Canada blog

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to skate a canal. Last weekend we laid claim to some ‘real winter’ and headed to Ottawa to skate the Rideau during the Winterlude festival – pure magic!

We were lucky – this weekend, as for most of this year, the ice is closed. The ice may have been ‘poor’, but we skated all 7.8km of the world’s longest skating rink (at an average skating speed of 5.25 mph and a top speed of just over 9mph!). We stopped for a free technical lesson along the way, not to mention for hot chocolate and  ‘Beavertails’ (a Canadian classic!).

Then on to Snowflake Kingdom, a wondrous winter playground for the young and young at heart (we couldn’t resist the ice slide!).

Later, after night fell, we were enchanted by the ice carvings in Confederation Park, probably not quite as exquisite as when they were carved a week before, given the freeze/thaw cycle of this winter, but still lovely.

Winter festivals are awesome!!!

(See the Ottawa – Winter Album in the photo gallery for more pictures)

Tags: activity, Ottawa, skating, snow, winter, Winterlude
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Shh! Don’t tell anyone. We almost have our own private rink with a view . . . (The down side is that it’s a bit unpredictable when and if the Zamboni will have come, so the ice is sometimes great and sometimes not!). This is part of the new port lands development, more or less next to Corus at Sherbourne Common.

And yes, there are two of me, a trick I wish I could replicate in other areas of my life.

Tags: activity, skating, Toronto, winter
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Yesterday was one of those glorious days that nourish you to the core. Our first snowfall – really just a long flurry of motes mixed with the occasional feather dusting the ground – then blue skies; The AGO – Henry Moore (early works, full of the anguish of his response to his war-time experiences) and the Maharajas (fabulous, especially the Rolls Royce and the tabla player and Kathac dancer; too many pancakes (crepes) with delectable fillings (we ate the sweet followed by the savoury!); then on to Nathan Phillips Square for our first skate of the season, this year’s sole Cavalcade of Lights (the square is being refurbished) to launch the Christmas season, with live music, the lighting of the tree and some of the best fireworks I’ve ever seen – City Hall is a fabulous backdrop, the window reflections augmenting the show.

This was also the occasion of our first skate in Canada last year and looks set to be an enduring tradition – I felt the total pleasure and wonder of a six year old for much of the day – what a great start to Christmas!

Tags: activity, art, Christmas, culture, Fireworks, museums & galleries, skating, winter
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I hope the ability just to pop down to the park to skate never looses its magic! This is a natural rink – no fences, no Zamboni to clean the ice, just the good-will and hard work of local people to  top the water levels up and clear the snow.

Tags: activity, skating, winter
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I refuse to think in terms of ‘things to do before I die’, but I do have a list of ‘things to do before I get too much older’. On Saturday evening, I was able to tick one of these off!

Having read Noel Streatfield’s White Boots avidly as a child, I fell in love with ice skating and skated regularly at Bournemouth through the school holidays. But I’ve always longed to skate in the open air.

On Saturday we found ourselves on the ice under the freedom arches of Nathan Phillips Square, Christmas lights twinkling all around use under a brilliant frosty moon. We craned our heads to follow the fireworks as they scaled the twin towers of city hall in the opening ceremony for the annual Toronto Cavalcade of Lights to triumphal strains. Then, as the applause subsided, skated for over an hour among the throngs to a DJ mix of Michael Jackson and contemporary R&B. Even with hire skates, it was the best skate we’ve had in a long time – in the Canadian vernacular, ‘awesome’! We are looking forward to skating in our local parks when our own skates arrive, as well as on the harbourfront.

At 10.30, after the best Pitta Gyros we’ve had outside Greece, we headed towards home through streets still bustling with families past the animated Christmas windows of The Bay.

Either I’m seeing the world through fresh eyes or the spirit of Christmas really does seem to be stronger, more full of the wonder that echoes childhood memories. And we haven’t even had snow yet . . .

Tags: activity, events, skating, Toronto
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