July 16 - Dinner with friend we met in Costa Rica

 We started with another hearty breakfast; today everyone at the table was a teacher or former teacher. A couple from Montreal taught French and science; a couple from N.Carolina taught English and math. Good conversation, needless to say.

 We did more reminiscing today - drove to a dam where the Rideau River flows into the Ottawa River where there is a globe that we used to visit with David when he was little. We drove along the Ottawa River in the big park there up as far as the Air Museum and by Rideau Hall.
   For lunch, we again relied on Mark's research and ended up at  Hatha Rothi, a Sri Lankan restaurant. Just a hole in the wall with only 2 tables. Again, we almost walked out when we saw that it was just a fast food restaurant, but again, we trusted our instincts and had a fabulous, fabulous lunch. We were the only ones there and the owner/chef chatted with us and gave us free papadoms along with our meal. Mark had melt-in-your-mouth Butter Chicken. I had three different vegetables in different curries - all delicious - green beans, sweet potatoes and....?(forgot). Mark had freshly made Naan bread. It was all fabulous and...incredibly cheap.
   We read the afternoon away.

    Then, we went out to meet a friend we made in Costa Rica. Christine is a marine biologist who works for the government of Canada. She is also an avid birdwatcher and plans to retire in Costa Rica. We met her in Atenas, our first stop in Costa Rica.  We met at Union Restaurant known for its Southern food. We all ordered the same food - fried chicken and cole slaw. We had such great conversation. Christine takes annual trips, for example, to Newfoundland where she gets data on killer whales. She goes for almost 3 weeks by helicopter to Sable Island where she monitors grey seals - thousands and thousands of them. She is smart, funny and gutsy and quite fearless - a camper and kayaker who does not let having to go places alone stop her at all. Another lovely evening in Ottawa!