Freezing, curling and tubing

The last couple of weeks we have hung around Ottawa taking in the Winterlude festival and laying low ahead of our next big adventure.

The winter here is brutally cold despite the fact that it is supposed to be a mild year. A couple of weekends ago Joep and I headed out for a lovely Saturday morning breakfast at our favourite spot. As soon as we stepped outside into the -35 degree day we regretted our decision.

When it is -35 degrees outside numerous things happen that I never thought of. Firstly, your nostrils freeze together. True story. When you take a breath in through your nose any moisture freezes solid. It is the weirdest sensation ever! Secondly, as a result of freezing air entering you nasal cavity your eyes start to water. When the tears hit your lashes and cheeks they freeze. Solid. So you get little bits of ice on your lashes and face. Its not the most fun ever. And waterproof mascara is a must. Believe me.

So as Joep and I walked to breakfast discussing our frozen facial cavities and loss of feeling in our feet we decided that perhaps a weekend of hibernation was in order! A delicious breakfast and a short shopping spree for supplies later and we were back in the apartment playing Monopoly and pigging out. Warmth. It is under-rated.

Having finished all my complaining about how cold it is here I must now be fair and discuss the FUN side of winter here. Yes. There is seriously a fun side! February sees the beginning of the Winterlude festival here in Ottawa. It is basically a month long festival celebrating winter and all that is great about it. The canal has been opened for skating and on top of that there are numerous free concerts along the canal on the weekends. A huge ice sculpture exhibition has also been set up and some of the sculptures are unbelievable!

We’ve been out enjoying this as much as possible. As well as this Luyen (another Aussie in town) very kindly arranged a sporting day for the expats recently. And what better sport than curling! For those of you who don’t know (which would be surprising given that the Winter Olympics are currently on), curling is defined officially as “A game originating in Scotland in which two four-person teams slide heavy oblate stones toward the center of a circle at either end of a length of ice.” It sounds strange. It is strange. It is also hilariously good fun! We hit the ice with an Argentinean couple and a bunch of Aussies with a couple of Canadian’s thrown in for good measure.

After a couple of beers and a brief half hour lesson we hit the ice for the game. The people on TV make curling look really easy. It is not. It is incredibly hard to stay balanced on the ice. Both Gabriel and I can attest to this. He managed to fall 3 times in a row while he was supposed to be sweeping. It was like watching a cartoon character bounce up and down. I couldn’t help but laugh even though I am quite sure he hurt himself. I am sure because I fell flat on my face. And it hurt. Despite all the falling, or perhaps because of it, the game was deemed a total success and another tournament will be held soon.

After all the curling and skating we took things a little easier this weekend opting for a nice warm road trip to Kingston! It was the original capital of Canada before the Queen decided that it was too close to the US and couldn’t be protected adequately. So now we have Ottawa! The city itself is really tiny but quite beautiful! We were pleasantly surprised!

Then, after our cozy road-trip, to keep things in line with the theme of embracing winter we hit the slopes this weekend for some snow tubing!! There are a few very decent slopes within an hour from our house which we plan on making the most of over the coming weeks!

This weekend we skipped the skiing and opted for the easier snow tubing! It is exactly what it sounds like. You sit on an inner tube and go down the mountain on your butt. It is so much fun! Even more fun when you have a giant Dutch guy attached to your tube meaning that you fly down the mountain even faster. With an entertaining running commentary.

Joep and I hung out on the slopes for the day living (and laughing) it up. We also realized just how much we have acclimatized to the weather here. It was -17 and we were not in our thick winter coats. In fact, Joep was just in a jumper! Yes. -17 is a ‘mild’ winters day. Jeepers.

So we have a few more weeks of winter to enjoy … Groundhog day has come and gone and Wiarton Willie saw his shadow meaning that there are 6 weeks of winter left (4 weeks as of today!) so we’ll be making the most of it while we can.

Brief side note to finish – Groundhog day is where they take a groundhog out of hibernation to see if he/she can see his/her shadow. If the groundhog can see their shadow then it is another 6 weeks of winter. If not then spring will come early! I researched where this tradition came from and found the following - How groundhogs got a reputation for predicting weather patterns is a mystery, because they are not the least bit interested in their shadows or the number of winter weeks remaining. The only reasons they come out of hibernation are for food and sex. So apparently Wiarton Willie’s prediction is not carved in stone. An early spring is still a possibility!!

More adventures of an Olympic nature to follow!