Skating On Thick Ice

Last weekend we headed north-east of Toronto to visit the nation's capital, Ottawa. After a comfortable four hour train journey it was a bit of a shock to walk out into the freezing -18 degree air! Quite fitting though, as the primary purpose of our trip was to embrace the cold at Winterlude, an annual festival that celebrates all things Wintery.

First stop was the Rideau canal which runs through the centre of Ottawa. Each winter, the 7.8km canal freezes over to become the world's largest skating rink! While Shane was skilled enough to skate the entire distance, I only managed a little bit and finished the rest by foot. It was all very surreal, I had to keep reminding myself that we were walking on frozen water. There were many beautiful sights along the way and a happy, festive atmostphere amongst the crowd. Naturally we stopped for refreshments - it would have been rude not to partake in offerings of hot apple cider and beavertails (fried doughnut-like slabs of pastry sprinkled with cinnamon sugar).

Next we made our way to the Snowflake Kingdom, a winter playground for kids (and big kids). There were some amazing snow sculptures and fun rides such as tubing and ice slides. We had a go on the tubes and tasted some maple taffy (maple syrup frozen on fresh snow). After a lovely dinner in the Byward Market area, we explored the incredible ice sculptures on display. It was amazing to see what can be done with a block of ice and a chainsaw!

On Sunday we got a bit political and cultural by visiting Parliament Hill and the National Art Gallery. It was so lovely to stroll through the park afterwards catching snowflakes and admiring the scenery. I couldn't help but hum 'walking in a winter wonderland'.