Three months has past since the last post, but this time I have some neat pictures to show for it!
I caught covid again in April, which was less than three months since my boosters shot and first infection. This time it was as mild as it could be — so much so that I was certain it was just a simple cold prior to the positive test results. It was a little annoying to test over and over again for work, but otherwise it was a non-event. Covid countermeasures have continued to evaporate as expected, which I am more than happy to see.
The enjoyable warmer has finally arrived in May, and this year marks the full resumption of pre-covid activities. One such activity is viewing the cherry blossoms in Toront’s High Park, which had been closed off in 2020 and 2021 to avoid crowd congestion.
We went really early in the morning for better light, and there weren’t too many people there at the time. Maybe it was the early morning sunlight, but the flowers looked pinker than previous years, and great times were had.
We also went on a short road trip to Ottawa on the May Victoria day long weekend. Unbeknownst to me, the Centre Block building at Parliament Hill is undergoing long-term renovation, so the view is hobbled by some construction cranes and other construction equipment. Still, there’s plenty of handsome architecture to take in around the city, which is also dotted with many statues and monuments.
There was actually a severe thunderstorm on that weekend that knocked out power to large portions of the city, which we thankfully spent indoors at the hotel. Unfortunately it appears to have blown away the remaining flowers at the tulip festival , which was one of the reasons why we decided to visit.
He had originally planned to go to multiple museums during the trip, but we definitely under-estimated the size of the National Gallery of Canada. There was a lot of take in there, after which we were all museum’d out. We spent the rest of the day eating, relaxing, and taking in a very nice sunset at Major’s Hill park.
But all in all, good times were had in the city of Ottawa, and given its relative close proximity, we’d gladly go again to hit up some of the other museums we had missed.
Looking forward, I’m not sure about what our travel plans will be for the rest of the year. Japan has started the process of opening up to foreign tourists, but it’s still in very limited numbers and in guided tour groups only. My hope is that by November the restriction will have been completely lifted, but that is far from the certain assumption. Still, my fingers remain crossed — especially with the yen is cheap as it is now.