Saturday, September 20, 2008

Locks, alternately titled, Engineers May Enjoy This

So I spent a huge part of today wandering around the Parliament Hill area of Ottawa, or as my guidebook calls it 'Walking Tour 1: The National Landmarks'.  This will be detailed in the future, never to fear.  I got a wee bit of sun, turning my pasty pasty museum skin slightly pink.  It's not a sunburn, it's too wimpy, but I'm considering it as stockpiling vitamin D in preparation for the Canadian winter, just like one of the fearless Canadian black squirrels that are storing up nuts and whatnots.  

Anyway, I was generally following 'Walking Tour 1', though occasionally meandering off on my own.  I walked through the part I usually eat lunch at, then decided to go in the opposite direction of the Gallery, and guess what was there!

Locks!














These locks are part of the Rideau Canal, which connects the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers.  It's part of a system of waterways connecting Ottawa and Kingston (towards the south west).  They were constructed between 1826 and 1832, part of a military defense plan thanks to the US and the War of 1812.  The military man behind the design was smart enough to design them with commercial and military purposes in mind.

Today the canals and locks are still used.  And are operated manually.  I saw them (and you will too).  They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   Apparently the fee for a season pass to use all of the Federal Canals in Canada is only like 200 (Canadian) dollars.  Not too bad.


















And lucky me, there was a boat going through the series of locks, out into the Ottawa River.  This video might be boring for all the non-engineer-types out there, but I did put a great soundtrack along with it.

3 comments:

Ynn said...

As UNESCO World Heritage sites go, I much prefer Hallstadt. But, since Canada-to my limited knowledge-has no sites that have been permanently settled for 5000years, I guess these locks will have to do. Frank loved the video and must have played it 5 times. I do have a question about the sound track-is is French Canadian or as your mother suspects-Chinese?

Jessica said...

Haha! I can just imagine him playing it over and over!

The soundtrack is Japanese actually, and band called something like "Shogun Knife", and I think the song is titled, "My Banana". It seemed appropriate for the video.

Anonymous said...

Loved the video even though I am a non engineer type. I figured that the music was Japanese as I have heard some similar music that Kelly has played. It did fit quite well with the video and it all was very interesting to see. Thanks!