Juice Bottle Tours the Nation's Capital

Jesse Malm

Some of the few sober memories I have of my 4 month work term in Ottawa last Winter were the -50 degree wind, skiing in the -50 degree wind, and walking in the -50 degree wind. By the time Spring came around I suddenly realized that beneath the frozen tundra littered with dirty black snow, politicians and slush, Ottawa was in fact quite an interesting and beautiful city.

Wyatt Cheng and I finally decided one Saturday that we had to tour some of the historic sights in Ottawa. The day was ideal _ parliament was on vacation, the snow had melted, and the morning cartoons were reruns. Most important of all, my camera batteries only worked for temperatures above -10 degrees! We hopped the bus to Rideau Centre, a shopping mall in downtown Ottawa, and stopped for some lunch.

We were about to walk to the parliament buildings when I stopped off to grab a drink at a drug store. All they had was apple juice. We walked over the Rideau Canal towards the parliament buildings. We were both left in awe at the beauty of the government buildings _ the green oxidized roofs, the blackened stone walls, and the carefully cultivated gardens. We approached the central parliament building and watched the Centennial Flame, a single speck of heat in an otherwise frozen country.

Wyatt and I decided that in order to remember the sights of Ottawa we should include something similar in every picture. We decided to use my half-filled bottle of apple juice. We first toured around the parliament buildings, gazing upon the statues of former Prime Ministers. We tried to find Brian Mulroney's statue, but I guess it was in the shop for renovations.

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