HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Holding a 650,000USD bar of gold
BUMMER OF THE DAY: It had to end
WORD OF THE DAY: Kalimoto
Mark left home at 8.30am for his last half day at work. He was working till 1pm and then coming home to get Andy and I and then we were going to hit the Royal Canadian Mint as we ran out of time to do it yesterday and just enjoy what looked like was going to be another glorious day. I got up around 9am, but sleepyhead Andy slept through to 11am. Well he is technically on holidays, so this is what you do on holidays; I was just keeping an eye on the time as it would look a little bad if we both weren’t ready by the time Mark got home at 1.30pm. When he did walk in the door, we started bacon and eggs to have on sandwiches for lunch and then we were out the door at 3pm.
Our first and most important ‘must see’ was the mint. Traffic was a killer getting into the city, but we managed to finally make it and get a park just around the corner from the mint at 4.15pm. At The Mint, you can visit the boutique for free which is on the second floor of the building or you can pay 6CAD for a 30 minute tour that leaves on the hour. For 6 bucks you can’t go wrong, so we paid that and spent the 40 minutes we had in the boutique. In the shop is where you will also find the bar of gold that weighs 15kg and costs around 650,000USD!!! You are allowed to hold it and get your photo taken with it. The gold is attached to a heavy chain and is guarded by security the whole time the shop is open to visitors.
The Royal Canadian Mint's headquarters occupy the historic building in central Ottawa where the Mint was founded in 1908. Today, the Ottawa facility produces hand-crafted collector and commemorative coins, gold bullion coins, medals and medallions. The actual monetary coins are produced at the Winnipeg Mint. Ottawa is where the master tooling is done to create the dies that strike coin designs for both circulation and commemorative issues. The Mint's gold refining and advanced engineering operations are also located here in Ottawa. We started the tour by looking down at where the silver and gold are melted down and then rolled back and forth through machines to get it to the correct thickness and then where they are cleaned and then finally stamped. We saw the massive strips of metal meet 50-ton presses to produce over 1000 coins per second in silver and gold on the work floor as we passed by large panoramic windows that looked over each of the workshops. As this mint currently only produces the commemorative coins and medals it is a lengthy process and each coin has to be individually checked and approved. People are pretty much buying the metal at the end of the day, but the stamping and markings make the coin a collectable, tells people where the coin came from and the year it was made.
In saying that there was a replica of a coin made with a face value if 1 million dollars. There is one stored in the basement and it was the world's first million dollar coin! It is about the size of an extra-large pizza. Produced In 2007 and weighing 100 kg, it’s 99.999% pure gold and although the face value is $1,000,000 its actual sale value is considerably higher. Although its home is in the basement of the Royal Canadian Mint, it has gone on tour for special events such as the Olympics. When created, the intention was to mint just one, but interested investors came forward and four more were created and sold for around 2.5 million and now today they are worth around 6 million dollars. Nice investment return that is for sure.
We also saw the famous Vancouver 2010 athlete medals on display that were also made at the Mint. It was the first time that the able bodied and disabled Olympic medals were created the same size and each medal was unique, featuring part of an image cropped from two large master artworks. When you matched up the medals each medal included its own signature elements of the orca and raven artwork to make a full picture.
We also learned that the Mint has made over 55 billion coins for more than 75 countries around the world including Australia. Apparently the Australian Mint is Ottawa’s number one enemy in claiming the title of ‘the world best Mint’ and we keep each other on their toes. There was one time that Australia took on too many foreign coin orders and we couldn’t keep up with our own demand, so we had to outsource some of our coin production to Ottawa. The longest continuous contract for producing foreign coins is with Barbados – more than 30 years. The Mint has the capacity to produce over 2 billion circulation coins or blanks per year for foreign governments. They get contracts from countries that either don’t have their own Mint’s; they don’t have the capacity to keep up with their own demand or the resources.
Gold and other bullion products from the Royal Canadian Mint are universally recognized for their quality and purity. The Mint refines and produces Maple Leaf bullion coins, gold kilo bars, trade bars and gold wafers - all struck with their weight and purity. Our bullion coins are also recognized as legal tender in Canada. The Gold Maple Leaf coins are the world's most popular pure gold coin. Since their introduction in 1979, over 20 million troy ounces have been sold. As the first bullion coin to achieve the heightened standard of 9999 fine, the Gold Maple Leaf is available in five weights from one-twentieth of an ounce to one troy ounce. Also of special interest are the one ounce gold bullion coins celebrating the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and our 99999 Gold Maple Leaf. Encouraged by the success of the Gold Maple Leaf, the Mint introduced Silver Maple Leaf Coins in 1988. The Silver Maple Leaf is minted with one troy ounce of 9999 fine silver. The coin has a face value of $5, the highest face value of any comparable silver bullion coin. Also of special interest are the one ounce silver bullion coins celebrating the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Introduced by popular demand in 1988 are the Mint's one troy ounce Platinum Maple Leaf coins with a face value of $50 and lastly introduced in 2005 were the Palladium Maple Leaf coins with a face value of $50. This popular one troy ounce coin is made with 9995 pure palladium.
The Royal Canadian Mint operates one of the most technically advanced and respected gold and silver refineries in the world, producing bars, wafers and custom products. In operation since 1911, our refinery services are among the largest in the industry. The Mint refines gold and silver from a variety of sources including primary producers, industry, recyclers and financial institutions. This is unusual to have the refineries on the same site as a Mint. The Royal Canadian Mint began refining gold to 9999 fine purity in the mid-1960's. In 1982, our refinery became the worlds' first to produce 9999 bullion coins, an achievement surpassed in 1998 when we reached "five nines" purity levels. Today, we are even able to produce granulation gold that is 99999 fine. I would definitely recommend a visit to The Mint with the tour finishing at the souvenir shop. I was so glad we came and definitely worth the 6 bucks.
Back out in the sunshine we walked past The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica. It is a beautiful church with silver topped spires that were just glinting in the sun. It is ecclesiastic basilica and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990. The site was originally home to the small wooden St. Jacques Church built in 1832. This structure was destroyed in 1841 to make way for a larger church. The Basilica is the oldest and largest church in Ottawa and the seat of the city's Catholic archbishop. Its twin spires and gilded Madonna are easily identifiable from nearby Parliament Hill and the surrounding area. The church was recently renovated and restored in the late 1990s. Services are held in both French and English. It really was beautiful.
We then walked by the National Gallery of Canada which is one of Canada's premier art galleries. The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The Gallery was first formed in 1880 by Canada's Governor General John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, and, in 1882, moved into its first home on Parliament Hill in the same building as the Supreme Court. In 1911, the Gallery moved to the Victoria Memorial Museum, now the home of the Canadian Museum of Nature. In 1913, the first National Gallery Act was passed outlining the Gallery's mandate and resources. It moved into its current building on Sussex Drive in 1988.
Passing the gallery is a MASSIVE spider as outdoor artwork. Known as Maman (1999) it is a sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which resembles a spider, is over 30ft high and over 33ft wide, with a sac containing 26 marble eggs. Its abdomen and thorax are made up of ribbed bronze. The title is the familiar French word for Mother. It is disgusting and interesting to look at all at the same time. Maman is amongst the world's largest and most impressive sculptures. Maman was first displayed outside the Tate Museum of London in 2000. The sculpture picks up the theme of the arachnid that Bourgeois had first contemplated in a small ink and charcoal drawing in 1947.
“The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother” — Louise Bourgeois….. A little weird....
We walked to Nepean Point which is a hill overlooking the Ottawa River, Parliament, the Museum of Civilization, and other features of downtown Ottawa and Gatineau. It is located between the National Gallery of Canada and Alexandra Bridge and gave us a phenomenal view with the blue sky and beautiful backdrop. At the peak of the hill is a statue of French explorer Samuel de Champlain holding his famous astrolabe upside down. It was made by sculptor Hamilton MacCarthy in 1915. There is also a small amphitheater on the point is known as "Astrolabe Theatre", presumably a reference to Champlain. I also saw my first squirrel running past us as we walked up. The boys were non-plussed but we don’t have these critters in Australia and they are so cute. He was a fast little bugger and was running across the lawns and jumping like Tiger or a kangaroo.
We made our way back to Byward Markets and I stopped into a French bakery that had advertised that they sold Obama cookies and they had pictures of him visiting the store. It took only a few words from U.S. President Barack Obama and the Moulin de Provence bakery in Ottawa's Byward Market is still selling cookies at the rate of 2,000 a day, somewhat more than the 200 or 250 cookies they used to sell each week. With Obama asking "I understand you've got some Canadian cookies … in the shape of a maple leaf," The baker, Claude Bonnet, obliged Obama, presenting him with a maple-leaf-shaped sugar cookie with red and white icing. Ever since his employees have been working overtime and by noon Friday they had sold 3,000 cookies. Since then, orders have been coming in even from Europe and the United States. What a way to get a product endorsement. The sign said 6.95 for the cookie, but that was just for the tin, you needed to add the cost of the cookie AND the damn sales tax making it a grand total of 10.62!!! For a cookie!!!! BUT it is an Obama cookie. It looks too good to eat, but for 10.62 I will be consuming that sucker in the next few days.
I wanted to get a Canadian jumper (aka sweater in ‘Canadian’) and there was a Roots store in the market and I was told this would be the best place to get one. They were quite expensive, but apparently worth the cost. I didn’t quite fit into a women’s size, so I got a men’s size in red and I love it. It was on the expensive side to start with and then I forgot about the damn sales tax again that gets added to all your purchases at the register. Ahhhhh, why they don’t include the sale tax in the advertised price is really annoying, but I still bought it anyway. I LOVE it. Roots Canada Ltd. (commonly called Roots) is a Canadian clothing and lifestyle products retailer. The retail stores sell Roots' own brand of products in Canada, the United States and Asia. Roots was founded in 1973 by Michael Budman and Don Green, formerly of Detroit, Michigan. The store concept was based on their experiences at a summer camp called Camp Tamakwa in Ontario’s Algonquin Park during their childhood. The company originally sold footwear at a single location in Toronto. Its first product was the Roots Negative Heel Shoe (also called the Earth shoe). It has since expanded its line of merchandise to include items such as jackets, bags, watches, luggage, sweatshirts and fashion accessories. Roots was the official outfitter of clothing for members of the Canadian Olympic team from 1998 to 2004. The same line was sold at Roots stores in Canada. Roots also clothed the United States (2002, 2004) and British Olympic (2002) teams. In 2009 A Roots Leather Bag "The Satchel" was famously worn by the character Alan in the 2009 movie The Hangover leading to increased publicity of Roots leather bags. So I am definitely leaving with something typically Canadian and with it being a men’s size, Zeme will also be able to wear it. Maybe I could gift it to him, as the days are so hot, I am not sure how much wear I am going to get out of the ‘sweater’ anyway!
Our last stop of the day was to get an original Beaver Tail. Beaver Tails are a Canadian-based chain of pastry stands operated by BeaverTails Canada Inc. The chain's namesake product is a line of fried dough pastries, individually hand stretched to resemble a beaver’s tail. The chain originated in Ottawa and now has franchises and licenses in three countries, Canada, the United States and Saudi Arabia. BeaverTails Canada Inc. through franchising currently operates 33 stores and 43 BeaverTails stands worldwide. BeaverTails pastries began when Grant and Pam Hooker decided to turn their family recipe for fried dough into a corporate business. In 1980, the Hookers opened up the first BeaverTails stand in the Byward Market in Ottawa two years after they had formed BeaverTails Canada Inc.
The company expanded within Canada and then internationally in the 1990s. All that from fried dough!
We were running on a time constraint as we had to get back home and get some washing done before the laundry closed at 10pm. So we raced home, put on a load of washing and made our way to the local chicken restaurant for a quick dinner (chicken, sangria and poutine) before having to jet back and get the clothes in the dryer. This was the first time I have done my own washing, with a machine for the first time since April last year when I did my own washing in London and then realized that for an additional 5 bucks I could get some-one else to do it and have had someone else do my washing ever since. Not including the hand washing of my underwear, not lie, first time in over 12 months. I do love the smell of freshly washed clothes and it is just one of those things you take for granted when at home.
So this was my last night with the boys and we had to drink the red wine and coke concoction that the Spaniards from the Basque region drink called Kalimoto. Like I have mentioned before don’t knock it till you try it. So with a few of them under our belts, a movie and some more chatting we were all tucked into bed at 1am, with the boys having to get up and out the door by 8am and a travel day for both of them it is funny how 1am was an early night!!!!
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