There’s no better place to celebrate Canada’s birthday than in the nations capital, Ottawa. On the final leg of the my mini-roadtrip after Montreal and Quebec City, we spent a day here and took part in the country’s biggest party. The downtown core is transformed into a huge pedestrian-only sea of red and white with free concerts and museum visits, and plenty of family fun – although I admit I wouldn’t mind seeing those annoying vuvuzelas banned from public places one day :-). The high humidity and thundershowers didn’t dampen the spirits at all (although we did get caught in a major downpour and got soaked).

As a Canadian, you owe it to yourself to spend July 1 in Ottawa at least once in your life – it’s the patriotic thing to do, eh!