There’s no denying it: Ottawa is known to be one of the coldest capitals in the world (if only when it comes to temperatures). But does that mean you stay home for the winter and get depressed? Absolutely not! Ottawa has turned a potential liability into a key asset and really shows us how to celebrate winter.
First up is Winterlude, Ottawa’s winter festival, taking place this year from February 3-19, 2006. Winterlude is reportedly attended by over 650,000 winter revelers and encompasses a wide variety of events: concerts, special events, culinary demonstrations, festivals in restaurants. And the list goes on. Skating at Rideau Skateway, with nearly 5 miles of the world’s largest ice rink, was our main reason for coming to Ottawa. In fact, we had traveled to Ottawa about 3 years ago and due to the warm weather, Winterlude was a total disaster for us that year (I guess the proper term for that event would be “Waterlude”).
But our previous experience didn’t stop us, so this year, Theresa and I decided to go back and pray for better weather so we could see this phenomenal skating and entertainment venue for ourselves.
By the way, the Rideau Canal Skateway has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest naturally frozen ice rink in the world. The skating rink is 7.8 kilometers long and takes you from the Rideau Bridge to Dow Lake.
We set off early, around 10am on an absolutely perfect winter day, but even then the rink was packed and the drive on the frozen ice from Confederation Park to the rink entrance to the other side of the river was packed. with people in a long line.
We laced up our skates and put our boots on our backs, giving us the flexibility to get off the ice at any time and continue our explorations on foot. Or if we get too tired, we could even hop on the “Sno-Bus” that connects Dow’s Lake to Confederation Park throughout the Winterlude Festival for the low fare of $2.50 (more info on the OC Transpo site).
But apparently we didn’t need a Sno-Bus, we skated on this wonderful natural ice surface all the way to the lake and didn’t even need to rest. On this beautiful day with crystal blue skies and perfect and surprisingly windless winter weather, skating at the Rideau was a phenomenal experience. In fact, we couldn’t have picked a better day to explore the Rideau Canal on roller skates.
At different intervals along the road were a variety of rest areas, food concessions, and special entertainment or information areas. Well represented, of course, is a famous Ottawa trademark: the Beavertails concession stands selling hot, freshly baked pastries dusted with cinnamon sugar. The perfect snack and source of energy on a cold winter day.
In Via Rail’s Concord Station rest area, an exhibit shed light on Ottawa’s rail history. Apparently, many years ago, trains ran into downtown Ottawa right next to the Rideau Canal. On Fifth Avenue, young sports fans enjoyed Canadian Tire’s JUMPStart Activity Center, where they jumped through the air on a trampoline system and put their hockey skills to the test.
On Pig Island, a special teepee area has been set up to learn about Aboriginal traditions, culture and cuisine. In addition, the area featured a lumberjack exhibit, a snowshoe-making workshop, and Aboriginal song and drumming.
Once I got to Dow’s Lake, I went to explore the 26th Annual Bed Race, a fundraising event that turned out to be an absolutely fun experience, for a good cause no less. The Bed Race is organized by the Ottawa Kiwanis Club and the proceeds, nearly $50,000, will go to the Children’s Read-A-Thon.
But I had more to cover so I started skating towards the center of town and by then the rink had gotten pretty crowded. It seemed that young and old, the whole family was out. Parents pulled their children on small sleds, or even pushed them in all-terrain baby strollers. Everyone was having a blast.
On the way back, one person caught my eye: a young woman in red roller skates, red gloves, and a red scarf was skating down the canal, juggling, apparently just having fun. I reached out to her to find out a bit about her. She introduced herself as Sylvie and shared with me that she is part of a family of jugglers and that juggling is in her blood. She said that juggling is her life and, although she doesn’t drive the fanciest car, she is happy because she can do what she loves.
After all that skating I got really hungry, so I took off my skates and just headed to the Rideau Center, one of the biggest shopping malls in Ottawa. It is located right next to the Canal and on this day it was positively crowded. The Rideau Center offered a welcome opportunity to warm up and enjoy a hearty lunch in their food court.
Obviously, I love the outdoors and urban exploration, and skating the Rideau Canal through downtown Ottawa blends both perfectly. I briefly tried this special winter activity, and one thing is for sure: I will be back!