Revisiting Ottowa By Proxy
April 18-19, 1991
The logbook entry pictured above documents a two-day trip we took to Ottowa, which was the only trip I ever had to Ottowa that I had a layover with enough time on the ground to do the tourist thing. And Ottowa is certainly a worthy tourist destination. It's not only the capital of Canada, but it's a really interesting and pretty city (especially in the spring!), and above all clean, with lots of tourist things to do. I visited the usual Canadian capital city attractions such as Parliament Hill, the War Memorial, etc. as well as the nearby downtown open-air market. And I jumped on a city bus and just rode around the city on the bus route admiring and enjoying the sights. I had a really good time. But this logbook story isn't so much about the trip to Ottowa itself, it's more about the memories that were brought up years later by more recent events.
Everyone knows about the Canadian truckers' "Freedom Convoy" blockade of downtown Ottowa in early 2022 in order to protest Canadian government Covid-19 mandates. There were any number of YouTube channels published by various individuals live-streaming those protest events. Some of those individuals streamed live video while just walking the streets. To me, it was really interesting to virtually "be" places that I'd actually been years before on my Ottawa trip. I saw that! I remember that! I was there! This was really brought home to me while I was watching a live-streamed scene and I caught a glimpse of the Westin Hotel in the background. Hey! That's where we stayed! So, pictured below, I reproduce an image from Google street view from a vantage point near the War Memorial, where you can see the Westin Hotel in the far background skyline.
Therefore, I titled this story as my revisit to Ottowa, this time by proxy, courtesy of the live-streaming YouTubers who published during the Canadian truckers' protest. Thank you, protesting Canadian truckers; thank you live-streaming Canadian YouTubers.
01-30-2023
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References for Non-Pilots:
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