Atlantica - 01.01.2006, Qupperneq 12

10 AT L A N T I CA
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Skate ‘til You Drop in Ottawa
Residents of northern nations are masters at finding the positive spin on long,
cold winters. Ottawa may only be the world’s second coldest national capital,
but that doesn’t stop the active Ottawan from putting on something toasty and
heading outside in –25°C weather.
One big incentive is the Rideau Canal Skateway – known to all locals as “the
Canal”. The Canal is a busy waterway in summer that freezes over in winter to
become the world’s largest outdoor skating rink. At almost 8km in length, the
Canal offers as much surface skating area as 90 Olympic size skating rinks.
Snaking its way through the heart of the city, the Canal passes many of
Ottawa’s major attractions like the National Arts Centre and Landsdown Park.
It’s also a popular traffic-free commuting route in January and February. Food
and drink huts clustered along the way offer winter warmers like hot chocolate
and a local favorite, beavertails. (Vegetarians can rest easy; beavertails are huge
slabs of deep-fried pastry, coated in cinnamon and sugar and numerous other
toppings.)
The Canal is usually open for skating from the end of December until early
March.
Mid-February sees the culmination of Ottawan winter enthusiasms in the
form of the two-week carnival, Winterlude, which features a huge display of
ice sculptures, concerts, sleigh rides and a children’s ice playground. On busy
weekends during Winterlude, you’ll be skating in a thick throng of people, but
head out on a weekday, and it might be just you, the snow, and the tranquil
sound of your skates gliding along the ice.
So bundle up and get ready for a refreshing time outside. There’s no excuse:
rental skates are available, and you’ll see people of all levels of ability giving it
a shot.
Last person to tie their skates on has to buy the beavertails, eh? – Eliza Reid
Further information available at www.canadascapital.gc.ca/skateway. Winterlude
runs from 3-19 February 2006. And the world’s coldest capital city is Ulaan Baatar,
Mongolia. I knew you were wondering.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MEDIAPLUS ADVERTISING
Airmail+OTF ATL106.indd 10 16.12.2005 12:12:07