Beautiful Flowers at the Tulip Festival, Ottawa, Ontario

This morning the weather was a little better yesterday with no rain but a grey sky.

As long as it was not raining, we were happy as this was the day we planned to walk around and take part in Ottawa's famous annual Tulip Festival.

2014 Tulip Festival at Commissioners' Park, Ottawa

Horse drawn wagon ride at the Byward Market

 We drove to downtown Ottawa and visited the Byward Market - my favorite place to buy fresh flowers and plants.

Menu at La Bottega, Byward Market

The little plant I bought from the market years ago is still growing beautifully in our front garden in Toronto and has brought us a lot of pleasure over the years.

Delicious dessert at the La Bottega

There are many places to eat at the Byward Market; Margaret took us to La Bottega for some Italian food and latte.

We had pizza, veal cutlet, pasta, and yes, desserts!

Beautiful tulips in full bloom at the Tulip Festival, Commissioners Park,  Ottawa

I was here many years ago for the Tulip Festival and frankly, I was not that impressed by it.

This time I revisited the festival mainly because of my brother and his friend. I thought it would be more fun visiting with family.

We were not disappointed! This time the festival activities were more concentrated at one venue so we did not  have to run around all over the city like we did many years ago.

The flowers were spectacular!

There were over 10,000 tulip bulbs planted throughout the park. These beautiful perennials were given to Canada as a gift by Holland.

The Dutch wanted to express their gratitude for Canada's assistance to their royal family while their pregnant princess was about to give birth and seeking protection here during WWII.










The gifts from Holland leaves a legacy for generations of Canadians to enjoy!

Besides the brilliant displays of colourful and massive flowers, there were activities planned for kids as well as for adults.

A few cutouts where one could post and had their pictures taken with different costumes or scenery.














There were many places for festival goers to rest their tired feet.

The weather was still a bit on the chilly side. However, it did hold out and we were able to walk around, admire the massive blooms and take many beautiful pictures of the tulips!

R.T.
Tulip Festival
Commissioners Park
Ottawa
P.S. Pictures - courtesy of  Doug as my camera battery was dead for the day!