September 9, 2009

Day 40

Today I set out to find my next Harry Potter book. It was chilly this morning so I thought I would start out with a latte. I was so excited to be able to get my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season and it be cool enough to wear a sweater. Unfortunately I couldn't find my book in paper back. They had the 7th but not the sixth. I checked out 3 stores and they only had the hardback - for $41.00. There is no way I was paying that much for a book that I am way too old for anyway. So I picked up The Lottery by Patricia Wood in the bargain section. It looks entertaining so we'll see.

One of the cool things about Canada is their huge push for recycling. They have blue canisters everywhere you go for your cans and bottles, and green canisters for papers. There is some graffiti around town, but overall the city is very clean. Hardly any trash. There are pleny of receptacles available.

There is even a place for recycle in our hotel room here in Ottawa as well as Toronto.

Here is the recycle but in Wendy's! I am impressed.

And you will not believe how many people ride their bikes here. You can even rent a bicycle from the hotel here. Granted, almost any large city in the world (with the exception of LA) has a large public transportation system. Toronto had subways but Ottawa doesn't. People line up for the buses though starting at 4:00. Canadians only work a 7 and a half hour day. I see women in skirt suits riding their bikes home. And only really young girls wear heels, most everyone wears flats. Because we are downtown there are a lot of multilevel business buildings, everyone wears their access cards on lanyards around their necks.

It wasn't too odd to see people riding their bikes in the street with traffic; streets are narrow and sidewalks are busy. What was odd was to see the skateboarder riding in the street with traffic!