Canada's capital, frozen in the best way
Ottawa became Canada's capital in 1857 because Queen Victoria chose it, largely on the grounds that it was not Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, or Kingston — a lumber town on the border between Upper and Lower Canada that offended nobody enough to be vetoed. Winter is when the city makes the most sense. The Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built as a military supply route after the War of 1812, freezes into a skateway running nearly eight kilometres through the middle of town, and commuters use it as an actual route to work. Parliament Hill and a cluster of national museums handle the formal business. Underneath that sits a bilingual city with genuinely good food, strong neighbourhoods, and one of the country's better cycling networks.
