Ottawa Tulip Festival - Celebrating Victoria Day

Ottawa, Canada (74 degrees, blue skies, light winds)

We are now in Ottawa and this weekend was Victoria Day, a federal holiday in Canada. Everyone seems to be out celebrating this holiday to the fullest. Almost all businesses are closed. Our campground has been full and everywhere we went this weekend it was packed with locals and tourists. Spring has sprung and it's a very pretty time to be in Ottawa the capital city of Canada. It is a city of almost a million people and we've really enjoyed our visit tremendously. 

We came here for the Tulip Festival, which is from May 8-18th. In 1940 during the Nazi invasion of Netherlands, the Queen and her children came here for five years. Queen Wilhelmina also gave birth to a daughter while in exile. After returning to her homeland she gave  a 100,000 bulbs in gratitude to the Canadian people and continued to send them until her abdication in 1980. Eventually this festival was created and now over one million bulbs are planted all over the city. The largest gardens are planted at Dows Lake. 

Dows Lake

After we settled into our campground, we went with Randy and Fran to the lake to view the flower beds and watch the fireworks being shot over the lake in the evening. The fireworks were beautiful and one of the largest displays we have ever seen.  The park was very crowded and a wide variety of nationalities were present.  Everyone was very friendly. The Little Italy neighborhood is within walking distance and we had a delicious dinner prior to the fireworks.  It was a perfect evening.

The next morning we returned to Dows Lake and took a shuttle bus to the downtown. This service was operated by the Tulip Festival. There certainly were not enough buses to handle the crowds and a marathon race only added to the confusion. However, we finally got to the downtown and Parliament Hill. We were impressed by all the elaborate architecture. It's called the Symbolic Heart of Canada. This is where Canada's federal government is located.

The Centre Block and Peace Tower

The Centennial Flame

Peace Tower

Gargoyle on the Peace Tower

East Block

Library of Parliament

There are three main building which overlook a large lawn. Families were playing on the lawn and everyone was enjoying the beautiful weather. We walked up the stairs of the Centre Block and to the back of the building. There we found a spectacular overlook of the Ottawa River and Quebec. Lilacs lined the overlook and the scent was intoxicating. The scenery below of the river was even more splendid.

Below is the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Solider. It is guarded by two soldiers on each side and we watched an interesting changing of the guard ceremony.

Changing of the guards

Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel

There were very helpful guides for the tourists around the grounds. They wore ? on their shirts and we found them to be very helpful. One guide suggested going down the street to an open market for lunch. It turned out to be a very good suggestion. Along the way we saw a boat. coming through a series of seven locks from the Ottawa River to the Rideau Canal.

The market was filled with vendors and was very crowded. It was very interesting and we had a nice lunch and browsed the shops for awhile. Fran picked up some fiddle heads. It's a tiny fern which is only available for about three weeks. The vendor said to boil them for six minutes and then cook them in garlic and butter. He said it tastes sort of like asparagus. We will let you know....TBA. 

We then walked back had to wait quite awhile for the shuttle bus. No one seemed to complain, at least not loudly. It was too beautiful of a day to let it be a problem. Tomorrow we are going kayaking down a portion of the Rideau River.