(Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

When I travel, I crave new adventures. However, sometimes it is fun to revisit previous experiences and even tie them together. That’s exactly what I did when I recently drove the length of Highway 31 from Morrisburg to Ottawa.

Morrisburg is a small Ontario town that remains very special to me. In December 2009, I was a torchbearer for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Torch Relay…and my assigned segment was in Morrisburg. It was such a unique and vivid experience: I’ll never forget the feeling of floating with the flame. You can read all about it by clicking here. However, when I retraced the route I ran on Ottawa Street 15 years ago, that supercharged feeling was gone. No snow, no festivities, no anticipation…and no cheering crowd! It is amazing how context can transform the routine into something truly extraordinary. I even had to go back to my old blog post about it and confirm that I was looking at the right street. But sure enough…it was indeed Ottawa Street where I did most of my Olympic run.

Heading north, I stopped in the similarly-sized town of Winchester. Although it is not that far from Kingston, I somehow had never made it to Winchester before. It has a strong agricultural history, and all the utility posts have a “cow” pattern on the bottom. I took a couple of pictures before returning to Highway 31. Before long, all the signs were referring to Bank Street, a major Ottawa thoroughfare, instead of Highway 31.

Bank Street was a mixed bag. The neighbourhood known as “The Glebe” was doing well…perhaps a little too well, as the new development at the south end seemed a little out of scale. But much sadder was the decay on Bank Street near Parliament Hill. So many vacant storefronts, and real human suffering. It was nothing like the vibrant street I remembered from 30-40 years ago.

But on the plus side, I also had a chance to revisit Murray Street…which I visited just 3 months ago. In fact, I ate out twice on Murray Street: once at each of the restaurants that I wrote about this spring. The first evening, I went back to Kochin Kitchen for some Keralan food. I had the Kodanadu Chicken again, but this time I paired it with Kerala rice…which has a red tinge!

The second night, I went to Khao Thai…which was full when I tried to go there in June. It was still fairly busy, but I was able to get a table. I had a spicy Gaeng Panang curry with some jasmine rice. It was excellent. It was a perfect blend of (most of) my favourite Thai elements: red curry, peanuts, coconut milk, and green and red peppers. And some peas! Yes, it was a little more expensive than the Thai restaurants in Kingston, but I’d have to say it was worth it.

And finally, as has become my Ottawa tradition, I included a “walk through Quebec”. Using two of the bridges that connect Ottawa and Gatineau, I saw many of downtown Ottawa’s highlights (including the Chateau Laurier – see photo at the very top of this post) in a whirlwind tour. Even though I have advised against ultra-brief visits to places just to say I’ve been there, I must admit that I still do like the idea of crossing borders. That’s good: in about a month, I’ll be visiting another country. More details to come!