There’s been nothing I can see in the way of Star Wars celebrations today, but there was something much more important – a Poutine Festival! (Happy Star Wars day anyway. May the 4th be with you.)

There was a huge cycling even that blocked off many ot the city streets to cars – the CN Cycle for CHEO. CHEO is the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and judging by the number of bikes we saw I hope they made a good amount of money. At one point where we had to cross the road, a policeman was controlling the flow of pedestrian traffic, but when he wasn’t doing that he was shouting words of encouragement to every cyclist who was working their way up the hill – and was very kind to us pedestrians also. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a cheerier police office in my life, it was great to see.

Also on our walk up to the festival, what a difference a day makes! Some of the tulip beds that had nary a bud on them, were already starting to erupt into colour.

We also saw a monument to all the First Natins Canadians who have served in Canadas wars.

Before long though, we were at City Hall, and the extremely high budget fancy signage meant the place was in-missable! 😉

Sure enough, there were maybe a dozen food trucks around the park, offering a cray variety of poutine variations.

Some trucks were clearly masters of their craft:

Bonus points for being funny…

After lots of wandering ad having way too much poutine to choose from, I chose one. Creamy Dill Poutine. I chose it, and thought yay my last $20 in my wallet will cover it as it was $17.99. But I forgot about the tax you pay on everything, so it was over $20, which I didn’t have in cash. That’s when I learnt they didn’t do credit card. So…. Only 11 or so other trucks to choose from, so not really a drama.

In the end – double maple smoked bacon poutine was the winner. And it might not look to attractive, but man it was delicious!

It was quite as festival-y as it might have been, and didn’t draw the kind of crowd i thought it would, but still got some delicious lunch out of it so can’t complain! Maybe everybody else was still involved in the charity bike ride, a much more worthy cause.

After that we went for a bit of wander, getting a bit closer to the canal which was a really pleasant walk. Was also interesting to get a better view of locks that lead in to the river.

At nearby Byward Market, there was a Mexican festival on, which really drew a crowd, with a band playing as well which created a great atmosphere.

Dinner was at a Turkish restaurant we’ve walked past every day and thought ‘really should go there’ – and today we did. And so glad of that! Delicious dips, outstanding meals, A La Istanbul is a winner winner Turkish dinner.

It was a suitable way to end out stay in Ottawa, as tomorrow we’re on the move again.

Four days here was maybe one day to many, as Canada’s Canberra, I think three days would be enough, just like our own Canberra. And like Montreal it would be better to visit in mid-May or June when the city fully awakens from its slumber and the festivals all kick off in earnest. Still it’s not like I regret visiting – it has some beautiful buildings, nice markets, and a beautiful canal that it tranquil in the warmer months and must be fun as a massive skating rink in winter.

Next up, revisiting an old haunt!