Maybe my interest in Canada is due to the fact that most Americans tend to take our neighbor to the north for granted. I finally got a chance to see Ottawa, Canada's capital, including Parliament. It's a great city, about the size of Washington, but not the best bargain these days when I exchanged 100 U.S. dollars for 88 Canadian and gas was close to $6 a gallon ($1.31/liter). At those prices, it's no wonder people were biking to work like nothing I've seen (yet) in the States. We did not see one U.S. license plate. Still, the trip - and the mini-lesson in French - were well worth it.
