Mountain High

Our plan this year was to spend 3 or 4 days in Yoho National Park in early October for some hiking and gentle mountaineering. An e-mail received in late August had us going in a new direction. Cathedral Lakes Lodge was having a sale, 3 nights for the price of 2. We have ventured into Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park on three other occasions so didn't hesitate to change our plans. The hiking is out of this world
.

This awesome park is located in the mountains 80 kilometres south west of Penticton. Access to the park is by one of  3 different hiking trails between 16 and 26 kilometres long and with elevation changes of between 1100 and 1700 metres or if you have a reservation at the lodge, a chauffeur driven ride up a scarey mountain road.

Our previous trips have always been in the spring when the weather can be a bit iffy.

On those trips, we have experienced lightning storms, snow storms, torrential rain and sunshine, sometimes all on the same day.

But no matter how nasty it got, the weather always seemed to break at just the right moment for that perfect photo op. Please note, that I crawled out to the edge for this shot, stood up long enough to take the photo then  immediately dropped back to my knees to crawl back from the edge.

My fear of heights was awoken in the Cathedrals.








When we booked it was with the hope that the weather would be a bit more stable as we were traveling in the fall.  We left Penticton in a torrential downpour. The rainy drive to the lodge's base camp required a paved 60 kilometre highway ride to the town of Keremeous, where we crossed over to the south side of the  Similkameen River using the newly repaired red bridge.

Photo: ourbc.com

Once over the bridge we had a 20 kilometre gravel  road to the base camp where we would meet up with our ride up to the lodge.

The rain stopped as we arrived to the entrance of the Park. Perhaps an omen of good things to come.

Our ride up the mountain was in a fairly new 4x4.  We loaded our gear for a comfortable and decadent  ride up the mountain.

On previous trips, our rides have been in a unimog truck. It is as uncomfortable to ride in as it is ugly to look at.

Photo: naturalplacesphotography.com

The rain started again as we powered up the mountain.

Just  as we arrived to the lodge the rain fall had turned to snow fall and we were greeted by a winter wonderland.

The park had not let us down. The weather was going to be as iffy as ever.

Our stay in the lodge included all meals, so a snowy hike around Quiniscoe Lake seemed like a good way to get our appetite in working order.


The hike was made a good deal trickier when even a small incline took some fancy footwork to stay on our feet.

At our age, not wanting to risk a hip, our 30 minute stroll around the lake became a 60 minute shuffle.









But the photo ops were still pretty good despite the falling snow.


A good end to our day with the hopes and dreams of a less iffy day tomorrow.

But iffy it was. Our plan today was to scale Quiniscoe Mountain, seen in the background.


We awoke to find it blanketed in a thick, dark, ugly looking clouds. The forecast said it would probably remain socked in for the day. Time for Plan B.

There are no lack of great hikes in the Park.

So we are off to Lady Slipper Lake.  As we climbed, things were starting to warm up making the trail less treacherous as the snow melted away.

It has been at least 20 years since we last visited Lady Slipper.

It is still as beautiful as it was then.


However, I'm a little older, have a little less hair and my beard could give Santa a run for his money.


Okay, and perhaps I have  a few extra pounds as well.

The weather improved with the snow melting away faster than an ice cream cone on a hot Penticton (smoke free) summer  day.



Things were looking up for tomorrow, our last chance to summit Quiniscoe Mountain.

We woke to a clear view of Quiniscoe Mountain with nary a cloud marring it's snow capped peak.

Quiniscoe Mountain reaches an altitude of 8,369 feet.

Since we had done the first 6,561 feet by 4x4, this would leave us with another 1,808 feet to hike.

The first 1,000 feet was a pleasure but then it became a bit of a scramble over a field of boulders.

As we clawed our way up to the summit, nasty dark clouds started to roll from the wet (SP)  coast and they arrived with a big helping of wet sloppy snow.


Let the "iffy" begin.

The final climb to the summit was slow as the thick fog and fresh snow cover were making it difficult to find the rock cairns that marked the trail.
Rule 1 in the Cathedral's is always know where you next cairn is before you move on. But as in the past, the iffy weather broke and the snow stopped just as Nonie  reached another summit and another great photo.

As we returned to the lodge, the weather just got better and better and better.


Photo ops as well.

Our successful day made our hot tub session especially sweet.

It was another great sojourn to Cathedral.

It's always nice when things from your past can be revisited and you find that they have managed to remain the same. Iffy weather and all.

Then We Took Berlin

Berlin was definitely on our bucket list and only a 5 hour train ride from Warsaw; how could we not go for a visit.

 Built in 1884, the train station has a beautiful glass roof which was letting in the sun as we arrived. The forecast for the next few days was sunny with temperatures in the mid 30's.

The station did not look like this after the Second World War. Nearly one third of Berlin had been destroyed by air raids, Soviet artillery fire and street fighting.




Photo: worldwarphotos.info

Berlin was over run by  Soviet forces in the early morning of May 2, 1945. In late 1944 the London Protocol agreement was reached by the Allies that had divided the country and Berlin into occupation zones that were to be controlled by the Allied Forces of Britain, USA and Russia with France joining later on.

Photo: Wikipedia

Germany and Berlin were to remain partitioned for the next 56 years. East Berlin controlled by the Soviets and West Berlin controlled by US, Britain and France. My first memories of Berlin were stories of the Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to keep German citizens living in Soviet controlled East Berlin from escaping into West Berlin. Between 1961 and 1989, 80 people were killed trying to cross the dead man's zone into West Berlin


Photo: Wikipedia

In the late fall of 1989, with the Soviet Republic collapsing, the Berlin Wall was opened between East and West Berlin. Dismantling of the wall began almost immediately.

There are only a few sections of the wall left standing. Amazingly, with the original graffiti intact in some places. In the early days of the wall, it could be very dangerous for West Berlin graffiti artists to tag the wall. In some areas, the wall was built a meter inside East Berlin so anyone approaching the wall too close could be shot at, as they were considered to be in East Berlin. I decided to chance it that day.

With only a few days in Berlin, we opted for an intense 6 hour walking tour of  the sights of Berlin.

The day was heating up as we started the tour.

Our first stop, the Berlin Old Museum.

The museum survived  while all around it were destroyed.






Photo: moddb.com

With temperatures in the 30's, our tour guide was awesome, taking us on only the shadiest routes.


Brandenberg Gate and plaza.

Home to some of Hitlers most extravagant parades, that is before the Allies arrived.



Photo: Wikipedia

Checkpoint C or more well known as Checkpoint Charlie was a busy crossing between East and West Berlin during the years after the war.



Photo: BZ Berlin

More cars and less tanks today.  Now a cartoonish tourist photo op complete with sandbags and guard.

We visited the Holocast Memorial, constructed in honour of  the  6,000,000 jewish lives lost in Europe during the war.

With the rise of Nazism in 1933, Berlin became ground zero for the persecution and descrimination of German Jews.

Jewish stores and businesses were boycotted. Book written by Jews were publicly burned. Culminating in 1938 with Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, when most of Berlins Jewish businesses and homes were looted and  synagogues destroyed.

Beginning in 1941, the city's 160,000 Jews were deported to camps around Europe and by 1943, Berlin was officially declared Judenrein (clean of Jews).



Photo: U. S. Holocast Museum. Holocaust Musem






Berlin Cathederal. Inaugurated in 1905, bombed in 1944.










Photo:Pinterest




Rebuilt in 1975. Currently going through another rebuild.


It has been our experience that owning a cathedral can be a real money pit.












Berling National Gallery survived the war almost intact with only the internal areas destroyed by a Russian incendiary bomb. 










Photo: Wikipedia

Now a beautiful place to catch a few rays and rest our tired feet in the 35 C heat. 

The Fuherbunker, home to Hitler for the last few months of his life.


He shot himself here, on April 30, 1945 and his body was burned in a garden near by. Or so they say?

Now, just a little dried up piece of grass in the middle of a parking lot. 


Any signs of what was here have been removed to avoid becoming a site for the Neo-Nazi movement to gather . 

Now you might be thinking that stories of death and destruction are the only things that Berlin has to offer a tourist. You would be very far from the truth.  

A planned 30 minute stop at a small Dali museum turned into a 2 hour romp through his life and art. He was way cool ahead of his time. 

Berlin is a young, vibrant city with lots to see and do. We only touched a little of what she has to offer. 

Of course for Nonie, no visit to any city would be complete without a visit to a fabric market. 

Finding this one, involved one subway, two buses and a several block walk to reach.

But, Nonie found her Zen and a few metres of fabric. 

Note: I file this blog on November 9, 2019, the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down.