Nails and Pancakes
I know y'all think that I don't work hard but..........you're right, I don't. I had the pleasure of partaking in a few of the winter festivals here in the Centre du Canada during a few of my overnights. Actually, my first winter festival was in Detroit.
This is a view of the Detroit skyline, looking out across the Detroit River from my hotel room in Windsor, ON. For $2.75 each way (exact change please), you too can hop the tunnel bus from one side to the other.
Through the tunnel and here we are at...
The city trucked in umpteen truckloads of snow and dumped them in a popular square in the heart of the Detroit city center. They had a dogsled team taking kids for rides, but the line up was too long for me to wait for my turn. I'll be there at the front of the line next time!!
The line up for the tube slide was rumored to be over 2 hours long! Luckily, I only had to talk myself and not my kids out of waiting in THAT line up!! There was also a snowboard track, but it was a pretty short run, and the effort to get there was more than the ride was worth.
I decided to go indoors and to my luck, I stumbled across the worlds tallest indoor waterfall!! But don't go booking your next holiday to see this Wonder of the World!! In the foyer of the skyscraper where the indoor waterfall was located, there was a whole market of displays and a stage. Soon after my arrival, a German lady came onstage and started playing her accordian. She was joined by a number of men drinking beer and wearing Lederhosen and performing a traditional Shuhplattler dance.
Next, I was off to Ottawa for my next winter festival, or Bal De Neige, as it's called there. OK, it's Winterlude in English. Not sure how Ball of Snow translates into Winterlude, but I don't ask questions. I'm not sure about a lot of things in this part of the country. I actually took part in the Free Pancake Breakfast here. Standing in the warm morning sun with the temperature gauge showing -20, I enjoyed my pancakes with fresh maple syrup, of course, and thought to myself "How lucky am I to have a free breakfast AND watch a Blacksmith make nails!!!!!!!" Bet you wish you were in my shoes!! There's nothing like wearing dress shoes in -20 weather!
So, for those of you who didn't know, myself included, the frozen Rideau Canal is the largest skating surface in the world!!! The start of the Rideau Canal is at the foot of the Chateau Laurier and the end is in Kingston, Ontario. We aren't going to be skating to Kingston today though. The first 1/2 km of the canal is packed full of food vendors, skate rentals, warming huts, benches and a stage for the evening performances. There are pit stops stretched out along the 7.8km length of the river that is used for skating, consisting of extra warming huts and food vendors.
I had no idea this many people skated on the Rideau!!
Along with free pancakes and a nail making Blacksmith, there was a huge ice-sculpting competition. There were groups, pairs and singles all busily carving their ice blocks under a strict time constraint. I thought this sphere was extra cool. It looks like it is 1/2 filled with water!
I learned that a lot of the parts are made separately and then attached to the main sculpture later. This artist was attaching the teeth to this dragon head, which was not yet attached to the body. Neat, hey!!
Now, off to the Land of Quebec. Unfortunately, my employer didn't schedule me enough time to participate in Carnaval de Quebec, the largest of them all! Arriving late one night, I braved the -30 temps to snap a few pictures of a nearby exhibit. A security guard came to remove me from the area, telling me it was closed. But because he was speaking French, "Ferme ce soir" meant nothing to me and the lengths I'd go to for my faithful blog followers!! Me No-ah Speak-ah Fran-says.
This is a stage made out of ice blocks. The picture doesn't do the thing justice.
And you thought YOU were carrying a burden on your shoulders. How do you think this guy feels? But seriously, how heavy could a building made of snow be?
This is a view of the Detroit skyline, looking out across the Detroit River from my hotel room in Windsor, ON. For $2.75 each way (exact change please), you too can hop the tunnel bus from one side to the other.
Through the tunnel and here we are at...
The city trucked in umpteen truckloads of snow and dumped them in a popular square in the heart of the Detroit city center. They had a dogsled team taking kids for rides, but the line up was too long for me to wait for my turn. I'll be there at the front of the line next time!!
The line up for the tube slide was rumored to be over 2 hours long! Luckily, I only had to talk myself and not my kids out of waiting in THAT line up!! There was also a snowboard track, but it was a pretty short run, and the effort to get there was more than the ride was worth.
I decided to go indoors and to my luck, I stumbled across the worlds tallest indoor waterfall!! But don't go booking your next holiday to see this Wonder of the World!! In the foyer of the skyscraper where the indoor waterfall was located, there was a whole market of displays and a stage. Soon after my arrival, a German lady came onstage and started playing her accordian. She was joined by a number of men drinking beer and wearing Lederhosen and performing a traditional Shuhplattler dance.
Next, I was off to Ottawa for my next winter festival, or Bal De Neige, as it's called there. OK, it's Winterlude in English. Not sure how Ball of Snow translates into Winterlude, but I don't ask questions. I'm not sure about a lot of things in this part of the country. I actually took part in the Free Pancake Breakfast here. Standing in the warm morning sun with the temperature gauge showing -20, I enjoyed my pancakes with fresh maple syrup, of course, and thought to myself "How lucky am I to have a free breakfast AND watch a Blacksmith make nails!!!!!!!" Bet you wish you were in my shoes!! There's nothing like wearing dress shoes in -20 weather!
So, for those of you who didn't know, myself included, the frozen Rideau Canal is the largest skating surface in the world!!! The start of the Rideau Canal is at the foot of the Chateau Laurier and the end is in Kingston, Ontario. We aren't going to be skating to Kingston today though. The first 1/2 km of the canal is packed full of food vendors, skate rentals, warming huts, benches and a stage for the evening performances. There are pit stops stretched out along the 7.8km length of the river that is used for skating, consisting of extra warming huts and food vendors.
I had no idea this many people skated on the Rideau!!
Along with free pancakes and a nail making Blacksmith, there was a huge ice-sculpting competition. There were groups, pairs and singles all busily carving their ice blocks under a strict time constraint. I thought this sphere was extra cool. It looks like it is 1/2 filled with water!
I learned that a lot of the parts are made separately and then attached to the main sculpture later. This artist was attaching the teeth to this dragon head, which was not yet attached to the body. Neat, hey!!
Now, off to the Land of Quebec. Unfortunately, my employer didn't schedule me enough time to participate in Carnaval de Quebec, the largest of them all! Arriving late one night, I braved the -30 temps to snap a few pictures of a nearby exhibit. A security guard came to remove me from the area, telling me it was closed. But because he was speaking French, "Ferme ce soir" meant nothing to me and the lengths I'd go to for my faithful blog followers!! Me No-ah Speak-ah Fran-says.
This is a stage made out of ice blocks. The picture doesn't do the thing justice.
And you thought YOU were carrying a burden on your shoulders. How do you think this guy feels? But seriously, how heavy could a building made of snow be?
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