We happily road our bikes downtown to partake in the the Capitals Canada Day festivities. The city had conveniently set up secure bike storage locations, they were free for the day. And we got our spot on the lawn in preparation to see the grand arrival of our Queen. She arrived in a horse drawn carriage, which was lead by the Musical Ride Mounties and a band of bag pipes. Harper arrived first in a car, not quite as spectacular, but much faster. After her inspection of the fancy guard she took a place in the throne box to the right of the stage. A very witty Christopher Plumer (Hollywood actor, Canadian) introduce her majesty and the 1 hour musical show. This included “well know Canadian musical acts”, but I only recognized the Bare Naked Ladies. Perhaps its my lack of musical knowledge or maybe Canadian musicians need more airtime.
After the snowbirds closed the show with their flight just to the left of the Peace Tower (they missed the center run over the tower according to Cory) we moved over to Major Hill Park for the kids festivities. All in all it was a wonderful Canada Day and also marked one year since our arrival in Ottawa. Can’t say enough about biking around this city, it makes life so much more enjoyable. Although the Monarchy is arguable losing ground with current generations, I still feel quite a thrill in seeing Queen Elizabeth II.
