_ ** Update (Jan 7): ** Apparantly the City of Ottawa has suspended open access to the OC Transpo GPS data that this app (and others like it) relied on to provide the info. Could be a few weeks until it’s back online. ...

Last week, Kim had a craving for fries and asked which Ottawa restaurants served up good ones. We put the question out to our twitter followers and here’s where they suggested. Do you agree? * Baton Rouge * Black Dog (Manotick) * Chez Lucien * Darcy McGee's in Bells Corners * Elgin Street Diner * The Exchange * The Fry Shack (chip truck at Bank/Sunnyside that's open year round) * Jean Albert's * JP's * Hintonburger * Le M&R (Chelsea) * Manotick Prime 360 * Metropolitan * O'Gradie's Outpost * Patate LouLou (Aylmer) * Pelican Grill * Royal Oak's spicy fries * S&G * The Works Please eat responsibly and sorry if we’ve missed up your resolution to eat healthier. ...

Here’s some video from today’s polar bear dip (officially called the Sears Great Canadian Chill ). It took place this afternoon in the Ottawa River at Britannia Beach. The video is from Graham Hay and Ron Hay at MegaPixel Travel , and you can find a ton of great photos here . ...

** * [ Things that OC Transpo smells like ](http://ottawastart.com/things-that-oc-transpo-smells-like/) * [ New twitter feed posts food safety violations at local restaurants ](http://ottawastart.com/new-twitter-feed-posts-food-safety-violations-at-local-restaurants/) * [ I want a mayor who... ](http://ottawastart.com/i-want-a-mayor-who/) * [ Nuns watching a gay rugby match on the front lawn of Parliament Hill ](http://ottawastart. ...

** Top posts on the OttawaStart Blog : ** 1. [ Earthquake hits Ottawa ](http://ottawastart.com/2010/06/earthquake-hits-ottawa-55-magnitude.html) 2. [ The complete line-up for Bluesfest 2010 ](http://ottawastart.com/2010/04/complete-line-up-for-bluesfest-2010.html) 3. [ OttawaStart's list of 30 essential Ottawa blogs ](http://ottawastart.com/2009/08/ottawastarts-list-of-30-essential.html) (must update that, it was published in 2009) 4. ...

At our house, we’re taking a photo every hour for 12 hours on Christmas Day, and posting them here to document our day. _ (Inspired by Andrea at a peek inside the fishbowl. ) _ 8:23am [ ](http://www.flickr.com/photos/47930650@N08/5290591350/) 9:23am ...

Out for a walk today with the dog in our favourite abandoned field / forest in Stittsville. After a 10-minute walk through the woods we came to a small clearing and found this decorated Christmas tree, with a card and a bucket of dog treats hanging from a branch. ...

…the international arrivals area at the Ottawa International Airport . Full of families, hugs, old friends, smiles, kisses, tears, reunions. _ Any other happy locations you can suggest? Add them to the comments below. _ ** Related: ** Ottawa Travel Guide

Ottawa’s own Julia Dales, beatboxer. She has her own channel on YouTube with some cool videos. (via Stuntman Stu ) ** Related: ** Ottawa Music Guide

Great gift idea from Stephan Telka : Decommissioned Ottawa street signs, available for $10 each from the City of Ottawa. Link. ** ** ** Related: ** Ottawa Driving Guide