🇨🇦 Is Ottawa Really That Boring? And So Many Homeless People… 😬

The weather was finally clear this weekend in Ottawa, so we headed downtown to see the iconic landmarks. Since parking is tricky, we left our car at a supermarket parking lot — if you shop there, you get 2 hours free! 🚗🛒 We’re not big museum people, so we just wanted to snap some photos and go. On the way to Parliament Hill, we couldn’t help but notice… a lot of homeless people. Some lying down, some sitting, some smoking, some asking for change… 😔 Honestly, it felt a bit unsettling. If I were alone, I might have been scared. There was also a crazy long line outside a beer store — not sure if there was an event, but the queue didn’t move for hours! 🍻😅 Parliament Hill itself was pretty grand 🏛️, but I later found out from friends that I missed the main building with the clock — the one covered in scaffolding! I thought it was under renovation and skipped it… lol 🤦‍♀️ One weird thing happened: while I was taking photos alone for a moment, two men approached and asked me to take their picture. I said yes — seemed normal. They led me to a quieter spot away from the crowd (in front of the main building, while everyone was around the Centennial Flame). When I asked for their phone, they said they didn’t have one and asked me to send the photos later. My friend noticed I’d wandered off and came over. After taking the pics, they gave me an email address and left. My friend scolded me for being careless — what if they had tried to snatch my phone or bag? 😳 It was a little scary thinking about it afterward… though one of the men seemed to have special needs — maybe autism? — and the other was guiding him gently. I still want to believe they meant no harm. After that, we went to see the Maman Spider sculpture 🕷️ and Notre-Dame Cathedral ⛪, then called it a day downtown. In the afternoon, we went to Britannia Beach 🏖️. It was packed! The first parking lot was full — we had to find another. The clouds reflecting on the water were pretty, but the water was a bit dirty. The trails around were nice though. Can’t wait to go home… my friend has already been counting down to this Friday 😅. #LifeInCanada #Ottawa #ParliamentHill #NotreDameOttawa #BritanniaBeach #DowntownOttawa #HomelessnessAwareness