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Published: June 17th 2008
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Winterlude ice sculpture
One of the more impressive sculptures in the park. With a new "Family Day" holiday in February we used this long weekend as a great excuse for a road trip to our nation's capital to celebrate Ottawa's famous Winterlude festival and take in the typical sites the city has on offer!
Every February Ottawa comes alive with activities to celebrate the cold and snow in their Winterlude festival. We walked through a park with amazing ice sculptures on display where artists from around the world came to show off their talents. The intricate detail on these sculptures was truly incredible! An amateur ice carving competition was happening in the middle of this park and we were amazed to see a small block of ice turn into a great masterpiece. And to take part in another festival favourite, and a must on anyones to do list in the cold Ottawa winter, we skated along the Rideau Canal which is the world's largest skating rink and offers 7.8 km of skatable ice! The conditions were perfect for skating along the canal, which meant that we had to maneuvre around the hundreds of other people also partaking in this wintertime favourite, making skating more of a dodging competition! We definitely didn't skate
the entire 7.8 km of the ice, and were amazed that people who live in Ottawa actually use the canal to get to and from school or work. To fully endulge in the experience we treated ourselves to a BeaverTail after our skate which can only be described as deep fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar...mmmm, a true Canadian favourite!
We walked up to Parliament Hill which is the heart of Canada's democratic system and since it was a holiday weekend the Parliament buildings were open to the public. We toured through one of the three main buildings, the Centre Block. After having to pass through a metal detector and taking off multiple layers the guards were satisfied that we were safe to enter the building! We walked through the House of Commons which is where the most powerful body of parliament sits and decides what federal legislation and laws are passed. We were able to see which members use Obus Form cushions on their seats! We also toured through the library which is the only remaining part of the initial parliament central block from a fire that destroyed the building in 1916. It was saved because someone
Skating?
Skating on the RIdeau was more like dodging people at times! thought to close the fire-proof iron doors leading to the library. The room was very impressive and housed the members of parliament daily subscriptions to newspapers and magazines as well as thousands of legal books. There is also a basement to the library where the oldest books are kept, including a 200 year old book of hand painted birds worth $1.5 million! We went up to the top of the Peace tower which was built to commemerate the end of the first World War and stands over 300 ft tall. The tower also houses 53 bells of varying sizes, the largest being 22,400 lb which ring on the hour. Despite the freezing rain that started while we were up there, it still offered amazing views of the city. At the base of the Peace Tower is the Memorial Chambre which is a tribute to honour all the men and women who sacrificed their lives in WWI. In this room there are huge books of all the soldiers names who lost their lives in all of the wars that Canada was involved in. Each day there is a ceremoney where a page is turned in the books so that all the
Rusty skates
Someone didn't have fabric skate guardes to help protect them from rust! :) soldiers names have equal time on display. Each of these books was in a glass case and the war it reflected was engraved on a brass plate in the floor which we were told was made out of the shellings that were found from specific battle sites in the area. The stone work around the cases were also stones that were found in the country of the battles. Pretty amazing history!
Once outside of the Parliament Hill we walked by the Canadian National War Memorial Statue and saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is there to remind Canadians of the human cost of Canada's commitment to the cause of peace and freedom in the past, in the present and in the future. The Unknown Soldier represents the 27,500 Canadian service people who have no known grave. To continue with the day of Canadian history, Matt and I decided to go to the new Canadian War Museum. We didn't have as much time as we needed to see everything, but what we did see was amazing and we highly recommend it. There was an area dedicated to each war and there was history, vivid descriptions, personal quotes, and
BeaverTails!
A Canadian favourite - deep fried dough with cinnamon and sugar...mmmm interactive sections to each. It was really interesting to relearn everything that we were taught growing up. There was even an entire showroom dedicated to full size tankers!
We spent our nights wandering around the Byward Market, which is a very unique part of Ottawa as it offers street vendors, cafes, restaurants, shops, and of course bars! And of course, nothing tastes better after a night of pubs than another Canadian favourite, POUTINE! Fries, gravy and cheese curds oh my!
Our trip to Ottawa was fantastic and we thouroughly enjoyed seeing the historic sites, learning things about Canadian history that were new and amazing and really made us appreciate where we have come from, enjoying what the Winterlude festival has to offer, eating the great traditional Canadian food, and taking in the Ottawa nightlife!
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