Visited Ottawa, the capitol of Canada, on the last weekend of Winterlude, an annual celebration of Winter, held the first three weekends of February. It was a cool -11 Celsius (12 Farenheit) on the evening of my visit. There was a breeze so if felt much colder.
Ice sculpture at Winterlude in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Nikon D750/16-35VR, 1/125s, f/4, ISO 500, EV 0, 30mm Focal Length.
There were large and small ice sculptures at the Crystal Garden in Confederation Park. Some of the more intricate ice sculptures had been damaged in the warm weather of the previous week. The larger ones were mostly intact like this one featuring Big Horn Sheep found in the Canadian Rockies.
Ice sculpture of Big Horn Sheept at Winterlude in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Nikon D750/16-35VR, 1/125s, f/4, ISO 2800, EV 0, 35mm Focal Length.
Next to the Crystal Garden is the home to the largest naturally frozen skating rink in the world. The Rideau Canal Skateway is 7.8 kilometers (4.8 miles) long and stretches from Ottawa’s downtown to Dows Lake. Access to the canal is free. If you do not have skates you can rent them.
People skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Nikon D750/16-35VR, 1/125s, f/4, ISO 8000, EV 0, 35mm Focal Length, cropped.
No only can you skate on the canal, you can stop at one of the food vendors found right on the ice.
A group of skaters stop at the Beavertails Pastry on the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in enjoy a favorite Canadian treat, Beavertails.
Nikon D750/16-35VR, 1/125s, f/4, ISO 2200, EV 0, 16mm Focal Length, Intensify Pro.
I was thrilled to find a Beavertails Pastry food cart on the canal. Beavertails were sold at Epcot in the Canada pavilion but disappeared a few years ago. I enjoyed a hot cinnamon covered beavertail. What’s a beavertail? Click here to find out: Everything You’d Ever Want to Know About Beavertails.
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brevertail lol
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Yeppers…and they are very good.
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Cool! Beavertails, funnel cakes . . . excellent treats. Love the scene of people skating along, sort of like an urban bikeway but different.
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I think they are a cut above funnel cakes. 🙂 It was a very cool scene watching people skate. Will definitely be back to skate the full length of the canal.
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Celebrate winter? No thank you! 😉 But that ice sculpture is very cool! (pun inteneded)
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I fell right into that, eh? 😀 Hey, best to celebrate than to stick your tongue to a flag pole.
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The only way to survive in a northern location is to celebrate the winter. Michigan Tech up in Houghton Michigan (way up in the UP) does winter carnival with huge ice sculptures designed and built by the engineering students every February. Ottawa is a great town. Husband and I were there this past September. We were pleasantly surprised at how lovely it was.
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Ottawa is lovely and full of fun things to do and see.
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I love Your winterlude photos. They are awesome. In Finland not exactly same, but every winter we build world’s biggest snow castle. Inside there are snow and ice art. Snow castle is not castle, but there is snow, hotel, restaurant, bar and much more.
To get better idea, here is my old blog:
World’s Biggest Snow Castle.
Happy weekend!
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