Anniversary Getaway - Part 1

This past weekend, Curt planned a little weekend getaway to celebrate our anniversary. He told me we were going away weeks ago, but I didn't know any other details until Friday evening...at that point, he told me we were going to Ottawa and that we were going to see 'The Lion King' on stage, that way I would know what to pack. I was soooo excited - I love Ottawa, and I've wanted to see 'The Lion King' for years, so it was an awesome surprise.

We left home on Saturday morning, and once we arrived in Ottawa, we parked near our hotel and then set off walking.

We checked out the ByWard Market, had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, shopped at the Rideau Centre and watched some buskers on Sparks Street. The buskers were an added bonus, we didn't know until we got there, but it was Buskerfest 2011, so there was some great entertainment.

A self-take in front of the Rideau Canal locks.

We saw bits and pieces of different acts throughout the weekend, but one show we saw from start to finish was 'Bendy Em' - a contortionist.


The shirtless guys with bad tan lines in this next picture were pulled out of the audience to help, poor guys. And yes, that is 'Bendy Em' in that box (and in case that's not crazy enough, there is a basketball in there too!).

Oh, and I can't forget to mention that Curt and I both had our first Beaver Tails!

By late afternoon, we needed to give our feet a break, so we went to the hotel to check in, and then went to the pool for a swim. We stayed at a Marriott only two blocks from Parliament Hill, so it was really convenient. The hotel had a rotating restaurant on the top floor, and although we didn't eat there, we did go up to check out the views.

Saturday night, we went to Parliament Hill to see 'Mosaika' - a sound and light show that used the Parliament Buildings as a backdrop. It was a great show that explored Canada's physical, historical and cultural landscapes; it was more then Curt and I expected, and we were both truly impressed with various parts of the show.

The show is at night, in the dark, so it was hard to get a good picture, but we tried...

As you can tell, it was a great day, and the best part (in my opinion) was yet to come. More on 'The Lion King' in my next post.