I rise at 8:40. Have a shave and start writing. As I do every morning. If I don't write things up the next day, I get all confused and forget stuff. That's what us oldie people are like. Minds like sieves.
Alexei turns up at about 10.
"Is Andrew up yet?" I ask. Expecting the answer no.
“Yes. But he isn't feeling well. He has trouble with his stomach.”
Andrew turns up 10 minutes later, looking very pale. Well, even paler than usual. We decide to drop by the chemist opposite to get him a sports drink. Not sure why.
"Parlez-vous Francais?" A customer asks an assistant.
"No." Is the curt reply.
I thought it was the Frech speakers who were funny about speaking English?
“There’s a washroom in the Mall.” The assistant keeps saying. In English. It’s a bizarre interaction.
We get an Uber to the Elgin Street Diner. For breakfast, obviously. It's another classic diner. One that never closes. Literally.
I order the blue-plate breakfast. It's enormous. With about a kilo of poutine. I feel like Beard meats food.
"I've never seen poutine on a breakfast before." I remark.
Alexei has a normal-sized breakfast. And a milk shake. Andrew just has toast. Now there’s a surprise.
"Would you live in Canada, Dad?" Alexei asks.
“Only in Vancouver. It gets far too fucking cold everywhere else.”
I eat all the meat and eggs on my breakfast. But there's no way I'm getting through all that poutine. I pass my plate to Alexei. Who polishes it off.
Andrew suggests we go for a beer in an English-style pub he noticed on our way down. Sounds fine by me. I spotted it, too.
It turns out Andrew had seen a different place to me. The Sir John A. Looking at the menu outside, I see that it has quite a range of beer. 26 beers described as craft, plus 8 domestic and 14 international. Not bad for somewhere that isn’t billing itself as a specialist beer bar.
It has a reasonably pubby feel. With a long bar running almost the whole length of one wall. I suppose they need plenty of room for all those beer taps.
I kick off with a Bicycle Velocipide IPA. Which is a bit sludgy. Andrew has a Lager. And Alexei, a diet cola. As he's feeling rather stuffed. I’m not surprised after all that poutine.
We have a couple of rounds. With me switching to Muskoka Mad Tom IPA, a West Coast style IPA. Which is more my style.
“Let's continue on to the pub I spotted. I think it was called the Lord Clyde.”
Andrew looks for it on his phone and can't find it. I suggest he just looks on a map.
“There, that's it." I say, pointing to a pub.
“It's not called the Lord Clyde. It's Deacon Brodies.”
“I knew it was something Scottish.”
“Completely different from what you said, though.”
“But something Scottish.”
“You really are going senile, Dad.”
It is, indeed, very Scottish. There's tartan everywhere and the barmaid is wearing a kilt. You can’t get much more Scottish than that. There’s a fairly short bar counter, with a bar back crammed with bottles of various whiskies. They’re really running with the Scottish theme.
They only have a dozen craft draughts here. I get Dominion City Sunsplit NEIPA. Another sludge IPA. Andrew has a house Lager.
"Is that diacetyl." He asks.
I try his beer. "Yep. That's diacetyl. Well spotted." I’ve taught him well.
We order some breaded prawns to share. Which are pretty nice.
I get a shot of Glenfiddich 14 year Bourbon Cask, this week’s single malt special. It’s full of alcoholly goodness.
“On the whisky again, eh, Dad.” Alexei remarks.
“I’ve had enough sludge beer for the day. All that crap isn’t good for my stomach.”
“Unlike whisky, eh?”
“I am on holiday.”
“That’s your excuse for everything.”
“A reason, not an excuse.”
“It’s always a reason with you, isn’t it, Dad?”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“I was taking the piss.”
On the way back we nip into an LCBO and pick up a bottle of Reifel Rye and a few cans of a Trailer Park Boys themed alcopop.
After a short rest in our hotel, we walk up to have a look at the parliament buildings. Which are impressive in a gothic way.
"It's all very Hogwarts." I remark.
"Very true." Alexei replies.
We jump in an Uber to take us to Tooth and Nail, a brewpub a little out of town. Located in a rather residential area. Where we're meeting Philip Kochanke, brewer at Braumeister Brewing.
Phil is there to greet us on entry and we grab a table on the patio. I start off with Fortitude, a 5.4% ABV Stout. The kids opt for Vim & Vigour, a Pilsner.
The evening rushes by as we chat, drink and snack a little. I switch to Rabble Rouser, a West Coast style IPA. A type which seems to be a rarity in Canada, with most IPAs being of the sludge variety.
On a trip to the bogs, one of the owners grabs hold of me and gives me a little impromptu tour of the brewery. Which is pretty compact.
Back in the hotel, I try out the Reifel Rye. Purely for medicinal purposes. It puts me to sleep a treat.
Elgin Street Diner
374 Elgin St,
Ottawa, ON K2P 1N1.
http://www.elginstreetdiner.com/
Sir John A Pub
284 Elgin St,
Ottawa, ON K2P 1M3
https://www.sirjohna.ca/
Deacon Brodies Pub
247 Elgin St,
Ottawa, ON K2P 0G1
https://www.deaconbrodies.ca/
Tooth and Nail Brewing Company
3 Irving Ave,
Ottawa, ON K1Y 1Z9.
https://toothandnailbeer.com/
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