Articles tagged with: Canadian Winter
Picture of the Week: Shoveling Snow
Most Canadians keep a shovel in the garage, and it’s not to build sandcastles, but to shovel the snow. A single snowstorm can bring ten, twenty, thirty of more centimeters of snow and it can make getting out of the house a challenge.
On The Rideau Canal
On one of these cold days (- 25°C with wind-chill), we headed to the Rideau Canal. The “world’s largest skating rink” is one of Ottawa’s most famous landmarks, and with a cleared length of 7.8 kilometres, it’s a huge frozen playground for skating enthusiasts.
Picture of the Week: Red Gloves
I’m terrible when it comes to wearing gloves. Doing so is common sense: the wind can be extremely cold and winter weather is generally dry. But I always seem to need my bare hands and I hate taking the gloves off and putting them back a
Surprise Snow Storm
I was lucky to be home when the snowfall started, and bundled up like a snowman, I took a long walk with my camera. I loved the colours (or lack thereof) and the fact the sky and the ground seemed to blend perfectly. It was worth getting my hair frozen!
Winterlude 2012 in Gatineau
Ottawa has the best ice sculpture and the Rideau Canal to skate, but Winterlude in Gatineau, Quebec, is also a great playground for some winter fun. Although it no longer has the huge snow sculptures competition, a few impressive bas-reliefs are carved at the bottom of the main attraction: the giant snow/ice slides.
Winterlude 2012 in Ottawa
On the opening day and despite the very chilly wind, Confederation Park and the nearby portion of the Rideau Canal were packed. Confederation Park always has a nice collection of ice sculptures: small ones around the fountain and bigger ones around the park. You can even see sculptors, wearing thick gloves, at work with chainsaws and other power tools.
Winterlude 2011
We came back to Canada just in time to take a peek at the 2011 edition of the Winterlude, our yearly winter festival. This was Winterlude’s last week-end and even though some ice sculptures partially melted because of a warmer weather spell last week, the crowd was here.
In The Dead of the Winter
Coming back from the tropics reminded me how harsh winter in Canada can be, and how hard it can be to adapt to this unique challenge. Yet, because I’ve been living there for a few years, I’m prepared and within a few minutes of landing in Ottawa, I was wearing my full winter armour, complete with gloves and a hat.
A Creepy Winter Night
During summer, days are long, humid and sunny and people make the most of it by engaging in as many outdoor activities as possible. But once a blanket of snow falls and the days get shorter, we all become hobbits. Suddenly, nothing is more appealing than a cup of hot chocolate, a movie and layers of clothes and blankets. People are less chatty and more reserved—like if the cold had drained all the energy from them and what little they have left was used to fight winter.
Winter Fun
This weekend marks the end of the Winterlude festival (but sadly, not the end of winter yet). I found myself hanging around in Confederation park, where it all started a couple of weeks ago, thinking I will miss the ice sculptures.
