For a rose by any other name...

DW and I were lucky enough to experience sun last week. Although it was a tad chilly and overcast, we ventured out and hit the regular Ottawa tourist sites (it was her first visit to our nation's capitol since her grade-school days). Along with another friend from school, we first visited the beautiful rose garden at the Governor-General's house. Apparently we showed up too late because the roses had been at their best the day before. However, they were still positively gorgeous, and I loved the bright and cheerful colors:

And of course, we had to use the scenery for an impromptu photo shoot:

We then made our way to the Royal Canadian Mint, to see where collectible Canadian coins and a whole slew of other nations' coins are produced. We also had the opportunity to pick up a real gold brick (and at over 20 lbs, it made me re-evaluate all of those classic bank theft films. I now find it inconcievable that one could walk out of a vault carrying a duffle bag full of gold bricks).

We were drawn to the Kodak picture-spots:

With a final trip to a local coffee shop for non-fat vanilla lattes, it turned out to be a truly splendid day. In two weeks one of my friend's from FL will be visiting, so I will have to plan another tourist-friendly visit of Ottawa. I only hope the weather improves from its current state (rain rain go away!).