American hotels and breakfast

One of my first surprises on trips to the USA was that few (no?) hotels offer breakfast. They expect you to get this down the road. Most have places to eat very nearby, but if you are not used to this it comes as a surprise. I have an old work colleague who is in Indiana for a conference and he was caught out.

Once, in eastern Canada, we stopped for breakfast at a roadside cafe. There were 6 fried eggs and lots more on the plate. It was huge. We did not go hungry!

Canadian shootings in Ottawa

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Canada_Ottawa_Panorama.jpg/1920px-Canada_Ottawa_Panorama.jpg

Usually, we think of Canada being a normally quiet and uneventful sort of country.  We holidayed in The Rockies there 2 years ago.

So, it was with some amazement that I read about the shootings in Ottawa earlier today in and around the parliament buildings there. Ottawa is a fine city with a really French feel . I am sorry to hear of this tragedy.

We visited Ottawa many years ago, back in the 1990s I think.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29724907 .