My wife's sister had been after us for years to visit Ottawa and the Bluesfest since it had such great music. So this summer we decided to give a whirl. And what an event it is. With great music from 5 different stages you can't help but some kind of music you like. This year had a great lineup but we only caught the last few days of it. Still we saw Santana, Great Big Sea, Jimmy Clift and a host of other great artists. Earlier in the 12 day event they had the Moody Blues, Rush, Arcade Fire  and a ton of other "name" musicians. The weather cooperated and was warm and sunny on the evenings we attended but expect big crowds. Our highlight was seeing Great Big Sea (see photo at left) which comes from our home province of Newfoundland and they attracted a crowd of perhaps 35,000 people. For more images click Bluesfest and for more info: http://www.ottawabluesfest.ca/   

Part 1

Ottawa is a great place to visit in the spring. We had never visited in May before and were very impressed with the tulip festival-see photo to right. Tulips in all varieties and colours were placed in a parkland setting and it was very popular. We also had never seen the new War Museum and Museum of Civilization, both of which were very good. Our only regret is that we had so little time to spend in Ottawa since once we were there we realized that you could spend several days there and still not come close to seeing everything. Click Ottawa to see more images and for more information.