Hello! I have been horrible with my blog updates as always these days, but I have been in Ottawa for the past 1.5 weeks (and counting) visiting the BF. The routine every day is..we wake up, quickly get ready, and he drives me to a place downtown with a Starbucks, Second Cup & Bridgehead all on the same block while he goes to work. I do my work here for the whole day until I get picked up again and we go watch the sunset at a park/beach (where I've picked up no less than 15 mosquito/insect bites..somehow even one on the bottom of my foot) or eat at Ekko de Brasil (sometimes) for my favourite burger. We also saw pretty much every movie currently out in theatres. Ottawa is so different from downtown Toronto. Even at the busiest times here, there is barely anyone here. Well, I'm used to living at the busiest intersection of the city during lunch hour when a line up at Starbucks would be out the door and there is no chance of finding a seat. Here there's always a spot and less than 10 people inside at any given time. Now I'm one of those regular coffee-shop workers (not that I wasn't already in Toronto - just less extreme). I know where all the power outlets are, the best seats, best washrooms where there's a place to put down your laptop, etc..all the factors any "work from home"/coffee shop people with a laptop use to rate a good "Coffice" ;)
Starbucks (at Bank/Slater):
- mediocre WIFI connection
- 3 power outlets
- need a key to use the washroom (hate this)
- ok food
- army uniformed guys seem to go there alot
- pretty small inside (weirdly enough the quietest times are 12-2pm and busiest seem to be 2-4pm)
Second Cup (at Bank/Slater):
- best WIFI connection out of these three places (where I catch up on Suits and RHONY!)
- nice sofa seating beside a power outlet
- 2 power outlets that I've found so far
- nice washroom
- half the time I'd be literally the only customer in here
- bad food except the rice krispie
- everything is good except..my phone has very very weak reception in here (Guess I can't have it all)
Bridgehead (at Bank/Albert):
- lots of government workers in there it seems
- best food (love the soups and breakfast wrap)
- love the tea (comes in a teapot)
- love the seating
- love the atmosphere
- 2 outlets that I've found so far (along one row of seating which is kind of annoying)
- love the washrooms (ample counter space to put your laptop), but mostly I leave my laptop out when I walk away..which I wouldn't do at the other places
- now the worst...the WIFI is soooooo slow. It's pretty much non-existent!
So there you have it. It's been a productive week. For once I've been working at just the normal business hours. When I'm at home in Toronto without a schedule..my work day is pretty much all over the place.
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One of my most memorable hotel stays was a couple summers ago during my solo Eurotrip. I stayed in Lucerne for a few nights, at the Hotel des Balances. I've always loved Switzerland. The weather is always perfect (well, whenever I am there it is), the people are really friendly and well-dressed, and it's a great place to relax. The first time I visited Lucerne was with my mom in 2007. We did all the touristy sites that time, so when I went back to the city by myself, I mostly just stayed at/around my hotel to relax and catch up on my blog. (I also took a side-trip to Zurich one day) That was my first time travelling by myself. I planned the entire trip - spending only 2-3 days at each city, staying at many different hotels, and trying to fit way too much into my few weeks there. Needless to say, I was quite burnt out by the middle of it so I needed the "break" in Lucerne to rest a bit.
Hotel des Balances is a luxury hotel in the middle of Old Town. It has a beautiful facade and quite a small entrance.
After checking in, I got complimentary welcome drink vouchers and chocolates.
My room was a "Double Room with River View".
If you ever stay here, I highly recommend you get a River View as opposed to a City View.
The view from the balcony is perfect!
After settling in, I went to the hotel's restaurant to get dinner and catch up on my blog. I think I wrote THIS POST when I was sitting here! So cool reading back on my old posts hahah.
The view from my table
The amuse bouche. I don't really remember what it was..
As you can see, I stayed here for quite a long time.
I had a tub and shower in my washroom, which opened into the bedroom. After my dinner, I went on a nice stroll around the area before coming back for a looooong relaxing bath with Hotel Costes music of course:
The ceiling of the washroom reminds me of Rolls Royce ceilings.
I sat at the same table for breakfast.
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