DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS
TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL
(U) Letter From Ottawa
FROM:
Deputy SUSLO Ottawa
Run Date: 01/22/2004
FROM:
Deputy SUSLO Ottawa
SERIES:
(U) SID Around the
World '04
Dear editor,
(U) I promised you a series of letters on the life of an NSAer
assigned to CSE in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Well, I have to tell
you, life in Ottawa is far too full to be taking time to write letters.
Instead of regular installments, how about one short note just to
give you a sense of things here?
(U) We are skating on the Rideau Canal, the world's longest ice
skating rink, now. Yes, it's blustery cold, but it doesn't seem so bad
when you can stop along the way to enjoy warm beaver tails and
hot chocolate. Even with the cold, I'd rather be skating than joining
the runners and bikers along Colonel By Drive or Queen Elizabeth
Drive either side of the canal. Yes, even in the snow! Next week,
we may cross-country ski between our home downtown and the
office at CSE along the paths of the Rideau River. All of this will put
us in perfect shape and in the right frame of mind to have a ball at
Winterlude in February. Maybe there'll be time to watch a Senators
ice hockey game or participate in the locals' curling tournament, as
well.
(U) Of course, we are eagerly anticipating spring and the tulips the
melting snow and sun will bring. Ottawa will come alive with color.
Once the warmer weather arrives, the hot air balloons will be back
floating through the skies of Ottawa each dusk and dawn, taking off
from Quebec across the Ottawa River and landing just a few
hundred yards from CSE. Soon after the balloons come back, it will
be time for the Ottawa Jazz Fest. We'll try to attend a few concerts
in between Ottawa Lynx games. Well, they are the Baltimore
Orioles Triple A farm team after all, and they made it all the way to
the playoffs last year.
Byward Market
(U) Summer will be time for meandering through the Byward
Market downtown taking in the smells and sights of all the
wonderful fresh locally grown produce, shopping for gifts for home,
or enjoying the vast selection of restaurants, cafes, and bars in this
most eclectic part of town. From the market, we'll head over to one
of the half dozen museums or the National Arts Center, or maybe
to Majors Park to lay back and listen to a jazz, blues, or classical
concert in view of Parliament. We'll also find an excuse to throw
the bikes on the car and head for the hills: the Gatineau Hills, in a
beautiful park at the edge of the Canadian Shield, just 10 minutes
from downtown Ottawa across the river. It will be a different world
there with only French being spoken.
1. Letter From Ottawa
2. Yakima: Fertile
Valley in the High
Desert
3. Life in Alice
4. Omaha - The Heart
of the Heartland
5. Life in the Big Apple
6. 'Dropping Anchor' in
Anchorage
(U) We'll return to the park in the Fall to watch the leaves turn a
myriad of colors and maybe again later in the year for a bit of
downhill or cross-country skiing. I love the drive back to the city
almost as much as being away, especially at the holidays when
downtown Ottawa is a blaze of shimmering lights and color.
(U) I suppose you want to know what else there is to know about
Ottawa. Let me summarize by saying that it is a family-oriented
"small town" with all the amenities of a large capital city. The
schools are excellent, the commute is short (from everywhere), the
parking ample, the air clean, the shopping and dining terrific, the
cultural opportunities endless, and the work environment
invigorating and challenging. And New York is just an hour away if
you really feel the need to "go home." What more can I say. Come
visit. You'll love it here. We do!
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS
TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL
DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108