After shoot­ing the torch relay, I decided to stay down­town and to have a look at the night fes­tiv­i­ties on Par­lia­ment Hill. By the time I got there, I learned from two ladies (pic­tured below) that they would only start after sun­set… I wasn’t going to sit on the cold wait­ing, like them, for a few hours. I headed to Chap­ters and grabbed a hot coffee.

By the time I could feel my toes again, the sun had set. I walked to Par­lia­ment Hill and real­ized that most of Ottawa had appar­ently showed up — it felt just like Canada Day, only 40C colder.

The lights on the Par­lia­ment were beau­ti­ful, espe­cially with the thick blan­ket of snow that fell a few days ear­lier. Snow, how­ever, it not cool when you try to set up a tri­pod — trust me.

 
Tak­ing pic­ture 1) at night 2) in the crowd 3) with frozen fin­gers isn’t easy, but I’m quite happy with the shots I got.

Wait­ing For The Show	Party Is Here!
Funky Coke Bottles	Gloves and Cana­dian Flag
Queu­ing for… Coffee!	Warm­ing Up Around The Cen­ten­nial Flame
Cheer­ing	Prac­tic­ing Hockey
Par­lia­ment Hill	Good Van­tage Point…?
Drum­ming	Graf­fiti Wall

Related arti­cles:

1. The Olympic Torch Relay In Ottawa (1÷2)
2. Ottawa At Dusk
3. Happy Birth­day, Canada!
4. Canada Day In Ottawa
5. The Rideau Canal