I like the city of Ottawa. The hotel is very family friendly. I'm staying at the Best Western. The weather is crap!! When we arrived Friday, it was hot and sunny. We took it easy and decided to go to a vegetarian/raw vegan cafe. They only had one raw vegan meal option: a delicious but greasy raw vegan pizza and some desserts. My hubs wasn't impressed with the cafe and I don't blame him. They mainly served omelettes on one side of the restaurant (he doesn't eat eggs) and the other side had a serve-yourself take out meal, which was empty and they weren't going to fill it up. It was only 6pm!
We ended up walking around trying to find a pizzeria for the kids and hubby. I ordered my raw pizza to go. My husband ordered a Mexican meal made by non-Mexicans who probably have never been to Mexico or know what true Mexican food is like. Then we found a pizzeria that seemed quite authentic and bought a small pizza for my son and hubby, in case the Mexican food was a failure. BTW, the burrito according to my husband was awful.
I wanted to see the Raw Film Festival but I was so tired from the train trip. It's a four hour trip from Toronto. That's pretty quick but we just wanted to relax.
Saturday. It was pouring rain and I didn't bring enough umbrellas. Luckily my son had his own and my hubby used the other one for himself and Santiago. I thought the rain wouldn't be so bad. I was drenched and I ran into a Shoppers to buy another umbrella. The festival still went on as planned and there was quite a few people. I got to see Philip McCluskey, yeah!!! He spoke on his raw transformation from 400lbs to half his weight. I liked his sincerity and I think he is really nice. He is inspiring and seems like he would be a cool friend.
I saw Angela Stokes and she is soooo beautiful. I don't know if she had a tan from a previous trip but her skin was flawless and golden. I'm looking forward to hearing her speak tomorrow. I also got to see Paul Nison. He is a Christian raw vegan and it's great to meet another Christian raw foodist. There is not a lot of us out there. When he spoke, he got the crowd laughing, clapping as if it were a church camp meeting. He is hilarious.
There were a lot of great kiosks. I enjoyed this couple Shantree and Lorenna. They are from London, Ontario and they spoke about eating locally, which is what I want to do. I don't want to depend too much on imported Durian and Jackfruit. Ontario has an abundance of fruit and vegetables. I should enjoy them more. I would like to go to there retreat one day. It's not too far from Toronto.
I am so inspired to maintain my raw path and to create a career out of it. I love it. I'm so glad I came to Ottawa. I found what I needed to hear to help me stay 100% raw at the festival and it is as if I've lost all cooked food cravings and desires that seemed to have plagued me before. It's amazing.
Speaking of Ottawa, Ottawans seem to be more healthy than Torontonians. There are a lot of people who ride bicycles and walk. There are no side-by-side restaurants and there is a lot of art. I'd like to come back another time to know more of the city. However, this weekend is for the festival.
The train station in my city.
Did you know a lot of Hollywood movies use this train station?
My son, Ernesto wearing the barf bag on his head.
My other son, Santiago is a big boy and wanted his own seat.
The bed in the hotel room was sooooo comfortable. My sons ended up sleeping with me and my hubby was relegated to the sofa. Hahaha.
Santiago's crib. He hated it. It was like a jail cell.
Downtown Ottawa.
Ottawa's Rideau Canal
Parliament Hill
As usual, I'm washing dishes even on vacation.
The attack of the gigantic spider at the National Gallery. We had to rush through the exposition because we didn't realize our train was going to leave in one hour. We were speedwalking through the gallery. When I asked my hubby what he liked about the exposition, he smiled and said, "I don't know, it was all a blur."
