Canada's capital city, in my opinion, represents the epitome of a vibrant and livable green metropolis.
From our home in the east end of the sprawling city, it's always a pleasure to drive along the Eastern Parkway to enter the centre of Ottawa. This is a verdant capital, with parks in every neighbourhood, with nudging proximity to the jewel of Gatineau Park, administered by the National Capital Commission, located across the Ottawa River in the Province of Quebec.

Within the city confines there is the large acreage of the Experimental Farm where experimental agricultural fields lie, along with ornamental gardens and the presence of tree specimens not expected to grow in Ottawa's harsh winter climate. And then, to cap that off, there is the Greenbelt, circling the city.

We headed first to Elgin Street, to drop by Mags 'N Fags, bypassing the tobacco products, intending to pick up the latest issue of a few art and antique magazines. The streets are always busy with passersby. Even churches in Ottawa take care to surround themselves with as much greensward and gardens as they can manage.

Once that was done, we drove over to the Byward Market, passing more parks, passing some of the city's notable buildings, passing the imposing structures built by foreign countries to house their embassies.

Walking about the Market is a study in fascinating sights, from the packed streets of people on their own missions to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, or to pop into the proliferation of little specialty shops, and to sit outdoors at the various cafes and restaurants, so plentiful in the area.

There's a few specialty cheese shops we always frequent, with their wide selection of both domestic and imported cheeses and we find the availability of cheeses we prefer at prices that aren't matched at supermarkets if they have those cheeses at all; reason enough for us to stock up when we're in the vicinity.

The drive home is always peaceful, as we pass the Governor-General's residence, with the summertime presence of red-suited, beaverfur-capped footguards standing duty in the heat and humidity, and the Aeronautical Museum we pass on the parkway as we make our way back home again, a trifling drive as far as time is concerned, taking us well under a half-hour for a satisfying little afternoon adventure in eye-filling scenery.