Holiday Travels, Part 3

Morning…

We just woke up -- 9:30 here, 5:30 California time!! My body is not used to the time difference. Have to leave in about a half hour, and Derek is already pacing. Have to find a quick breakfast on the way or something. He went up to his friend's room, but his friend is still asleep, too! LOL! But his mom (a good German woman) is already out walking and looking for food to bring back to feed her son and hubby. *sigh* She has too much energy and dedication for me! Plus, the ice outside makes me really hesitant...


Afternoon…

Ottawa is just FILLED with hockey!! There are banners all over everywhere we’ve gone advertising all the tournaments and games going on. The TV is FILLED with hockey, and we see kids and people everywhere with sticks and bags. It’s awesome! There are dedicated hockey channels on TV here. The local TV channel for Ottawa is called “Rogers” and has televised some of our games! And, yes, some of the major hockey channels are televising some of the games going on here, but I don’t think OUR games. I think it’s the International Junior Championship games (IIHA) that Steve (my brother) is seeing in California.

This city is HUGE. Freeways everywhere, of course, with all the little streets just like downtown L.A. I’m LOST. I am SO GLAD I printed out a bunch of maps to some of the rinks before we left (there’s something like 200 rinks here in the Ottawa area!!!), as I have been the lead car for some of us to get to games. BUT – I never thought about how to get BACK. Hahahah! It’s not like we can just reverse the instructions, as the freeway ramps are NOT at every exit on both sides, one-way streets, etc. So we’ve been following one other person who has a nav system to get us all back home. And then with some of our side trip games and visiting, it’s like we have a long caravan so we can all get there.

Canadians are funny drivers! They’re a little “loose” about the rules – speeding like crazy on ice, in rain and fog, and probably do so in snow, too. Lines for lanes are loosely followed, too, weaving around slow cars, parked cars, or cars turning without a hint of slowing. Red lights are met with cars easing into the middle of intersections to wait for the light to change. Except for the speeding in bad weather, I’m finding it rather comfortable!

And they’re CLEAN! Oh, my gosh, EVERY single person I’ve seen go to the restroom washes their hands – and so thoroughly, too!!! The men I’ve seen come out of the restroom are still shaking their hands dry, too. Hardly any trash anywhere, either. Friendly, polite, and easy-going. But the French language rules here – it’s probably more prevalent than Spanish in So. Calif.! Most people speak English, though, so no problem.

We haven't explored the canal yet, but after our game in Quebec, another mom (who’s German) and I walked to the grocery store ("oh, it's just right down the street"). Ha! I should know better than to interpret “down the street” from a European as meaning a couple of blocks. It was probably ten blocks!! Ugh. She's a stout woman with boundless energy and I was huffing and puffing just trying to jog to stay up with her. LOL! Hauling four bags of food back was not an easy chore for me, especially over ice. But I did it without falling or dropping any bags! Yay!

Plus, we stopped at the bakery around the corner (really around the corner) on the way back, and we got a couple of freshly baked rolls to go with our dinner. ‘Course, it was obvious we were not from here, because we had no clue what the system was – we both asked for a bag to put our stuff in, when we were supposed to grab a tray and tongs and load the tray up and then take it to the counter to be bagged. LOL! I just find these little differences too fun!

So nice to have FOOD in our hotel room! Derek was STARVED. We have a full kitchen so I can cook and save money by not eating out. He only had part of a hot dog at the rink this morning (cooked the "French" way, of course) that I was worried he wouldn't even take a bite of. At least he ate some of it. LOL! We had pasta and crab and veggies and fresh-baked rolls from the bakery for dinner. Spent $56 CD for the week so far -- meals and snacks. So much cheaper than eating out!

We were in KEH BECK (Quebec) this morning. Hardly anyone spoke English, including the referees. Derek told me after the game that he had no clue what the refs were telling him on the ice because it was all some "foreign" language. LOL! And the girl at the concession stand didn’t know English, and we both finally realized we were both saying “hot dog” but we couldn’t understand each other. So funny!

Yes, this IS the Hockey Capital of the World! I have never seen so many types of noise makers for hockey, either! Bought one for about $7 CD.

Oh, BTW, our team beat the Quebec team. We have to win three games to go on to play-offs. For some reason, I don't get nervous until it looks like they go to championship games. Then I fall apart and get scared I'm going to "jinx" them by not doing the same things I have been doing! LOL!

Well, off to another hockey game -- not ours this time. It's the World Junior Championship game. I think the kids are high school or just out. Anyway, it's about 2 levels below the NHL I think and is supposed to be a big deal (clueless here; my hockey education doesn't go that far! LOL!) Maps... yikes! Gotta go look up how to get there.