'Beaver Tails' and the frozen canal - that's Ottawa!

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Hello all,

We’ve been in Ottawa a few days now and are having a fantastic time. The flight over with James was surprisingly painless - part due to the excellent staff on Canadian Airways, and part due to James being generally very well behaved. Contrary to our expectations, he didn’t make a sound on the take off and found the whole flight quite an adventure. This was all helped by one of the air stewards who took a shine to James and rewarded his good behaviour by taking him on regular walks and feeding him strawberry ice cream (this was a first for the boy!).

Although we’ve had bright blue skies and sun everyday, it is very cold - probably the coldest place we’ve ever been in fact. On our first day here we went for a walk to the local shops when it was is minus 20 degrees during the day and it was quite a shock to the system. Strangely enough, James doesn’t seem too bothered by the cold, although he is being pushed round in a warm pushchair in loads of layers.

Earlier today, we went ice skating on the frozen Rideau Canal in the city centre; this is one of the main attractions in Ottawa. When we first heard about this, we pictured a small section of the canal closed off as an ice rink..... the reality is that the whole canal is frozen and you can skate the whole length of it, making it the largest skating rink in the world. You can skate for several miles without having to turn! We were actually very lucky as today was the last day of skating on the canal before they close it for the year.

The skating was definitely one of our highlights so far and really was one of the greatest experiences - skating for several miles along a frozen canal. Pushing James along in the pushchair just added to the experience (this must have been the fastest he’d ever been and he loved it!)

I guess it goes without saying that we had to stop regularly for refreshments; we sampled the two local specialties which were both perfect food for hungry ice skaters: 1. Poutine, a pile of chips covered in soft cheese and gravy (sounds dodgy but was actually perfect), and 2. ‘Beaver Tails’ - a sweet snack like a flat doughnut covered in your choice of maple syrup or chocolate (these are very popular here).

Chris went to the local team's ice-hockey game tonight with the boys and girls in the group, the local side, the Ottawa Senators (known locally as 'the sens') played the Edmonton Oilers, and won 4-2. He said it was a true canadian experience and a great night out.

We’re packing tomorrow and driving a few hours up to Tremblant National Park for a week of skiing - we can’t wait.

Hope you are all keeping well, will update soon

C, J & J

xxx

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Photos

Frozen canal
The classic view of the Rideau Canal with Parliment in the back

James choosing the route...
Jamesboy already shares his dad's hobby of studying maps!

Ice skating
on the frozen canal - the largest skating rink in the world!

VERY cold!
This was our fist walk out in the -20 degree cold, it was much colder than in looks this day!

Beer shop
Can you spot Chris?

'Beaver Tails' on ice!
A yummy sweet snack like a flat doughnut

The 20mph pushchair!!!!
Taking a break after speedskating with James - we were lucky, this was the last day of skating on the canal for the year!

Scotiabank Place
Home of 'The Sens'

Comments

[dringies]

awesome!
Great to hear from you all - Ottawa sounds wonderful, especially the canal. Delighted to hear James travelled well and charmed the hostess en route. Baby thermals obviously working well and trust his suit is performing well! Enjoy the skiing. Mx

[nanny]

ice
Hello Jackie, Chris and James, thanks for blog. Glad you are having a good time hope James behaves for rest of holiday.Skating on the canal looks brilliant! all well here. enjoy yourselves(I'm sure you will) love nanny xxxx

[Paul H]

Edmonton Oilers
I hope being a Barnet boy you cheered for the Edmonton boys?? Have a great time. P L S Z