Inside the Peace Tower

Whilst desending the Peace Tower I was fortunate enough to be stopped by the 11am ceremony which sees the pages of Remembrance books turned each day. Housed inside this chamber is the memorial to all Canadian Armed Forces personell who have served their country.

Nurses Memorial

A picture tells a thousand words. And for those of you who know me, then I need no explanation as to why I photographed this memorial. You pass by this serene sculpture before entering the Parliment Library. As you can see the natural light reflecting off the white marble gives this memorial a divine presence in what is mostly a conservative environment.

Aboriginal Dance

It's difficult to capture the emotion behind the cultural dances on show whilst visiting Victoria Island, but here is a taste of what we experienced. The dances on display were specific to the areas of each tribal memeber, and according to whether you are male or female. As you can see, their decorative attire is extremely colourful, and the female wore many cylindrical metal 'beads' on her dress - creating rhythmic sounds. At the end of the dance performance, our group was encouraged to particpate in a group dance for the three important 'totems' of the Aboriginal culture, corn, squash and beans.

Victoria Island - Indigenous Culture

Fiddleheads

Walking through the market area of Ottawa I was met with quite an interesting sight. The vegetable matter in the photo is known as 'fiddleheads', basically the new growth from ferns. Their season is very short, only two weeks in length. You cook it in a similar manner to asparagus, and serve with butter and cracked pepper. I have just spotted it in my local supermarket, so maybe I'll give it a go. I am imagining that its' texture would be a little unique. Will report back shortly!