35 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
(Near Parliment Hill)
So this weekend I headed to Ottawa to spend the big Victoria day weekend, and aside from doing lots of sight seeing, I also did alot of eating! in fact I probably did more eating than sight seeing. I contemplated doing an entry similar to the Toronto eating tour one, but realized it would be too much for one post. So I'll try to break it down by day, or as logical as possible.
One of the biggest reasons people come to ottawa for the May 2-4 weekend, is to attend the Tulip festival. During this weekend, the park displays over 50 types of tulips spanned over several large parks. This festival commemorates the bond that is shared between (what was then known as) Holland and Canada. Back in the second world war,
Canada sheltered the princess of a royal Dutch family in Ottawa as a safe haven, The princess also happened to give birth during this time, and to ensure that the newborn would retain its Dutch citizenship, the Canadian government temporarily designated the hospital room that she was resting in at the Ottawa Civic Hospital as part of Holland territory. As a gesture of gratitude for Canada's hospitality, Holland sent over 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada, with a promise to send additional bulbs each year. The tulips to this day symbolize the international friendship that is shared between the two countries.
I realize this isn't a travel blog, so I won't go into the details of the activities, concerts, and other events of the festival, But admist all that walking and flower gazing, the stomach sure gets hungry! There are lots of food trucks and vendors set up all around the festival area. Most of it was fast finger foods like fries and burgers, but since we had just finished lunch, we decided to get some other smaller snacks.
BeaverTails Pastry Stand
Top Left: Cinnamon and Sugar, Top Right: Kilaloe Lemon, Bottom: Hazelnut Chocolate
If there is only one thing you try in Ottawa, it'll have to be a Beavertail. It is a fluffy deep fried pastry topped with different types of toppings. I'm a cinnamon person, so naturally my favourite of the three was definitely the Cinnamon and Sugar Beavertail. The hazelnut chocolate was topped with Nutella and tasted pretty good as well. It melted quick in the sun and got quite messy though. The most interesting was the Kilaloe Lemon. It is essentially the Cinnamon and Sugar with a lemon that you can squeeze over your beavertail. I know it sounds kind of weird, but it actually tasted really good! The sour pairs well with the sweet cinnamon. In fact, several of our friends who reside in Ottawa mentioned that this is their favourite one, and is the only one that they order! Perhaps this should be the next on the list of Beavertails on the list to try.
Large Lemonade
Me in front of the lemonade stand with my of lemonade
I'm usually not a big fan of lemonade, and there wasn't anything too special about this one, but it was extremely refreshing on that hot hot day. The cup was gigantic, with probably over 3 cups of liquid inside. Despite it size, at $8 a cup, this lemonade is in fact quite expensive.
Okay I'll end off the post with some picture of the tulips despite them not being food. They are just too nice! I guess flowers could be considered edible too.....?
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