After my Tours of Parliament Hill (House of Commons and Senate) I know had the rest of the day to kill. Yesterday I went biking and there isn't really that much else to do in Ottawa which is an administrative capital.
I went to the Bank of Canada Museum at the start of Bank St and had free entry. They had currency from other parts of the world as well as old Canadian bank notes.
At the other end of Parliament Hill is the Notre Dame Cathedral. Although the outside is bland it is worth looking inside at the carvings and stained glass.
Nearby is the Royal Canadian Mint which was $12 for a timed tour. No photography is allowed inside outside of the gift shop.
They explain and show the process how bars of silver or gold bars are smelted into thin rolls. A roll can cost $500,000 for Silver. They then cut out coin size holes. The waste is smelted and used to create new rolls.
They have minted coins as high as $1m in value.
See also Vlog of day (6 mins) - https://youtu.be/s-foi47BZC0
2025-02-16