Pleasant Park to Hurdman to Parliament

I'm running up the stairs at Hurdman to catch the train

Ottawa has had an extensive bus transitway for many years. Basically, it's a roadway network dedicated to OCTranspo buses. We started our trip downtown today from the Pleasant Park transitway station with the plan to take the bus over to the Hurdman station on the Confederation Line, and then catch the train downtown to the Parliament station.

The trip was fine, although I sustained a little ego bruising at the start. While entering the bus the driver kindly mentioned to me that I need not have swiped my Presto card to get on because seniors ride free on Wednesdays. Senior? Moi? I'm well below their minimum qualification age of 65, but I do have a full head of grey hair. So, I guess the equation is: lots of grey hair = senior. Or maybe I just look crotchety :-) Or maybe I need a dye-job. Or maybe I should buy some cool clothes. Or maybe I should just see how many free rides I can finagle with my senior locks :-)

The train at Parliament station

While engrossed in my hair issues I totally ignored the pleasant and quiet ride downtown.

Parliament is another of those underground downtown stations. Very utilitarian and efficient. Although at the mezzanine level there were some interesting coloured ceiling panels installed that gave the station some needed visual relief. But the staircases and passageways were all panelled in a uniformly bleak, flat grey tile.

I recall reading somewhere that OCTranspo expects the Parliament station to be the busiest as it services both government offices and many businesses at this stop.

As you might expect, when you pop out of Parliament station you're more or less right at Parliament Hill. That's the Confederation Building, which is just west of the Parliament Buildings. That triangle structure, sticking up in the middle ground, is the entrance to the Bank of Canada Museum.

Each train on the Confederation Line was named via a contest. The train we took back to the Hurdman station was called the Eh-Train. Ok, well, yes it is Canada and all that, so on that note I think I should bring this to a close with the Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington classic.