Tulips Galore!

I just came back from Ottawa for the annual Canadian Tulip Festival. This year, the festival ran from May 1-18 and featured many events such as concerts at the park, shows and forums featuring Canadian artists. Of course, I didn’t see any of those. Time was too short to see everything the Tulip Festival offered.

Tulips Galore!

Great company

It was my third time to see Ottawa. This time, I went to Ottawa upon the invitation of dear friend, Hart Wiens, who also happens to be a “kababayan”. He’s as fair as any German could be, but his heart is truly Pinoy.

I met Hart in 2006 when I started working for the Canadian Bible Society. I knew then that he would be a good friend when he spoke my language (he understands and speaks Tagalog, Ilokano and Kalinga). He and his wife Ginny lived in the Philippines, up in the mountains with the Kalinga people for many years, translating the language of the local people. It was during their time with the Kalingas that they were adopted by the community they stayed with. To this day, he and his family consider themselves Pinoys and many of the children in the community refer to them as uncle and auntie.

Hart was the guest speaker during the Canadian Bible Society’s Annual Meeting in Ottawa. In this trip, he also brought Ginny and their “adopted” Kalinga daughter, Syrine with him. And since they have one room left in the car, I brought along my roommate, Lily.

Wonderful sights along the way

Ottawa is about four hours away east of Toronto. We took the 401 Highway. A portion of this highway was named Highway of Heroes in 2007 in honour of Canada’s fallen soldiers. Highway of Heroes run from Trenton – where bodies of fallen soldiers are brought from where they were deployed – to the coroner’s office in Toronto. Whenever a fallen soldier is brought home, residents, police officers, and firefighters gather along this stretch to salute and wave flags on Highway 401 overpasses while motorcades carrying the bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan make their way to Toronto. It is truly admirable the way Canadians honour the people fighting for their freedom.

We had lunch along Lake Ontario, on a beach somewhere between Port Hope and Cobourg, about an hour and a half from Toronto. Ginny packed some sandwiches, vegetables and watermelon for lunch. After a few minutes’ stroll along the beach, we were ready to head back on the road.

It was hard to take some serious snooze along the way as my eyes would like to drink in the wonderful beauty of God’s creation. After a long winter, my eyes are craving for something different… something green. Plants and trees are just waking up from a long slumber, but not quite awake yet, giving off contrasting colors of “deadish” brown and lively green. I’m still amazed at how God keeps all the green stuff secure throughout the long cold winter and draws them out when it is time.

Tulips galore!

We got to Ottawa with lots of daylight left, so we set off to see the famous tulips at the Commissioner’s Park. People from across Canada come to Ottawa during the festival.

The annual festival has a very interesting history. The tulips in the country’s capital city are actually from Netherlands. The first 100,000 tulip bulbs were a gift from the Dutch Royal family as a token of their gratitude for having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for three years during the Nazi occupation of the country in the Second World War. Every year since 1945, the Dutch people send 10,000 bulbs as promised.

With this, I just saw a biblical principle proven once more: give and it will be given back to you, “pressed down and shaken together and running over.” As a result of Canada’s hospitality, thousands of tulips are now planted across Ottawa, 300,000 of which alone are planted at the Commissioner’s Park. These tulips are the main attraction of the annual Canadian Tulip Festival, which Ottawa is famous for (apart from being the capital city of Canada and being the home of the Parliament, of course).

Rainy Saturday

We woke up Saturday morning with dark clouds hanging over Ottawa. The forecast said we will not enjoy a sunny Saturday. True enough, after our breakfast at MacDonald’s, the rain started to pour. Good thing Ottawa offers a lot of indoor activities for tourists. The one we took was the tour around the Parliament.

It’s amazing how much one learns in the Parliament tour. Our guide told us that Canada is so big it takes a lot longer to travel by air from one end of the country to another, than to travel from Ottawa to France. One of the highlights during the tour is the visit at the Library of Parliament, which is the most beautiful library I’ve seen so far. It is the only part of the original parliament which was destroyed in a fire in 1916. The only thing that kept the flames from destroying this beautiful part of the building is the two iron doors that barred the entrance at night.

Our Parliament experience was made extra special with our introduction to one of the members of the Parliament. My friends and I shared a table during dinner that evening with this member of the Parliament who is representing the beautiful (from what I hear and see in the pictures) province of British Columbia.

Right after our Parliament tour, we cruised along Sussex Drive to see Rideau Hall, official residence of Canada’s Governor General. Along this route, one will see the National Gallery of Canada, the Basilique-Cathedrale Notre-Dame, and the Prime Minister’s residence. This is a scenic route that runs along the Gatineau River which separates Ontario from the province of Quebec.

Rideau Hall sits on a 79-acre property of woods and manicured parkland. The present Governor General is Michaelle Jean. As Governor General, Michaelle Jean serves as the queen’s representative in Canada and therefore considered as the head of state when the queen is not in Canadian soil. Her correct title is “Her Excellency the Right Honourable”. Quite a mouthful, huh? Rideau Hall is sort of like the Malacañang Palace to Filipinos.

Unfortunately, the Governor General was entertaining visitor at the time of our visit so we were not able to see the interior of Rideau Hall. A guide took us, however, around the grounds where symbolisms of Canada’s heritage and culture abound.

Next time

I’ve seen Ottawa three times but I feel like there’s more to see. Next time I set foot on this lovely city, I promise to make my visit a little bit longer, so I can walk the streets, read all inscriptions that tell of people’s courage, perseverance and all the good virtues that made Canada one of the great nations today.