July 15 - We fight City Hall, bike and see old friends

 A perfect day! We had so much fun from start to finish.
 The day started with a lovely breakfast at the B &B. (eggs Benedict).  The two other couples were very nice; one of them, from the Netherlands were here to see their two sons play field hockey for the Brazilian national team at the PanAmerican Games in Toronto. (She was Brazilian.) We also got to know John, the older owner of the B &B, as well as his son, Kevin and Kevin's wife, Cassi. Kevin and Cassi are in the process of buying Kevin's parents out of the B & B. Kevin is a computer coder and Cassi is a therapeutic yoga therapist who works with brain damaged accident victims.
  Afterwards, we parked at the Byward Market and walked to City Hall to appeal our parking ticket. It was amazingly easy. We were third in line and got right in. After we told our story, an agreeable young man erased it all. We expected maybe a reduction in the fine, but were pleasantly surprised to have it totally expunged. Yay! "We fought the law and...we won!"

    Then, we rented bikes underneath the bridge by Parliament and we rode the Rideau Canal as far as the first lock and then around Dows Lake and back the other side. It was probably about 10 miles. The weather was perfect for biking - sunny, but cool breezes. It was so reminiscent of our summer in Ottawa as we biked everywhere, but especially along the canal and to Dows Lake. Fun!
    Afterwards, we went to Atari, another restaurant Mark found on Yelp and near to Byward Market. We had another delicious meal. We wanted something light as we were not particularly hungry after our huge breakfast. We both had tuna tartare with Asian dressing. It was amazing.

   Then, we walked the market and got some flowers to take to Michelle and Jason.
    For dinner we drove to Orleans where Jason and Michelle live. We knew them when we all taught together in Cairo. Jason and Michelle were right out of college and part of the group we hung out with.  They now have children in middle school! (Sean is just starting middle school and Tiaran is already there.) Jason is the head of the music department at a performing arts school in Ottawa and Michelle teaches at the middle and high school in their neighborhood which their children attend. We had a lovely reunion; they made a terrific surf and turf meal of salmon and pork with grilled veggies etc. We so enjoyed seeing them again.