{"id":26233,"date":"2015-02-16T19:00:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T00:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=26233"},"modified":"2015-02-26T11:05:53","modified_gmt":"2015-02-26T16:05:53","slug":"embrace-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=26233","title":{"rendered":"How to Embrace Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems most places around the country are experiencing colder temperatures than average. \u00a0That is the case for Syracuse this year, and we have tons of snow in our front lawn and icicles almost as tall as I am. \u00a0While I would rather be on a beach enjoying the sun and warm weather, I have learned you need to embrace winter to survive. \u00a0It makes life a lot more fun if we go with the flow. \u00a0Last weekend we went downhill skiing in Vermont, and this weekend we headed up north to Canada to go to Ottawa and experience their “Winterlude” winter festival.<\/h3>\n

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\"Winterlude\"<\/p>\n

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All I can say is they know how to do winter in Ottawa. Beware… all of the photos were taken with our phones, so the quality is not the best. \u00a0This festival is packed with people of all ages, and it seemed as if every hour was filled with something. \u00a0Friday and Saturday nights there was a dance party in the snow, and it was a blast. \u00a0It was the first time ever that I have been to a dance party with a DJ and people out and about in negative temperatures. \u00a0It is amazing how moving will warm you right up.<\/h3>\n

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\"Ottawa<\/p>\n

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The big attractions at the festival are the ice sculptures, and they were stunning. \u00a0We went early to check them out and are so glad we did because by the afternoon and evening there was a waiting line to get to see them up close.<\/h3>\n

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\"Ottawa<\/p>\n

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The Jack Frost ice sculpture was one of our favorites, and we were just amazed with the details. \u00a0It would have been really fun to see the artist create these sculptures.<\/h3>\n

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\"Ottawa<\/p>\n

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Here is an ice skater, and it was just as beautiful.<\/h3>\n

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\"Ottawa<\/p>\n

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This one was a representation of Canadian sports.<\/h3>\n

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\"Ottawa<\/p>\n

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This sculpture was hard to photograph, but we were so impressed with the lattice work in the ice. We couldn’t believe it was still standing. \u00a0At night the sculptures had some colored lights on them, and they were just as impressive.<\/h3>\n

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\"Ottawa<\/p>\n

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The ice rope is unreal in this sculpture.<\/h3>\n

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\"ottawa<\/p>\n

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This one was outside and not protected, but they made ice barriers to block off the sculpture.<\/h3>\n

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\"Winterlude\"<\/p>\n

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The main reason we wanted to go to Ottawa to experience Winterlude was skating on the Rideau Canal. \u00a0This canal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in the winter the canal freezes and you can skate away. \u00a0During the winter some people commute to work by skating down the canal. \u00a0The section that is open for skating is a little over seven kilometers, which is about four miles. \u00a0During Winterlude, beverage and food stands are set up along the canal. \u00a0We stopped to get some hot apple cider and warmed up by one of the fires they had set up.<\/h3>\n

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\"Winterlude\"<\/p>\n

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This was where we started, and we were able to rent skates for our adventure.<\/h3>\n

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\"Winterlude\"<\/p>\n

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Here I am wearing the ice skates. \u00a0The first five minutes I thought I would be lucky to make it 0.5km. \u00a0After a few minutes I got the hang of ice skating, and we were off. \u00a0I am happy to report we did the whole seven km and enjoyed every minute of it.<\/h3>\n

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\"winterlude<\/p>\n

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Skating the canal was a huge highlight, and I was amazed to see little children flying by me on their ice skates. \u00a0You could rent a small red sleigh to push while you skated behind. \u00a0It was popular for parents if the children needed a break.<\/h3>\n

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\"Winterlude<\/h3>\n

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After skating we had our hot chocolates in hand and explored more things. \u00a0We were laughing so hard at this activity they set up for the kids. \u00a0They had lots of children shovels and children got to shovel out a car. \u00a0At one point there were eight children shoveling to get the car out. \u00a0I guess it is a good lesson in life if you live in Ottawa.<\/h3>\n

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\"winterlude<\/p>\n

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This picture is how to make maple taffy sticks. \u00a0They had condensed maple syrup and poured it into the snow trough. Then they put a stick in the syrup and moved it around the snow. \u00a0We tried one of these tasty treats and the people in the booth were shocked we had never had one before. \u00a0I guess it is a staple for the festival.<\/h3>\n

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\"Winterlude\"<\/p>\n

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While they had ice sculptures, they also had a few snow sculptures which were huge.<\/h3>\n

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\"Winterlude\"<\/p>\n

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The last thing we did which was a blast were the snow slides. \u00a0They had some where you rode an inner tube, other single slides, and group slides. \u00a0It was a blast! \u00a0If you are close to Ottawa, I highly recommend attending this Winterlude winter festival. It was a great way to have so much fun and embrace these cold temperatures and snow. \u00a0Remember to dress to be in subzero temperatures all day.<\/h3>\n

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Do you have a favorite winter activity?<\/h3>\n

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Cheers!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems most places around the country are experiencing colder temperatures than average. \u00a0That is the case for Syracuse this year, and we have tons of snow in our front lawn and icicles almost as tall as I am. \u00a0While I would rather be on a beach enjoying the sun and warm weather, I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26233"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26233"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26253,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26233\/revisions\/26253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}