May
19, 2006
Hello from Ottawa: Tulips on Majors Hill
and a Nerve-Wracking Television Interview
My day today so far had been completely dedicated to exploring
nature: first I visited the Fatal
Attraction Exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Nature to learn
about the art of seduction in the animal world. Then I had a chance
to explore nature in a real-life setting in Ottawa’s nature
playground: Gatineau Park.
At about 4 pm I headed back into the city, got changed and checked
my messages at the beautiful McGee’s
Inn and got ready to head out to my next stop: Major’s
Hill, one of the official locations of Ottawa’s Tulip Festival.
From the leafy neighbourhood of Sandy Hill I strolled through Ottawa’s
ByWard Market area and explored a local landmark: the asymmetrical
spires of St. Brigid’s have been inspiring Roman Catholics
since 1890.
The towers of St. Brigid
Just a few hundred metres northwest is one of Ottawa’s most
magnificent edifices: the Notre Dame Basilica Cathedral, Ottawa’s
oldest surviving church. Its site is the location of the first Catholic
chapel accessible to both Anglophones and francophones of Bytown.
Right across the Street from the impressive Notre Dame Cathedral
is another architecturally imposing structure: The
National Gallery of Canada, a masterpiece of modern architecture,
designed by internationally renowned architect Moshe Safdie and
opened in 1988 to develop, maintain and make known, throughout Canada
and the world, a national collection of works of art with special
but not exclusive reference to Canada. Part of its mandate is to
further knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of art in general
among all Canadians.
Notre Dame Basilica Cathedral
Just oustide the National Gallery and facing the Notre Dame Cathedral
is a monumental sculpture of a spider, created by French-born sculptor
Louise Bourgeois. This sculpture, entitled “Maman”,
features a sac of 26 pure white marble eggs protruding from the
spider’s belly. With a height of 30 feet this enormous outdoor
sculpture was designed in 1999 and cast in 2003, and it is the last
in a series of six environmental sculptures by this artist. These
sculptures have been seen in numerous high-calibre locations, including
New York City’s Rockefeller Center and the State Hermitage
Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. I also saw a copy last year together
with a smaller version in Havana, Cuba.
From the plaza in front of the National Gallery all I had to do
was to cross busy Sussex Drive and I found myself right in Major’s
Hill Park. This public space dates back all the way to 1874, although
it was originally named after Colonel By, the creator of the Rideau
Canal. As a matter of fact, the park is the site of the former residence
of Colonel By who was succeeded by Major Daniel Bolton who ended
up giving the official name to this public space.
The mother of all spiders, in front of the National Gallery of Canada
Major’s Hill is indeed one of the most prominent spaces in
Ottawa, with perfect views of the Parliament Buildings, the Rideau
Canal, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, and the National Art Gallery.
It is just steps away from Sussex Drive, location of the Canadian
Prime Minister’s residence, as well as Ottawa’s prime
entertainment district, the ByWard
Market. Today the park is managed by the National Capital Commission
and one of the main venues for many of the city’s festivals
and special events.
As one of the official events for the Tulip
Festival, Ottawa’s largest festival, and the largest festival
of its kind in the world, Major’s Hill was hosting a number
of special attractions: the International Tulip Friendship Village,
the Artisans Marketplace, strolling entertainers, the Family Zone
and the Get Out! Ottawa Citizen Concert Series. I particularly enjoyed
the 150 five-foot tall tulips, all of which are unique, painted
by local artists. These sculptures were a great addition to the
thousands of real tulips who were already a bit past their prime,
considering Canada has had an early spring this year.
Real tulips, painted tulips
5 pm was still a bit early, but people were starting to come in
to get ready for some of the concerts that were going to be held
here tonight. I admired the real-life tulips, the artist-painted
man-made versions and various photos and paintings of tulips in
the Artisans Marketplace. The sun was peeking out occasionally and
a beautiful view presented itself on the west side of Major's Hill,
overlooking the Parliament Buildings and the Rideau Canal’s
lock system.
The Parliament Buildings from Major's Hill
One of Ottawa's most distinguishing features, the Rideau Canal
is a designated Canadian National Historic Site and was recently
nominated as a World Heritage Site as well. Connecting lakes and
rivers between Ottawa and Kingston, the Rideau Canal is the oldest
continuously operated canal in North America. Its locks have been
open for business since 1832. Several tourists were enjoying the
view until all of us got distracted by an oversize groundhog that
was sitting quite relaxed on one of the walkways, chewing away on
some leafy branches that had been blown down by the wind. He was
not at all deterred by our fascination for him.
A groundhog dinner
Well, my serene afternoon was going to come to an end shortly since
I was scheduled for a 3-minute live appearance on Ottawa’s
primary news channel, CTV. This might not be a big deal for someone
else, but for me personally it was my first television appearance.
To be beamed live through Canada’s capital on the 6 o’clock
news was a very exciting, yet nerve-wrecking experience.
Max Keeping, CTV
Ottawa’s news anchor and Vice-President of News Programming,
had suggested that we do a live interview from Major’s Hill
Park where he would ask me several questions related to travel in
Canada. He would of course be located in CTV’s Ottawa studio.
Max and I had met earlier this year at the 26th
Annual Bedzzz Race where he was the emcee of this charity event.
The satellite truck was standing by
Indeed, Max is renowned all throughout the National Capital Region
for his community involvement and he has helped to raise more than
$100 million for important causes over his 34 years at CTV Ottawa.
He makes appearances at more than 200 community events a year and
is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Order
of Canada, the Ontario Medal of Good Citizenship, a 2003 Gemini,
the 2004 Ottawa United Way's Community Builder of the Year, and
dozens of other awards.
No wonder I was nervous in anticipation of a city-wide televised
interview with such an illustrious personality. As time drew closer
to 6 pm I had to make two nervousness-induced trips to one of the
port-a-potties on Major’s Hill. About 20 minutes to 6 pm I
located the CTV satellite news truck and I went up to the camera
man to introduce myself. He outfitted me with an earpiece and a
miniature microphone that went on my jacket with a transmitter box
mounted to my back. Once I was wearing this equipment I realized
there was no turning back, I was going to be on TV, no matter what.
All wired up, ready to go for the interview...
I have to admit I was hugely nervous as the camera man started
to position me in different locations in front of the bright spotlight
he had set up. From about 6 pm onwards I started to hear the live
newscast in my earpiece and the producer of the show occasionally
came on to fill me in as to how much longer it would be. She had
a surprisingly calming influence on me. Time seemed like an eternity,
but finally at about 6:15 pm I was live on the air, with Max Keeping,
Ottawa’s most popular newscaster.
He asked me several questions about travel in Canada, and in particular
whether I thought that higher gasoline prices would or should have
an effect on travel in Canada. I answered frankly, stating that
despite higher gas prices it still only took me about $60 in gasoline
to drive to and from Ottawa. Canada as a whole and Ottawa specifically,
is a great travel destination, since there are always so many things
going on as evidenced by my own tight schedule during the Tulip
Festival and it is still very affordable to travel and explore
destinations within Canada.
Well, the butterflies started to subside and a few minutes later
my on-air interview was finished. I felt exhilaration and relief
at the same time and thanked the camera man profusely for the professional
support he provided to me. I also thanked the producer who came
on one more time to let me know that things had gone okay.
By this time it had started to drizzle a little, so I put my rain
jacket on and headed for another round of excursions around Major’s
Hill. The place was getting busier. A local singer was creating
renditions of various Avril Lavigne songs and a young band, the
Diableros, took to the stage who were going to be followed by two
more musical performances as part of the Get Out! Ottawa Citizen
Concert Series.
I crossed the street and strolled through the ByWard Market to
my dinner destination, Bistro 115,
where I would get to chat with the owner and find out more about
another one of Ottawa’s hospitality entrepreneurs. At the
end of this exciting, action-packed day I was looking forward to
a good conversation and a nice quiet dinner.
Related Articles:
Hello from Ottawa
- Overview of my first excursion to Ottawa's Tulip Festival
Hello from Ottawa - Arrival,
two photo exhibitions and my own photo safari
Hello from Ottawa - Doubling up
on antiquity at the Canadian Museum of Civlization
Hello from Ottawa - Sweetgrass Bistro:
Aboriginal dining in the ByWard Market
Hello from Ottawa - The historic
McGee's Inn: 2 couples embark on the adventure of joint B&B
ownership
Hello from Ottawa - The Canadian
Museum of Nature and Fatal Attraction: seduction in the
animal world
Hello from Ottawa - Gatineau Park,
Ottawa's nature playground
Hello from Ottawa - Major's Hill
and a live TV interview
Hello from Ottawa - Bistro 115: Authentic
French-Canadian cuisine in the ByWard Market
Hello from Ottawa - Historic transportation
on the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train
Hello from Ottawa - The Wakefield
Mill Inn & Spa: from historic gristmill to upscale lodging,
dining and pampering
Hello from Ottawa - Flower
and dress design at the Casino du Lac-Leamy
Hello from Ottawa - The Flotilla
- a parade of decorated boats - and an interview about the background
of the Tulip Festival
Hello from Ottawa - Sheep shearing
at the Canadian Agriculture Museum
Hello from Ottawa - Tractors,
cows and small animals at the Canadian Agriculture Museum
Hello from Ottawa - My 2-day
packed itinerary for Winterlude
Hello from Ottawa - First
impressions and an overview
Hello from Ottawa - The Lord Elgin
Hotel: a historic landmark in the heart of Ottawa
Hello from Ottawa - Fat Tuesday's
and the Mardi Gras Experience in the ByWard Market
Hello from Ottawa - An early
morning walk to Parliament Hill
Hello from Ottawa - Skating
on the Rideau Canal, the World's Largest Skating Rink
Hello from Ottawa - Charity and
hilarity: the 26th Annual Bedzz Races on Dow's Lake
Hello from Ottawa - Confederation
Park and other Winterlude locations
Hello from Ottawa - Darcy McGee's:
a historic Irish pub on Sparks Street
Hello from Ottawa - The Canadian
War Museum and "Weapons of Mass Dissemination - The Propaganda
of War"
Hello from Ottawa - The
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography featuring Sunil Gupta
and the challenges of immigration
An interview with Tourism Ottawa
provides a great overview of this city
An interview about
the ByWard Market, a prime entertainment and shopping area
An interview
with the National Gallery of Canada
An interview
with the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Helpful websites:
Ottawa
Tourism: Ottawa's official tourism information
The ByWard
Market Business Improvement Area
The
National Capital Commission
The National
Museum of Civilization
The National Gallery
of Canada
The Canadian War
Museum
The Canadian Museum
of Nature
The
Canadian Agriculture Museum
Useful books about Ottawa:
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