Ottawa Fun Flaneur Finds: Joni Mitchell to Dreamland
Regular Everyday Tourist blog readers or my Twitter followers know one of the things I love to do is take photos of strange things when flavouring the streets of my ‘hood or wherever my travels take me on any given day.
I call them “Fun Flaneur Finds.” Yes, l love alliterations too.
Our recent trip to Ottawa proved to be a mecca for “Fun Flaneur Finds” so I thought I’d share some with you - everything from a Joni Mitchell sidewalk stamp to funky street furniture, from a sidewalk pizza oven to fun blade signs and from an amazing heritage mosaic mural to wall of stuffies in a thrift store. But the best find was “The Calgarian.”
You never know what you might find when you keep your “eyes wide open.”
“Pickels on Pedestal” a perfect window for a speciality food store.
General Idea Balloon? This lucky visitor to the National Art Gallery found this deflated balloon from the General Idea installation under a chair and was allowed to take it home. I was very jealous as she had just found it. That could have been me.
I am a sucker for kitchy sculptures like this one. Have no idea why it was there, looked brand new.
My first fun find was this huge Woolly Mammoth in a park a block from our hotel. Only later did I realize the park was part of Canadian Museum of Nature.
It always pays to look up. Found the oversize shoe mold above the entrance to this shoe store near the Byword Market. “Good impressions start with a good sole.”
While wandering home from the Natural History Museum we saw a lovely garden in front of a small apartment block. As we wander through we discovered several fun sculptures like this one with children’s toys climbing a trellis. How fun!
“The Plant Bath & “Spectators” How strange? Having no idea what this was, we wandered around and found an entrance at the back to a recreation centre and it turns out this was a old swimming pool. It is no longer a pool, but used for exercise classes as part of the recreation centre. Link: History Public Baths In Ottawa
“Softly, Softly, Softly” We were sitting having a coffee at the Happy Goat Coffee Co. on Elgin Street when I noticed what looked like a dog bed on the floor next to us.
Turns out it was a fun community art project.
Found this gravestone marker in Minto Park also on Elgin Street. I am guessing John isn’t buried here but that perhaps the tree was planted in his honour. Still was an eerie feeling to find this in a public park.
On a rainy day we popped into Perfect Books on Elgin Street and I immediately encountered this shelf of fun children’s books about world cities. Ironically I had just finished reading Gary Kamiya’s book on San Francisco and writing a book report blog on SF. Link: 49 View of San Francisco
Fun Fact: In March 1968 Joni Mitchell played two weeks in an Ottawa coffeehouse. One night's performance was taped by a fan, none other than Jimi Hendrix, then stolen, lost for 50 years, found, and released in 2021 on her Archives Vol. 2 set. I wonder if the coffee house along Bank Street in Old Ottawa South is still there?
Near the Mitchell leaf was this sidewalk pizza oven. I have never seen anything like this. I was tempted to try it but didn’t. Now I wish I did. Only in Canada eh!
Also on Bank Street in Old Ottawa South was this great DIY patio with furniture that looks like it came from a thrift store or grandma’s house. The Oatmeal Cafe was just next door for a coffee and treat. Perfect people watching spot!
“Snakes & Ladders” How fun is this quirky street next to the Byward Market. Street games, colourful furniture and tulip sculptures. No boring designer furniture here. Downtowns need more colour, more fun!
Be sure to look up when you are in the Byword Market so you don’t miss this fun folk art sculpture “McClintock’s Dream” by Victor Tolgesy. It is probably the largest paper mache artwork I have ever scene. Link: McClintock’s Dream
Gotta love blade signs like this one in Centretown
Or this one in Chinatown.
I am not sure what this is, but it reminded me of the whale skeleton I had seen the night before at the Canadian Museum of Nature. I am thinking it for people to line up to get into the Indigenous Peoples Building, but it was all closed off when we wandered by.
I am not sure what enticed us to check to see if we could get inside the historic Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building, but we are glad we did, as it home to an amazing mosaic mural on the ceiling.
From 1927 to February 1976, the Wellington Building served as the head office of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of Ottawa. We visited twice and while the guards were hesitant to let me take photos they both did. They don’t build head offices like this anymore - sadly! Link: Wellington Building
The mural is a symbolic or allegorical representation of the Insurance Company as a protector and defender of health and well-being.
The panel in the lobby states: “Designed and built under the supervision of company architect D. Everett Waid. The building houses one of the most noteworthy mosaics in North America. Modelled after a drawing by U.S. artists Barry Faulkner and crafted by European artisans, the mosaic is mounted on the vaulted ceiling of the foyer. The theme on the allegory depicts the Metropolitan Life as a mother figure personifying life insurance and protecting insured and her employees. Although the Wellington Building now houses the administrative offices of the House of Commons, this artwork is preserved as a symbol, personifying protection agains misfortune and calamity.”
Fun Fact: Mosaics are forever. That's why all the pictures in St. Peter's Basilica are mosaics, not paintings, even though most don't know it.
You can’t miss Dreamland on Preston Street in Little Italy. One of the things Ottawa does well is allowing for the conversion of homes along main streets to be converted into small shops like this one. You don’t see that much in Calgary. It creates a fun pedestrian street experience. Another great example of adding colour to main streets.
We couldn’t resist this open door to an upscale thrift store on Preston Street.
Inside we found this amazing wall of stuffies. How fun! We were told “Yes you can buy them, we have hundreds more!”
On my last day in Ottawa I was wondering back to the hotel and saw this small apartment block and decided to take a photo as an example of the many early 20th century small, residential buildings that still populated Ottawa’s City Centre. I noticed the gold leaf signage at the entrance and was surprised to find it was called “The Calgarian.” Talk about serendipity!
