The Changing Of The Guard

Last Friday I took about 70 pictures. The top ten or so are included here. Most of the day was spent on Parliament Hill, followed by an evening trip to Mooney's Bay (just down the street from our house). Because it was our neice's 3rd birthday, we finished off the day with a bit of blueberry crumble. From the pictures, the day would seem idyllic; however, we'd filled the agenda with too much scenery and not enough activity. As a result, our guests spent much of the time entertaining their young daughter, who was not particularly enthralled with neo-gothic limestone architecture. We learned some valuable lessons about planning family expeditions that day.


We started out with something new that we'd never tried before: The Changing of the Guard. It takes place each morning during the summer months, and includes a military procession along 4 or 5 blocks of downtown Ottawa to the front lawn on Parliament Hill. We set up position on Elgin Street, near the National War Memorial to wait for the procession to go by. During the summer, the Ceremonial Guard also maintains two sentries at the memorial, which provided for some good photographs.


I was surprised at the size of the contingent of uniformed guards that came marching up the street past us. I did not expect to see three divisions plus a full marching band. It was quite impressive, and we had a wonderful view.


We followed them up to the Hill, where a large crowd had already gathered to watch. From then on, our view was more obstructed, and much further away.


Once on the lawns, the guards went through a lengthy series of formations and inspections. Although it was a novel sight, there was very little movement compared to the marching, and the interest level in our group (at all age levels) began to wane. We'd already gotten our tickets for the Parliamentary tour, but those didn't start for another hour, so we had to wait. If I had it to do over again, I would get the tour tickets for 10:30, which is when the ceremony is just wrapping up. That way, you can go directly from one event to the other.


Eventually, we did make it into the Parliament Buildings for the tour. Scott was fairly happy to be there, until we got into the Senate Chamber. Then he started screaming bloody murder and I missed most of the action that followed. The ride up the elevator to the top of the Peace Tower was the big climax, but little Alli was too scared of the height to spend much time looking out the windows. It was a busy day on the hill with a lot of tourists, so everything was a little slower.

TIP: If the only tickets you can get for a Parliamentary Tour are an hour or more away, you can spend your time going up the Peace Tower beforehand. Most people wait until the end of their tour, but you can go up any time.


A long morning filled with soldiers and tours deserves a treat. We made our traditional stop in the Byward Market for a Beaver Tail, a fried dough pastry that has become a bit of a local delicacy. Apparently, The Market can claim status as Canada's oldest continuously-operating farmer's market. It's located in the oldest part of Ottawa, which was called Bytown until becoming the capital in 1857. The Beaver Tails are more of a gimmick than a historic food, but they are still kind of fun. While the girls played it safe with the cinnamon-sugar-lemon-juice variety, Luke and I went big with these monsters, loaded with chocolate, peanut butter, cream cheese and other nutritious substances.


Following a bit of recovery time (you need it after all that cream cheese), we took the group out to the beach at Mooney's Bay. Finally, we found something that appealed to the young mind. With the sun dropping low in the sky, there were plenty of opportunities for prime photographs while Alli enjoyed playing in the sand and her younger brother enjoyed eating the sand.



Scott didn't eat any sand on this day, being quite content to simply relax in his trademark camouflage boonie hat with his lovely mother.



I think I took 30 photographs like this one. I loved the effect as the shimmering sunlight turned figures into silouettes.


We staged this memorable moment, which I have preserved as a banner.


No birthday is complete without candles and some kind of cake or pie. We loaded the blueberry crumble with ice cream and strawberries (it seems we had strawberries at every meal), but the birthday girl opted to eat the toppings and leave most of the crumble. Hey, it's her party.