Canadia

Headphones

That's where Canadians come from, right?

I'm off to Ottawa next week for work and have the grand total of about seven hours loose on Thursday - what's the real highlight I should fill it with?

If no highlight, is there a good six string shop?

littlegreenman

RandallFlagg

Stay in your hotel room, put on some porn, raid the mini bar and fap like there's no tomorrow.

Nitefly

Learn how to play this:



It will keep you busy, I'm sure! 

Whitecat

Steve's Music is going to be probably the most interesting for guitars etc - I say probably because I haven't been to one in many years (the original is in Toronto and is famous for having stereotypically rude sales staff, but they had the best selection of stuff back in the day). Don't go by their website - they cannot do e-commerce, by the looks of it - they have far more in store than online.

There's a Long & McQuade too - they are basically Canada's Guitar Center but smaller in every possible way. Sometimes they get neat used stuff in, otherwise it'll be mostly the same kinda stuff PMT or GAK has. The £ isn't strong at the moment but the Canadian dollar isn't doing that well against the US$ either so the savings you might make in VAT on small things might make it worth it to pick a couple bits & pieces up. Remember that the sticker prices will have sales tax - HST - 13%) added on at the till in that infuriating North American way.

Ottawa is otherwise mainly a politics and a tech town, so if you're interested in Canadian history, then go and have a look at the Parliament buildings. They're meant to be based off the design of the UK Houses of Parliament but it looks a bit like someone sketched those out from memory and handed them to a builder.

Wandering down Sparks Street is OK, it's kinda just an outdoor mall but it's fully pedestrianised and people-watching is always fun. Also walking along the Rideau Canal is nice if you're into that sorta thing.

If you find yourself unexpectedly with more time you can catch a train to Montreal - takes about 2 hours - which is an infinitely more interesting place to visit, in my estimation. But you'd only have a little less than 3 hours there based on your current timetable...

57Deluxe

isn't it a vaginal disorder?

Headphones

Whitecat said:

Steve's Music is going to be probably the most interesting for guitars etc - I say probably because I haven't been to one in many years (the original is in Toronto and is famous for having stereotypically rude sales staff, but they had the best selection of stuff back in the day). Don't go by their website - they cannot do e-commerce, by the looks of it - they have far more in store than online.

There's a Long & McQuade too - they are basically Canada's Guitar Center but smaller in every possible way. Sometimes they get neat used stuff in, otherwise it'll be mostly the same kinda stuff PMT or GAK has. The £ isn't strong at the moment but the Canadian dollar isn't doing that well against the US$ either so the savings you might make in VAT on small things might make it worth it to pick a couple bits & pieces up. Remember that the sticker prices will have sales tax - HST - 13%) added on at the till in that infuriating North American way.

Ottawa is otherwise mainly a politics and a tech town, so if you're interested in Canadian history, then go and have a look at the Parliament buildings. They're meant to be based off the design of the UK Houses of Parliament but it looks a bit like someone sketched those out from memory and handed them to a builder.

Wandering down Sparks Street is OK, it's kinda just an outdoor mall but it's fully pedestrianised and people-watching is always fun. Also walking along the Rideau Canal is nice if you're into that sorta thing.

If you find yourself unexpectedly with more time you can catch a train to Montreal - takes about 2 hours - which is an infinitely more interesting place to visit, in my estimation. But you'd only have a little less than 3 hours there based on your current timetable...

Thanks for this, just what I was hoping for!