Flip Flop Caravan

A Cautionary Tale: Never in my life did I think I would be labeled a smuggler, a bootlegger, a runner. But there I was, standing in the US Customs Office of the Ottawa, Canada airport, being accused of smuggling illegal goods into the United States. “Did you know that this offense carries a $250,000 fine?” [...]

As Canada’s Capital City, you might think that Ottawa is a buttoned-up hub of government, lacking in the way character. You’d be wrong. This city has some quirk! 10. The only free museum in the city is the Currency Museum. Go figure. 9. A large statue of French explorer Samuel de Champlain sits atop Nepean [...]

Its an epic matchup; like Ali vs. Frazier, Hester Prynne vs. Puritan Society, the Ninja Turtles vs. Shredder. Or something like that.As a current Washington DC resident, I admittedly have a strong bias; one that I was certain could not be swayed by a week in Ottawa. But I was caught off-gaurd by everything that the [...]

Newsflash – Ottawa is a pretty place. National Wat Memorial I didn’t have many expectations for Canada’s capitol city, but the “pretty” caught me off guard. Parlament Hill from the Museum of Civilization Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of pretty cities out there, but I think the true test of a city’s allure [...]

At the height of the Cold War, Canada’s Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, ordered the construction of a massive four-story subterranean bunker just 40km outside of Ottawa.The bunker (called Diefenbunker) was designed to house 535 of Canada’s military and intellectual elite in the event of a nuclear attack. Sure it sounds somewhat silly now (I mean [...]