Hello from Ottawa – Skating on the Rideau Canal – Officially the largest skating rink in the world

There’s no denying it: Ottawa is known to be one of the coldest capitals in the world (though only when it comes to temperatures). But does that mean you stay home for the winter and get depressed? Absolutely not! Ottawa has turned a potential liability into a key asset and really shows us how to celebrate winter.

First up is Winterlude, Ottawa’s winter festival, which runs this year from February 3-19, 2006. Winterlude is reportedly attended by more than 650,000 winter revelers and encompasses a wide variety of events: concerts, special events, cooking demonstrations, festivals in restaurants. And the list goes on. Skating at the Rideau Skateway, with nearly 5 miles of the world’s largest ice rink, was our main reason for coming to Ottawa. In fact, we had traveled to Ottawa about 3 years ago, and due to the hot weather, Winterlude was a total disaster for us that year (I guess the proper term for that event would be “Waterlude”).

But our previous experience didn’t stop us, so this year Theresa and I decided to go back and pray for better weather so we could see this phenomenal skating and entertainment venue for ourselves.

By the way, the Rideau Canal Skateway has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest naturally frozen ice rink in the world. The skating rink is 7.8 kilometers long and takes you from the Rideau Bridge to Dow Lake.

We hit the ground running early, around 10 am on an absolutely perfect winter day, but even then the skating rink was packed and the ice course frozen from Confederation Park to the rink entrance in the other side of the river was full. with people in a long line.

We laced up our skates and strapped our boots on our backs, which would give us the flexibility to get off the ice at any time and continue our explorations on foot. Or if we got too tired, we could even hop on the “Sno-Bus” that connects Dow’s Lake to Confederation Park throughout the Winterlude Festival for the low fare of $2.50 (more info on the OC Transpo site).

But, apparently, we didn’t need a Sno-Bus, we skated on this wonderful natural ice surface to the lake and we didn’t even need to rest. On this beautiful day with crystal blue skies and perfect winter weather and amazingly no winds, skating the Rideau was a phenomenal experience. In fact, we couldn’t have picked a better day to explore the Rideau Canal on roller skates.

At different intervals along the way there were a variety of rest areas, food concessions, and special entertainment or information areas. Well represented, of course, is a famous Ottawa trademark: Beavertails concession stands selling hot, freshly baked pastries dusted with sugar and cinnamon. The perfect snack and source of energy on a cold winter day.

In the rest area of ​​the Via Rail Concord station, an exhibit shed light on Ottawa’s rail history. Apparently, many years ago, trains arrived in downtown Ottawa right next to the Rideau Canal. On Fifth Avenue, young sports fans enjoyed Canadian Tire’s JUMPStart Activity Center, where they jumped through the air on a trampoline system and put their hockey skills to the test.

On Pig Island, a special area with teepees has been set up to learn about Aboriginal traditions, culture and cuisine. In addition, the area featured a lumberjack exhibit, snowshoe making workshop, and Aboriginal song and drumming.

Once I got to Dow’s Lake, I went to explore the 26th Annual Bed Run, a fundraising event that turned out to be an absolutely fun experience, for a good cause, no less. The Bed Race is organized by the Ottawa Kiwanis Club and the proceeds, nearly $50,000, will go to the Children’s Read-A-Thon.

But I had more to cover so I started skating towards the center of town and by then the skating rink had gotten pretty crowded. It seemed that young and old, the whole family was out. Parents pulled their children on small sleds, or even pushed them in all-terrain baby carriages. Everyone was having a blast.

On the way back, one person caught my eye: a young woman in red skates, red gloves and a red scarf was skating along the canal, juggling, apparently just having fun. I reached out to her to find out a little about her. She introduced herself as Sylvie and shared with me that she is part of a family of jugglers and that juggling is in her blood. She said that juggling is her life and, although she doesn’t drive the most luxurious car, she is happy because she can do what she loves.

After so much skating I got really hungry, so I took off my skates and just headed to the Rideau Centre, one of the biggest malls in Ottawa. It is located right next to the Canal and this day was positively packed. The Rideau Center offered a welcome opportunity to warm up and enjoy a hearty lunch in its food court.

Obviously, I love the outdoors and urban exploration, and skating on the Rideau Canal through downtown Ottawa combines both activities perfectly. I briefly tried this special winter activity, and one thing is for sure: I’ll be back!