It's been a long and crazy week. The long weekend was exactly that: LONG. haha.

I spent half of it working and then Sunday afternoon I went to Ottawa with my parents because mom wanted to see the end of the Tulip Festival. We stayed in the luxurious Chateau Laurier and spent some time at Byward market. In the evening, we had a super delicious fresh seafood basket at The Fishmarket Restaurant. The market also has the best french bakery called "Le Moulin de Provence." It sells classic french pastries and croissants with steaming bowls of cafe au laits. Hmmmm hmm, yum!

The tulips were almost done but we were lucky to still see some of them. I took my parents up to Parliament hill where there was much Victoria Day activities going. Then on our way back to check out of the hotel, we were lucky enough to catch a boat going through the eight locks on the rideau canal. Watching the little boat move from lock to lock was fascinating (but it took a very long time!)

My mom also has a thing for the Royal Canadian Mint, so we stopped off to look at some pretty, shiny, and EXPENSIVE coins.

The rest of the week was spent in my favorite city: Montreal. It was a little hectic because the Metro workers had just gone on a walk-out the day we arrived. So traffic was "fun." :S This particular trip was interesting because the students went to all these places I had never visited before: the biodome, insectarium, botanical gardens, iSci (Science Centre), Pointe-a-Calliere (Montreal Museum of Archeology), and the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre. My favorite was the biodome. It is a self-guided tour of four different types of ecosystems: the laurentian forest, tropical forest, saint-lawrence marine and arctic and antarctic ecosystem. Pointe-a-Calliere was also really cool too because I liked studying archeology in university and they showed the original wall of Montreal before it was torn down. The iSci museum is currently hosting "le monde du corps 2 (body world 2)" which I was disappointed about missing when it was in Toronto. Unfortunately, the students did not go to see that exhibit. Althought, the Technocite, Eureka, and Snowbirds exhibit were still fun.

The holocaust museum was a very interesting choice for the students as it had a really sombering effect. However, the head teacher was most interested in this memorial centre and overall it was so interesting and eye-opening. You only hear about the holocaust, but never really knew the nitty-gritty details. Still, not the funnest thing to do on the last day of the trip.

So this weekend is filled with various activities. But all I really want to do is veg out and relax. yeeeeah!

Thanks to Sammy Champs, who founded New France in 1608, we now have Quebec City. Even better, thanks to Lord Dufferin, who stopped the walls (enceinte) from being destroyed, Old Quebec City is a World Heritage Site because it is the only walled city left in Canada.

I love Old Quebec City. It rivals Paris as being the most romantic place in the world.

Back from my first tour to Ottawa! And it was a success! In the end, it felt like being on any tour, except, instead of being a visitor going to a place for the first time, I was the guide who had prior knowledge of the surrounding buildings and areas. I must admit that it was quite daunting at first. In training, we are given a plethora of information. Of course, alot of it is background information that we need to know in case students ask questions. From this, we have to judge what is interesting enough to the kids.

As we all know and remember, grade 8 grad trips weren't REALLY about learning...it was more the experience of being away from home for a couple of days in a different city. So the task at hand is to find a way to stuff information and facts without boring them to death.

It is a lot different once we are older. We understand things alot more, and are more willing to learn. Since it was my first time as a guide, I went to all the guided tours at the various places we visited.

We went to Rideau Hall to visit the Governor General's residence. Her excellency Michaëlle Jean, has implemented a website that allows Canadian citizens to voice their issues and concerns in forums.

We also visited the Supreme Court, where the students participated in a mock trial. There was a federal court in session, so there were a couple of cameras and reporters standing on the side. This excited the students as they thought there was a celebrity in the midst!

The Parliamentary building tour was a little disappointing as both the House of Commons and the Senate were sitting. We did stop by the newly re-decorated parliamentary library before going up to the Peace Tower.

However, my FAVORITE places that we visited were the National Gallery and Canadian War Museum. The tour for the gallery was quite an eye-opening experience as the guide explained some important paintings such as The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West and Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire. The war museum is a fascinating place with an abundance of Canadian military history. As we were on our tour, we had a war veteran come up and explain the difference between artillery and guns. I also recognized two large bronze plaques with all the names of Eaton employees who died in WWI and WWII that were donated by the Eaton family. When I was younger, it used to be displayed on the 5th floor of the Eatons department store downtown.

Let's not forget the children. This group of kids were incredible. I have a feeling that it can only go downhill from here! Sure, there were some sticky spots involving several episodes of vomiting (which I am thankful to say that I did not particpate in) from the aggressive driving of our crazy bus driver, but overall, they were a really good bunch. Chatting with them reminded me how naive I was when I was little. It was quite refreshing to see it from an "older" perspective.

Next week: Quebec City