Shaylin

21 Feb. 2005 - OTTAWA - Gregoire, Em, Antoine, Clarissa and I decided to spend a weekend in Ottawa. Apart from skating on the Canal and a weekend away, we did not have any specific goals. After a couple of calls on Friday to book a place and a car, we picked up a Lincoln Navigator on Saturday morning. It certainly is the biggest vehicle I have driven and can comfortably accommodate six. About 50 kms from our turn north to Ottawa, exit we got pulled over for doing 127kms and got a ticket. While this put a slight dampener on the proceedings, this also ensured that we stayed on 120 or less for reminder of the journey.

We checked into the functional EconoLodge on 475 Rideau St. and after jumping on the spongy mattresses like kids, we walked to the canal. The frozen canal becomes the longest ice-skating rink in the world and is the epicenter for people to congregate, skate and have fun.We skated for a couple of hours and thoroughly enjoyed this rather unique Canadian experience. To boot we tried maple toffee - maple syrup poured on a stick on ice which freezes into a candy, and tastes like well, frozen maple syrup. Much like beaver tails, this has to be tried once. We also caught a glimpse of a concert by the Native people on the Canal as part of Winterlude.

Food & Salsa

After acquiring the essentials - wine, cheese, nachos - on the way back, Antoine got some wonderful brie and a baguette which we all enjoyed in the hotel over a few glasses of red. I showered, changed and caught a cab to 1574 Walkley - the site for a salsa party (social) organized by Ottawa's Salsa Fanatics. I was there at about 9:00pm and was pleasantly surprised to find a massive dance floor, about half the size of the entire floor at Acrobat with a mirrored wall. I can't recall having so much room for social dancing - ever! Here are my impressions of the salsa scene in Ottawa, gained from one night of dancing at a social and talking to a few salseros/salseras.

The salsa crowd in Ottawa is welcoming, friendly and eager to dance and learn. It was warming to see the genuine support - with intermittent raucous applause - during a performance. Toronto could learn from this. The performance was a shines routine choreographed by Andrea - who reminded me of Stephanie.

There are more followers than leaders in Ottawa. The leaders here it seemed were, by TO standards, either beginners or advanced/ instructors. People hardly broke into shines and most followers appeared a little reluctant, perhaps shy to style. Probably because of spacious dance floor, tight turns or lane dancing was not practiced much. But, I much preferred that to the sardine-like feeling during a Toronto Dance night out at Acrobat the night before!

Various salsa instructors in Ottawa appear to be friends with each other, promote each other's events and seem to have created a collaborative environment. Toronto can perhaps learn from Ottawa in this regard also. Some folks kindly gave me - someone they didn't know from a bar of soap - a ride back to the hotel at the end of the evening, a testament to the friendliness of the city,or at least of the salsa community.

The Salsa scene is Ottawa is stable, if not slightly declining over the last couple of years. There are only certain nights of the week one can go out on. Note to self - consider yourself lucky to be living in a city with a salsa venue for every night day of the week. Overall, this was a positive experience for me and I recommend Ottawa and dancing to anyone wanting a break from TO.

Sleep & Gourmet Feasts

Anyway, I fell asleep around 1.30am and was awakened by the arrival of the rest of the gang at 4.30am. Apparently, they waited for a cab in 20 below for an hour. Consequently, people slept in on Sunday while I had a continental junk-fast at the motel. We showered (separately!), and upon Em's return went for brunch in Hull to a wonderful café with art works by a local artist displayed on the walls, full spread of cooked breakfast and real coffee. We then spent the afternoon admiring the now melting snow sculptures for Winterlude and spent a couple of hours perusing the Museum of Civilization.

After another meal in Hull - butterscotch soup, a glass of Chilean Red and a Paté with Brie and Blue cheese, and with the clock saying it was 7:30pm, it was time to head home. There is much to be said about the French culture - a certain, yet palpable "Je ne sais quoi." Why the rest of Canada does not experience, if not embrace this is a perplexing question. One more observation - French girls are not difficult to spot - they are friendlier, prettier and have a distinct sense of style.

On the way back we stopped by at the river to admire the sunset. The sun setting over a half frozen river is a sight to behold. There is a definite beauty, if not magic to changing colors of the season - something many of us seem to take for granted but should be valued and enjoyed more.

Home

About four hours in the drive back we hit the snowstorm, and it just kept coming. Last 100kms were particularly dodgy. We were glad that we had a big SUV, for upon reaching home we stepped into over six inches of snow. There were 300 accidents reported that night and luckily we were not one of them. I fell asleep around 2:30 am after a weekend packed with fun.