Siena~Tuscany's Medieval Gem

Siena's beautiful red brick historic centre is a Medieval maze of streets seemingly frozen in time. Siena offers shops full of the best Tuscan gourmet foods, wines and hand-painted ceramics.  

I had no expectations or agenda set going to Siena, which is why the town may have delighted me so much.  Other than the crazy bareback horse race called "The Palio" that consumes the city of Siena every summer, I didn't know much about the town at all. I knew Siena was Florence's bitter archrival during the middle ages until it was struck by the plague in 1348.  Yet, whenever I asked people for advice on where to visit in Tuscany, I always received the reply "Siena; you will looooooove Siena!"

Il Campo

Siena is only 56 km or 35 miles from Florence and makes a perfect one-day side trip from Florence.

Driving to Siena from our week-long base in Cortona was very easy to do, and the 45-minute drive across the Valdichiana was absolutely stunning.  Every hilltop we sped by seemed to be crowned with a little village just begging to be explored. Siena is also perched atop a hill, with all its narrow streets gently spilling down into a valley like an ochre waterfall. 

Siena's historical centre or "centro storico" is a car-free zone. We found cheap parking under the bleachers at the soccer stadium just follow the signs for "Stadio" to get to the Stadium.  Public parking at the Stadio is about €2/hr and is the same price as the Fortezza parking nearby.  A short walk from the stadium and one is emersed in a medieval wonderland. 

Navigating your way through the jumble of medieval walls 
to the main square in the centre of town is easy; just look for the 100 metres, (330 foot) tower called "La Torre del Mangia."  This round "square" is unarguably Siena's heart and the best way to get your bearings on a map, and if you can not see the tower, just listen for the bells. Piazza Il Campo is where the 17 neighbourhoods of Siena or "contrade" come together.   Il Campo is also the site of the famous Palio, a no holds barred bareback horse race between 10 of the 17 contradas.  This race has been taking place twice a summer; July 2 and August 16 since the 1600s.  To visit Siena during the Palio, check out the website www.ilpalio.org for tickets and information.

Pigeon heaven is the Fonte Gaia.

Piazza del Campo has got to be my favourite Piazza in Italy so far; it looks like a giant brick scallop shell. The red "Campo" gently slopes towards the "Pallazo Publico" or City Hall in the center.  I was here in mid-September, and Il Campo was a magnet for folks just sitting and sprawling out on the warm bricks. Equipped perhaps with a gelato in hand, you can relax and enjoy the great Italian sport of people-watching.
I could just stretch out on the warm red bricks of the piazza all day and relax listening to the bubbling "Fonte Gaia" behind me.  The Fountain of Joy is the highest point of Il Campo and where the citizens of Siena used to come and fill up their water buckets.  Now it is a fun place to watch the pigeons take a batch and take sips of water from the she-wolves mouths.

Contrada della Lupa

It was time to explore the streets of Siena and head towards the famous cathedral, the Duomo of Siena.  I loved navigating the twisting medieval lanes and walking under the arched alleyways. It was interesting walking through the different "contradas" or neighbourhoods that are all animal-themed.  Siena was on the main trade route from France to Rome, and many of these narrow alleys you walk today were filled with pilgrims and merchants. Siena was a super-power in its heyday, its streets lined with shops and banks where wealthy merchants deposited their money for safekeeping.  In fact, the first bank in Italy was in Siena.

There is some great shopping here too, especially for foodies.  Look for signs in store windows saying "prodotti tipici" or "local products."  I bought the best spice mixes here, as well as local cookies called "ricciarelli,"  which are chewy macaroon & almond delights.  Another local delicacy is delicious fruitcakes called "panforte"  that are only made in Sienna.   See my blog post for more on: Foods of Tuscany   

Other souvenirs s to buy are silk scarves with the different Contrada flags, local wines and beautiful pottery with hand-painted sunflowers and other local designs.  I purchased a bowl and a bunch of hand-painted wine stoppers as gifts to bring home.  It was not cheap, but this is not mass-produced; it is traditional craftsman art, and it is worth every penny to me.  Especially since the shop owner was the artist, who made it by hand.  Bellissimo!

On to Siena's crowning glory; the Duomo.  The city of Siena has changed the pricing of its Duomo.  When we were there in 2013, it was 3 to enter the cathedral and extra for the museum.  Now in 2019, there is a combo pass ticket where the Duomo, library, museum, baptistry, crypt and everything else is included for €15 if you purchase tickets online. Or if you buy your tickets at the door, the price is € 17.  Folks, it is totally worth it!  These precious pieces of art need to be preserved, restored and protected and that all costs significant amounts of coin!

The Duomo of Siena

Siena's Duomo was incredible. The candy cane stripes decorating the outside 0f the Duomo continued on the inside, and every single surface was covered in a piece of beautiful art.  I can imagine simple pilgrims walking in here and falling to their knees in awe! There are priceless Michelangelo, Donatello and Bernini statues. Your eyes just don't know where to look because it is 360 degrees of grandeur. The Piccolomini Library, with its original 550-year-old frescoes, was simply stunning!

Piccolomini Library

My 11-year-old son Liam was SO reticent and patient in the Cathedral, and I thought he was overwhelmed by the crowds. in reality, he was really just counting all the naked "bits" in the paintings on the ceiling!  This is where my child's OCD comes in handy. Liam was still counting penises from when we arrived in Rome a week ago (he is into the hundreds now).   I had another Mom lament to me that she wishes her two children were as well behaved & attentive to all the art as my son is.  I almost blurted out, "oh no, he is just counting penises," but I decided to seize the moment to be a shining parent and just thanked her for the compliment. 😈

Grabbing a cheap lunch in Sienna was easy, we hit the "panini" shop for made to order sandwiches. The best sandwiches are found at Alimentari Pizzicheria De Miccoli located near Il Campo. TIP: smile and point if you don't know the Italian words for the different deli items. Just don't expect any mustard, mayonnaise or other North American condiments to be available for your panini.  The fresh, wonderful Tuscan flavours are all you need to satisfy your taste buds.

Torture Museum

We were wandering around after lunch when we passed by the Medieval Torture Museum, and Liam begged to go in. I told Liam that all the guidebooks warn you that this museum is a rip-off and that it wasn't suitable for children anyway.  Liam made a good case that he wanted to explore something HE was interested in. After all, it only seemed fair after every castle, church and museum I dragged him into.  Actually, the museum had very good (yet gruesome) displays in English with original museum pieces; and the multi-level medieval building itself was quite beautiful and unusual. However, the subject matter was so horrid that I had to sit down and cry at one point.

A real Iron Maiden

The hideous journey through human cruelty of the Museo della Tortura was such a harsh contrast to the beautiful art in the Duomo, with one thing in common: RELIGION.  This contrast was not lost on 11-year-old Liam, and he learned a lot about the horrors of the witch hunts in Europe and how horrible humans can be to one another. For information on the Siena Museo delle Tortura click HERE.  They also have museum locations in San Gimignano, Volterra, Lucca and Montepulciano.

We emerged from the museum a little shaken just as the sun was beginning to set.  The whole city looked so beautiful with the colours of the bricks turning the most incredible shade of rusty red.  We wanted to climb up the Torre del Mangia in the campo to see the sunset, but it seemed like a lot of people had the same idea. For €10 PP and an hour-long line (only 50 people at a time in the tower), we decided to abort the plan. We found an excellent little vantage point over the city behind the Duomo's baptistry on Via di Fonte Branda. This steep lane leads down to Siena's oldest fountain Fonte Branda, dating back to 1081.

Sun goes down on Siena's San Domenico with Fonte Branda below.

Now Siena has become a favourite Tuscan city, and when someone mentions Siena, I get a faraway look in my eyes and moan; "Siena, oh I loooooved Siena."

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Saint Brigid's Holy Well in Kildare, Ireland

Long before Brigid was the Patron saint of Ireland, there was a Goddess Bríde who was venerated all over the Celtic world.  At St. Brigid's well, you feel Ireland's ancient past wrapped around you like a mantle...

Holy wells in Ireland are plentiful. Over 3,000 wells and springs dot the countryside; more than any other country in the world.  Always dedicated to an Irish Saint, in ancient times these sacred wells, were places of power devoted to Celtic Gods and Goddesses. In myth and folktale, sacred springs are portals to the Otherworld, the realm of the unseen...the realm of the faeries.  The holy wells were visited at the four significant Pre-Christian holy days February 1 (Imbolc), May 1 (Beltaine), August 1 (Lughnasadh) and November 1 (Samhain).  Other times a well would be visited was when someone needed healing, poetic inspiration, or trying to conceive a child.  These wells and sacred pools often had fish in them which were said to have magical powers, for they lived in the waters that have healing and transformative power.

St. Brigid's Slippers

Many of the sacred springs and wells in Ireland have elements of pre-Christian ritual sites.  Accompanying the well or natural spring, there was often a standing stone, a natural or man-made hill, and a very ancient tree; oftentimes a Hazelnut or Ash tree.  There was usually a ritual circuit for each sacred site. Often the ritual included circling the well a certain number of times in a clockwise direction, then drinking or bathing in the spring water. The ceremony concluded with leaving an offering for the God, Goddess or Spirit of the well in gratitude.

"Tobar Bride" is Irish for Brigid's Well

When Christianity came to Ireland in the 5th century, Christian churches were often built at the pilgrim site of the holy wells, using the water of the well as a baptismal font.  There are even some churches built directly over pagan wells that still have a subterranean spring in its crypt!  



As the new Christian stone churches were being built, gathering at the holy well sights either fell out of popularity or was forbidden.  After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-1500s, many Roman-Catholics had nowhere to worship once their Church was disbanded or destroyed.  Catholic parishioners then decided to gather once again at the holy well sights on the Parish's Patron Saint's Feast Day.  The word 'Patron' turned into 'Pattern' and visiting Holy Wells on 'Pattern Day' became very popular in Irish culture in the 1700s.

The Spring & The Stones Leading to The Well

I visited Kildare's "Tobar Bríde" or Saint Brigid's well. In Irish, Tobar means well, and Bríde is one of the spellings for the Celtic Goddess Brigid.  Kildare or Cill Dara is Irish for "Church of the Oak," and it is in Kildare that St. Brigid established her monastery in the 5th century.  Check out my blog post on Saint Brigid for more information on this fascinating woman that helped shape the history of Ireland.



Kildare is about a 45-minute drive from Dublin on the M7 motorway.  While St. Brigid's Cathedral is located in the heart of Kildare, the well is located on the Southside of the M7 in a park-like setting.  From Dublin heading East on the M7 take the Kildare Centre exit and head South on the R415 following the directions to the Irish National Stud.  Take the second left, and you will see a sign to the well on a small laneway to the right.  There is parking for a few cars at the entrance gate to the park.

Cloutie Tree To The Left of The Well

I had learned about St. Brigid's well from some women in my spiritual community back home in Vancouver, Canada,  In fact, while I was visiting the well in Kildare, an Irish-Canadian woman was gathering water to bring back to her home in Toronto.  The woman was a Catholic, and she explained that she believed the waters from this well helped to heal her from her cancer.

The well is in a small park maintained by the Brigidine Sisters.  The deep well with a stone cross is fed by an underground spring.  The water then travels in an underground stream and path is marked by "station stones"  where one would say prayers at each stone.  Then the flow pops to the surface again at a stone archway leading to a stepped channel.  The two U-shaped stones under the arch are called St. Brigid's Slippers and are flumes to divert the flow when the water is running high.  Tradition has it that this area was used for early Christian baptisms and healing rituals.   


  

St Brigid by Annette McCormack

Behind the well is a traditional clootie tree.  A "clootie" or "cloutie" is a strip of cloth or leather. The cloutie strip is dipped into the well or spring and then used to wash the affected area of the body.  The cloutie is then tied to a sacred tree next to the well, and as the cloth turns to rags and disintegrates, the illness will disappear.  

Another tradition of sacred wells is the spotting of a tiny fish in the well.  Of course, the symbol of the fish was an early symbol for Christianity before the cross.  If you peer into the well at Tobar Bride, you may spot a little fish frolicking in the spring.  A sighting of the fish is supposed to ensure that St. Brigid has answered your prayers.

  




I am happy to report there was a goldfish sighting in the dark waters of Tobar Bride in August of 2018. Let me tell you my prayers were answered swiftly and directly!  The transformative energy of Brigid was not a slow burn, but a raging inferno that has changed the course of my life forever.  

I hope you have the opportunity to add one of Ireland's magical holy wells to your Irish itinerary.

For another of my blog posts on Ancient Sacred Sites in Ireland click HERE

In Ireland, this world and the next are only separated by a thin veil. Whisper questions into the sacred wells and your answers will appear...

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Storytime: Ireland's Brigid-Saint or Goddess?

 Ireland has many holy wells dedicated to its patron Saint; St. Brigid.  There is also a Celtic Goddess named Brighid who was worshipped long before Christianity arrived in Ireland.  So what is the difference between these two and the significance of the ancient pilgrim sites dedicated to them?

I have found Ireland's myths, legends and history so enticing and also so confusing, but Brigid is by far the most intriguing for me.  Many similarities between the Celtic Goddess Brighid (who is also Brigit, Bríg, Bride-pronounced breet) and the Christian Saint Brigid have scholars debating whether they are one and the same.  Brigid is sometimes referred to as "Muire na nGael" or "The Mary of The Gaels," and along with Saint Patrick and Saint Colomba, Saint Brigid is Ireland's third official patron Saint.  I am in no way a scholar or academic; just a travel lover, a story lover, & Goddess lover.  This blog post addresses all three.  

The Legend Of Brigid 

According to a book written about the life of St. Brigid in the early 600's, she was born in Faughart (also spelled Fochart) which is close to the town of Drogheda near the modern border of Northern Ireland.  St. Brigid was said to have been born around the year 451 to a beautiful Pictish slave mother named Brocca and a Pagan Chieftain of Leinster named Dubhthach.  Brocca was a converted Christian who was said to have been baptized by Saint Patrick himself.  When Brocca was pregnant with Brigid, Dubhthach's wife, who was jealous of Brocca's beauty and the attention her husband paid to her, sold Brocca to a Druid.  There is no mention of the Druid being a man or a woman since a Druid could be either-but my hunch was the Druid was a female.  This Druid Priestess mid-wifed Brocca and helped to raise Brigid and I suspect the Priestess also had a hand in naming Brigid.  The Druid helped to raise Brigid and let her work alongside her mother in the dairy the Druid owned, probably training her to become a Druid as well.   Young Brigid gained a considerable reputation for healing the sick, feeding the poor from the dairy and performing miracles; one of them being turning water into beer.  That sounds vaguely familiar for some reason 😉

A "Bogha Bride" or St. Brigid's Cross

Now Brocca was the property of the Druid, but Brigid was still the property of her Cheiftan father.  As the legend has it, when Brigid was 10, she was returned to the household of her father Dubhthatch and raised alongside her half-brothers and sisters.  Brigid soon turned into a lovely young woman like her mother. Approaching close to marrying age, her father wanted to use Brigid's marriage to make alliances with other Pagan Chieftains.  Her father brought Brigid to the court of the King of Leinster to either sell her or to find a suitable husband that would strengthen his political alliances.  At court, Bridgid told the King that she did not wish to marry and become the property of a man again and that she wanted to become a Christian nun.  The King of Leinster at the time was Crimthann mac Énnai a Christian King baptized by Saint Patrick like Brigid's mother. The King had heard of Brigid's miracles and convinced Brigid's father to free her from slavery as long as she promised to take the vow of Christianity.  Dubthatch complied, and Brigid returned to her mother at the dairy and continued to feed the sick and poor and to also keep learning from the Druid, growing into an intelligent and formidable woman.  



Brighid The Goddess

St. Brigid's Holy Well, Kildare

At this time, Celtic Christianity was different from Roman Christianity because of the societal structure of the Celts and their intense connection to nature; many people blended the new Christian beliefs with the old Celtic religion.  The Celtic Goddess Brighid was revered all over Ireland as a life-giving Goddess of midwifery, healing, poetry, animal husbandry; especially cows which were scared to the people of Ireland dating all the way back to Neolithic times. Brighid was the virginal keeper of the flame, fire and smithcraft, representing transformation.  She was also the Goddess of the Spring and her sacred day was the Celtic festival of Imbolc, celebrated on February 1st, the official start of Spring for the Celtic people.  

The idea that St. Brigid was trained as a Druid was not uncommon for this time in Ireland, and many "Holy" men & women were versed in ways of the Old Region as well as the new religion of Christianity.  Around the year 468, a 17-year-old Brigid took "the Veil" to become a nun, but was ordained the first Abbess in Ireland. Appointed by St. Patrick's nephew St. Mél of Ardagh who "accidentally" read the wrong ceremony and ordained Brigid as a bishop instead of a nun-whoops!   St. Mél claimed the error was an act of God and did not rectify the mistake, giving St. Brigid substantial power.   Brigid set out with St. Mél and his disciple St. Mac Caille to convert Pagan Cheiftans in central Ireland to Christianity.  Along with St. Mac Caille (sometimes spelled Maccaille) Brigid set up an early Christian monastery at a holy well at Croghan Hill which was an ancient Pagan burial site.  A group of women soon joined her there, and her community proliferated.  

St. Brigid's following was growing so rapidly in fact, she decided to ask her old buddy, the King of Leinster for some land to establish her own abbey.  There is a myth about St. Brigit's Cloak magically expanding to cover all the area where the King would allow Brigid to build her monastery.  What is more likely, is that Brigid wanted to establish her abbey in a specific Pagan spot, later named Cill Dara so that she could carry out her work.  "Cill Dara" in Irish means "Church of the Oak" and where we get the modern Irish name for the town of Kildare.   Oak trees are sacred to Druids, and the site Brigid selected to build her convent was a nemeton or a Druidic sacred Oak Grove.  In this sacred grove, an eternal flame burned in the honour of the Celtic Goddess Brighid and was tended around the clock by Druid priestesses. Remember the King of Leinster was a Christian, so giving Brigid a Druidic place of worship to establish her monastery was definitely a calculated move on his part.



Brigid Of Kildare

St Brigid Flame in Kildare, Ireland

The Abbey that St Brigid established in Kildare was unusual for several reasons.  The abbey was co-ed, housing both monks and nuns which was very uncommon for that time in history.  Brigid also kept the tradition of the sacred flame alive.  Nineteen nuns took turns holding twenty-four-hour vigils tending the flame, and on the 20th day, the Goddess Brighid Herself was said to tend the flame.  The sacred fire on the hill of Kildare was never to be extinguished; keeping the holy traditions of the Druids of Cill Dara. In addition to this, St. Brigid (and the Abbesses who came after her) co-ruled Cill Dara with an Abbott, but the Abbess ranked above the Abbot essentially holding the same privileges as a Bishop, which is why St Brigid is often depicted with a Bishop's crozier.   The power over Kildare Cathedral and Abbey that was given to St. Brigid (and the abbesses that followed) by the Church, lasted until the year 1152 and has never happened again in the history of the Catholic Church.   St. Brigid's community at Cill Dara expanded, and she convinced St. Conleth, a religious hermit who lived in the woods nearby, to help her establish a school of art, illumination and metalwork.   Over time Cill Dara developed into a monastic city like Glendalough.

Saint Bride by John Duncan 1913

Saint Brigid is said to have died on February 1st, somewhere between the year  521-525.  February 1st is St. Brigid's feast day in the Catholic church, and it is also the Celtic Pagan holy day of Imbolcas I mentioned earlier.  How curious that the Goddess and the Saint are celebrated on the same day...I am convinced it is not a coincidence.   I also believe that St. Brigid was a powerful Druid High Priestess as well as Catholic Bishop and her specific brand of Christianity allowed many Pagans to convert to the new religion and still maintain their beliefs in the Goddess Brighid.
In the year 1993, an order of Brigidine nuns re-lit Brigid's eternal flame in Kildare, and you can see it today if you visit the Solas Bhride Centre and Hermitages. You can also see the original stone foundation of the fire temple at the Kildare cathedral and a round tower that you can actually climb to the top!  Nearby is St. Brigid's holy well, located in a park-like setting, where you can feel the healing & peaceful presence of both Brighid and St. Brigid. 

As far as I can tell, the radiant energy of Brighid's holy wells, pilgrim sites and churches in Ireland are the same, even if the story of Brigid may be different.  I hope you have the chance to experience this energy yourself soon...

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Exploring Ottawa's Canadian Tulip Festival

We hear the cling of bicycle bells echoing under a stone bridge and the honk of geese from the sparkling waters of the adjacent canal as we glide past beds of colourful tulips.  Are we in Amsterdam?  No, we are in Ottawa, Canada for The Canadian Tulip Festival!

Château Laurier

Spring is a gorgeous time to visit Canada's capital of Ottawa.  The weather is mild, the international tourist crowds are still relatively thin, and tulips abound in all the flower beds around the city.  The Canadian Tulip Festival occurs every May for about 10 days and kicks off the summer festival season with a burst of flowers and fireworks! 

 

The History of the Canadian Tulip Festival is quite unique.  In 1940, during World War II when the Nazi forces invaded the Netherlands,  the Dutch Royal Family had to flee their home and came to live in Ottawa.  In 1943 Princess Juliana (who later became the Queen of the Netherlands) gave birth to Princess Margriet in Ottawa Civic Hospital.  In order to be born Royal, the Princess had to be born on Dutch soil, so the hospital maternity ward was temporarily declared "extraterritorial" meaning the ward was considered international soil.  In this way, Princess Margriet claimed the nationality of her mother, which is Dutch law.    Otherwise, Juliana's baby would have been a dual Canadian/Dutch citizen and therefore not be able to be in succession for the Dutch throne.

Bright Beds of Tulips Everywhere

In 1945 the Dutch Royal Family returned home, and Princess Juliana gifted Ottawa 100,000 tulip bulbs.  Every year since then the Dutch Royal family has gifted the city of Ottawa 20,500 tulip bulbs, and in 1953 The Canadian Tulip Festival was born. Drawing more than half a million visitor to Canada's capital, the ten-day festival has become one of Ottawa's biggest and longest-running celebrations.

Tulips are plentiful all over Ottawa's parks, gardens and boulevards during mid-spring especially around the Canadian Parliament, along the Rideau Canal and Dow's Lake.  The Tulip Festival usually had multiple locations, but this year in 2019 the festival was concentrated in one area; Commissioner's Park on Dow's Lake. 




The best place to find out current information on The Canadian Tulip Festival is on the official Tulip Fest website:  tulipfestival.ca or on the official ottawatourism.ca website.

Cori Biking Along Rideau Canal

The Ottawa Tulip Festival ends on Canada's Victoria Day Long Weekend (the Monday before May 25th; Queen Victoria's birthday) which is the unofficial kickoff to summer in Canada.  My friend Cori and I decided to make the trip a four-day weekend, taking the Friday and the Holiday Monday as travel days to Ottawa from South West Ontario; about a 6-hour drive.  This will give us more than a full two days to explore Ottawa.  

Ottawa's downtown core is quite compact and easy to navigate, with most of the major tourist attractions all within walking distance of each other.   Getting to the site of this year's Tulip Festival at Commissioner's Park in South Ottawa was going to part of the fun.  We decided to walk downtown and rent bikes and ride them along the Rideau Canal to Commissioner's Park at Dow's Lake; about a 13 km loop trail.

Map Of Our Tulip Festival Tour

Ottawa is a bicycle haven with numerous bike paths and city streets with designated bike lanes; renting bikes was super fun and easy.  We looked into a public bike share program, but the website was a bit confusing, and we had troubles finding the pick-up and drop-off locations.  Also, we didn't want our bikes to get picked up by another rider while we tip-toed through the tulips at Dow's Lake, leaving us stranded at the festival.  So we decided to head to the RentABike location on the Rideau Canal just under the canal bridge in front of the Chateaux Laurier.

TIP: At RentABike everything is included, the bike, helmet, lock, maps, a bungee cord to secure my raincoat to the bike rat trap and of course a sweet little bell on the handlebars!  We chose to rent our bikes for 4 hours, and it came to a total of $25, including taxes.  Here is the RentABike website:  www.rentabike.ca

Love Locks on the Canal...

Rideau Canal Leading To Château Laurier

Zipping along the shared pedestrian/bike path we were told to cross the Rideau Canal at the third bridge due to the ongoing construction of the canal on the east side in 2019.
The ride along the Rideau takes you along canalside pathways, under stone bridges and then up to tulip-lined boulevards, past the giant sports stadium only to return back down to the canal where it is quiet, and the chatter of ducks is louder than the people strolling by.  




Once we arrived at Dow's Lake, we were overwhelmed with crowds of tulip lovers congesting the bike paths, so we decided to dismount and lock up the bikes and make inroads to the Tulip Festival by foot.  TIP: If you are arriving by car, there is a designated parking lot at Queen Juliana Park a short walk away from Commissioner's Park.  All day parking is $15; see the Tulip Fest website for more information.

Gorgeous beds of colours bursting out from the gardens in some of the most resplendent tulips I have ever seen!  I am not a tulip aficionado by any means, but some of these varieties of tulips seemed so extravagant. The atmosphere in Commissioner's Park was so festive; there was a band shelter with a brass band playing and tones of food trucks with all sorts of delightful ethnic spices wafting over the crowds.  Kids were running around the park in facepaint and bouncy castles were set up so the kids could work off their sugar rushes.  TIP: Public washrooms are sparse throughout the park and the line up for the Portable butt-huts was almost an hour long in some cases!

Yum!

Speaking of sugar rushes; a trip to Ottawa would not be complete without a BeaverTail!  BeaverTails are delicious deep-fried pieces of flat dough that are then traditionally dipped in cinnamon sugar and served with a slice of lemon.   Nowadays you can have your BeaverTail spread with Nutella or try a savoury topping like parmesan cheese or even poutine...this is called a PouTail!  😂  

Sunshine & Tulips; A Perfect Spring Combo

Bellies full of exotic Canadian pastries and sugar coursing through our veins, we decide to hop back on our rental bikes and head back to the city centre to return our rentals.   The sun was shining, and the promenade along the canal entertained more people at this time, especially families with small kids in tow.  There were a few boats on the canal, and as we glided past the non-anglophone speaking locals, I couldn't help think that this must be a taste of what Amsterdam must be like.  I am inspired to find out!

The day ended with a blazing fireworks display over Dows Lake, and access to Commissioners Park was again free. TIP: The fireworks parking scene at night is just as bad as the daytime parking at Queen Juliana park so perhaps consider walking, biking or public transit to avoid getting stuck in the post-fireworks traffic jam.  


The Canadian Tulip Festival is one of my favourite festivals in Ontario and left me pondering this: if Montreal and Quebec City is Canada's version of France, and St. Johns Canada's version of Ireland then imaginably Ottawa is Canada's version of the Netherlands.  

Have you been to Ottawa in the Spring or to The Canadian Tulip Festival?  What was your favourite activity?  Let me know in the comments below.


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