A Lovely Visit to Ottawa or Things You Can't Get in Toronto. . .

Took the train up to Ottawa at the end of last week for a brief work jaunt.  It's a city that grows on me each time I visit.  I love all the bike trails (and they now have a barricaded bike lane on Laurier - similar to some of the lanes they've installed in Montreal), and it's such a pretty city to walk around, particularly in the fall and especially with the gorgeous weather we've been having recently.

As with any travel destination, I'm always drawn to shops and restaurants that aren't available in my home city. On this trip, I booked a later train home to give me some extra free time, and I'm afraid I over-indulged in some retail therapy. Here are just a few haunts I like in the nation's capital city.

Places to Eat:
Best place to go for breakfast:  The Scone Witch  (love their lemon poppyseed and their herb & onion scones - I always get extra for the train ride home.)

Favourite place to pick up a latte: Ottawa's local chain Bridgehead  (they also have a awesome lemon scone - can you sense a theme here?)

Favourite Thai Restaurant:  Khao Thai.  They have a really yummy appetizer platter of satay chicken, spring rolls and minced pork served on orange slices.  I also like their peanut sauce and their pad thai which is not bright orange.

New Favourite Restaurant:  Zen Kitchen.  This was my first ever all-vegan meal and it was delicious. So many interesting flavour combinations.

Unique stores to check out:
Cool clothing: Roadtrip   Always something original and fun to see.

Housewares and gifts:  Zone  (they also have great costume jewelry and awesome bags - I've been looking for a new fall bag in an earthy tone and found this great two-in-one number. They can be used separately, or the smaller one attaches on the inside of the larger, allowing for important things to be enclosed with a zipper and other miscellany - knitting, a book - to be shoved down around it. It's the perfect size - I really love it!)

French books:  Librairie du Soleil.  Located in the Market, I always pop in for a browse. I like to see the different covers on the French editions of books I've read, and in my unending optimism that I'll make the time to improve my French, I usually end up buying something.  This trip, I found two beautifully packaged classics - the subject for another blog post once I get my camera sorted.

Yarn: Of course I have to check out local yarn stores and I really like Yarn Forward in the Glebe area.  I found some gorgeous chunky wool in a deep red colour and bought all four skeins that they had. Started my first sweater on the train ride home and have now run out with only 60% completed.  I'm hoping I can find more here in Toronto and the search will start in earnest next week.  I've modified a simple pattern and added some extra texture. It may all prove to be quite daft - I'll have to see how it looks when it's done. But it's been a lot of fun to knit.

Picked up some magazines, CDs and a summery shirt on sale as well - I was really quite bad. Ah well, it's all out of my system now. . .