A full week in Ottawa

I arrived at the train station just about a week ago. I guess it's time to have a little look back over the last seven days.

Most importantly, I've found somewhere to live, which is a huge relief. I'll be moving in next Friday, and will be buying furniture in the meantime to be delivered then. I'll be the first tenant since the house was turned into apartments, so the kitchen is furnished (well, there's a stove and fridge / freezer), but nothing else is there. That seems to be the way that things work over here for unfurnished properties. But because I'm the first tenant, I'm also going to have to provide things like curtains, too - I've never bought curtains before, so that will be exciting.

I'm settling in quite well to the new routine now. I can't believe quite how much I've slept over the last couple of days - I napped a little yesterday afternoon, and then fell asleep at around 10:30, sleeping in til almost 8am this morning. I hope that that was me catching up on the sleep I've been missing for the last few days - I guess I'll find out tonight and tomorrow, really.

I've owned a bike for almost a week, too, and am still really quite sore from all the pedalling. Luckily, Ottawa is quite a flat city - though quite flat doesn't mean that there aren't hills. I think, for example, that I've almost got the hang of the gears. I've only been yelled at once by a passing motorist, which I put down to a general anti-cyclist attitude. I've not seen anything in the papers about a cyclist causing chaos on the roads, so I'm pretty sure I've not caused any crashes. I do know that there have been a couple of incidents, mainly due to me not knowing that I have priority at junctions, but I think I've got the hang of those now.

Otherwise.... I still think Ottawa's beautiful. The weather has been mostly fine - I've been fine in my tshirt for most of the week, aside from the one day where the wind made it feel like the arctic; and there was one evening where there was a thunderstorm I mostly slept through.

A couple of things that have surprised me - there are a lot more homeless people on the streets here than I remember, and it's not unusual to be stopped a couple of times every block to be asked for change. I guess at least in part it's because these are the tourist-y areas, so they'll tend to accumulate there.

Also, remember what I said about how as part of the preparations for winter, Canadian cities have tunnels and bridges between buildings so you don't need to step outside for months at a time? Guess which city that doesn't apply to? There's no tunnel system that I've managed to find - well, aside from the one at Carleton University, and that's not exactly a shopping area - and the only bridges are between the downtown Rideau Mall, and the Bay store on the other side of the street. Other than that, it's time to put on your thermals and wander through the snow.