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Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is our final stop on this so far chaotic journey. After day one, it looked as if we would never see our trip to Canada go anything like it did. The fact is that I woke up smiling in the morning, anticipating the next leg of our adventure shows exactly how this vacation turned around. Ever since the beginning, I thought that this Memorial holiday weekend was going to be a nightmare. Luckily, someone flipped a switch, and suddenly, everything fell our way.

However, a large change was made to our tour schedule. The trip to Ottawa was postponed until the final day, today. It is a long trip, which means sacrificing certain events and attractions. Still, I believe it was worth it.

Ottawa turned out to be a rainy day. Truthfully, I can’t be mad, as we’ve already avoided most of the storm clouds. And I don’t really mind a trip to the water park. Fortunately, Mom was prepared and brought three umbrellas for each of us. Therefore, I wasn’t afraid to wait outside in line to enter our destination, the Parliament of Canada.

Driving into the capital, I must say, the rain really turned up a notch. It doesn’t seem as if the rain was a drenching downpour. It was, however, constant rain that slowly soaked through every part of my body. Due to its popularity, the Parliament had an enormous line out front. Security, tight as usual, stopped progress multiple times. Essentially, we were going to be drenched if not for the umbrellas. However, they did not protect our shoes, which meant we were going to be squeaking around all day.

Parliament Hill is probably a place one wouldn’t wish to vacation. However, Canada is extremely friendly and welcomes all to its nation’s control building. Besides, what’s the point of hiring great architects if no one can see their work? The main spots on our to-do list were the library and the Peace Tower. In this case, both were successfully seen.

After the long, long wait to reach the inside, we approached the library, the only true untouched building from the original. I say “original” because the first Parliament building was actually burned down in 1916. Fortunately, because of some quick thinking, an employee saved the library by closing the two large double doors leading to the room. Now, it houses thousands of books and resources for the government to use.

Upon entering, the first thing I noticed was the circular shape. All the shelves were positioned at certain angles to lead towards the exit, which was neat. Furthermore, and possibly the most noticeable item, is the giant statue of Queen Victoria. It’s a 10-foot sculpture sitting right in the flat center of the room, and to all those who enter, it’s impossible to miss. In a room full of color from the books and signs, the pure white statue stands out from the backdrop. It is definitely the most attractive characteristic of the library.

In Ottawa, we also stopped by the Royal Canadian Mint, where the only real substantial image I remember would be the 99.999 percent gold bar. I think that gold sums up our trip this time to Canada: priceless. Truthfully, it was only a matter of time before something disastrous occurred at the airport. I mean, because my family traveled a lot, we were testing our luck every time we checked in and out of an airport. And I am not saying that there weren’t any problems in the past; this is just the first time we had to reschedule our entire vacation.

So in the end, we virtually saw what we wanted to see. Canada has been quite a lot of fun, albeit the stressful beginning. But maybe next time, we’ll take a road trip instead.

【红霞译文】

加拿大首都渥太华是我们这次曲折旅程的最后一站，在经历了第一天遭遇之后，我们绝然想象不出加拿大之行仍会如期进行。早起醒来我面带笑容，希望以后出游都能像这次度假否极泰来，虽说当初我蛮以为这次国殇节长周末时运欠佳，所幸的是一切不快突然间烟消云散。

偏巧碰上渥太华阴雨天气，说真的我不能抱怨什么，毕竟我们已躲过大片暴雨云层，何况现在即使奔向水上乐园我都在所不惜。谢天谢地，妈妈准备了三把雨伞，让每个人都能兵来将挡水来土掩，为了到达下一个目标──加拿大议会大厦，我不怕站在外面冒雨排队等候。

然而我们的活动日程全部打乱，渥太华之行只能推迟到最后一日即今天完成，言外之意某些景点必须从原计划中删除，不过我相信适当改动还是值得的。

我承认，驶入加拿大首府雨量开始小了很多，好像不再滂沱狂泻，但我浑身上下还是慢慢地被持续太久的雨水打湿。由于名声在外，议会大厦前排起长龙，安检照旧按部就班，而且动不动就中断进度，要不是雨伞给力，我们准被淋成落汤鸡，不过鞋子没沾上半点光，这意味着我们脚底整天都会吱嘎作响。

国会山庄大概没被老百姓当成度假胜地，然而加拿大异常好客，欢迎五湖四海的游人到政府立法机构作客。话说了回来，如果没人出面赏光，何苦要聘用顶尖设计师打造奇迹？我们感兴趣的景点是图书馆及和平塔，就眼下进度而言，这两项全都胜利在望。

经过长时间风吹雨打好不容易捱到办公楼内侧，我们朝图书馆走去，这是唯一保持原貌的建筑，我所说的“原貌”是因为国会大厦前身实际上已在1916年大火中烧毁，幸亏当时有位工作人员机智镇定，及时关闭通往图书馆的双层大门，才使其免遭灭顶之灾；如今成千上万的藏书成为政府部门有用资源。

一走进图书馆，首先映入眼帘的是圆形结构，所有书架均与出口处呈一定角度，极其别致。也许最引人注目的莫过于维多利亚女王巨型雕像，它高达10英尺／3米，伫立在图书馆地面中央，凡是到图书馆来的人都不可能看不到。馆内书籍符号五颜六色，洁白的雕像与周围形成鲜明对比，堪称图书馆独一无二最有凝聚力的标志。

在渥太华逗留期间，我们还参观了加拿大皇家铸币厂，唯一给我留下深刻记忆的当属纯度高达99.999%的金条，我想借用这个无价之宝来概括总结本次加拿大旅程。说实在的，之前机场遇到的挫折再所难免，我的意思是，我家经常外出旅游，实际上每次进出机场都有运气好坏问题，过去不是没有麻烦，但重新安排全部行程确实是破天荒头一次。

最后好事多磨，我们终于达到预期目的。加拿大有许多值得回味的东西，尽管开场不利，不过也许下次我们应走陆地才是。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2017: Ottawa the City that Fun Forgot(加拿大渥太华—被欢乐遗忘的城市)

2016: Pittsburgh the Steel City, PA(宾州匹兹堡—钢铁之都)

2015: Sixth Grade Pool Party(初中一年级泳池派对)

2014: 2014 NPSD Art Show(2014年北宾州学区艺术展)