Christmas In The Chateau

Each year at Christmas, the Chateau Laurier puts on a display of Christmas trees in their lobby and surrounding corridors. Local businesses and organizations make a donation to a hospital foundation, trees are decorated, some with unusual themes, and the trees are a draw for hotel guests and locals alike. Here are some of them, and I have more of them tomorrow.

To Hear The Angels Sing

Merry Christmas!

It is my habit for Christmas Day to go with a church theme. This is the nativity scene set out each year in front of St. Patrick's Basilica downtown.

Southminster United Church in Old Ottawa South features lights at its front entrance.

And these wreaths are on one of the doors at Centretown United Church.

Divine Word Evangelical Lutheran Church is out in Barrhaven, a part of the city southwest of Nepean, a suburban community I have in the past only passed through. The wreaths on the front door I photographed in the evening.

While I didn't notice anything like wreaths outside this church, the snow and evergreens felt quite like Christmas. This is Kanata Community Christian Reformed Church, which is close to the spa I showed you in yesterday's post.

I was passing by St. Paul's Eastern United Church in Sandy Hill one evening. It was decorated for Christmas, including a nativity scene in the main gate entrance.

Decking The Halls

It's Christmas Eve, and I will be largely off for the next three days, thanks to closures, but there will be posts throughout. I will have to play catch-up; thanks to those photo captcha issues I've been having, I'm over three weeks behind in reading and commenting.

Orleans is an urban area on the eastern edge of the city of Ottawa; before amalgamation, it was a city in its own right. Its major shopping centre is Place d'Orleans, and this spot was where they had their Santa photos. I was passing by one morning as the Jolly Elf was presiding over things.

When I started this series I showed you the Christmas tree in the Rideau Centre downtown during the day. This is it at night, after the mall's stores have closed up for the evening.

The Rideau Centre has its Santa photos done here, on the pedestrian bridge linking the mall to the Hudson's Bay across the street. 

This house downtown caught my eye as I was coming home one evening. This is now a private residence, and had been a business until a few months back. The Silver Rose operated out of this 19th century house for many years until the owner retired. The florist shop was well known in Ottawa, and the house itself is neatly decorated for the Christmas season. Given the artistic flourishes and the lack of for sale signs after the closure, I presume the retired florist still lives here.

One day a couple of weeks back I happened to be out in Kanata, the western most of the major urban areas making up Ottawa. I passed by this place. It looks like a 19th century farmhouse. Today it houses a place simply titled The Spa. The wreaths in the windows caught my eye. Tomorrow's post will include a church close to here.

This is the Christmas tree in the lobby at the Lord Elgin Hotel. Note the bust of Lady Elgin in the background at the left.

I went into the National Gallery of Canada one evening to take in some art, which I'll have in a series in January. It was the evening that the Christmas tree was lit up for the season in the glass tower.

One evening I stopped by the National Arts Centre, where a performance of The Nutcracker was to be held, with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in attendance. The lobby areas were busy with crowds, as you can see. Note the ballerinas chatting with a group of people among them.

This display caught my eye. The rocking chair was definitely oversized.

And I finish with this Christmas wreath that was one of several hanging here. Snow shoes, a hockey stick and glove, ice skates, and a lacrosse stick- the only things that could make it more Canadian would be a bottle of maple syrup and a teddy bear in a Mountie uniform.

A Festive Morning

Wreaths could be found at the Ottawa Christmas market.

I have been several times over the course of these weekends, and the place has always been busy. During the year, the peak of the regular market is in October when much of the harvest has been done. Over the winter there are less vendors in here, but the market is, with a couple of exceptions, all local. I know of one vendor, for instance, whose farm is out in the Niagara Peninsula, but they're the ones bringing in peaches and other crops that can grow only in that small part of the country, and definitely not around here.

This nativity scene caught my eye.

One of the regular vendors here has an elk ranch. They were decorating for the season at their spot.

I did not catch the name of this cutie.

During the Christmas market, horse drawn wagon rides are offered outside the pavilion. This pair of big fellows are named John and Duke.

I finish off with another look at Santa, who was involved in a photo op with a woman.

Yuletide Market

On the Saturdays and Sundays in December, the main farmers market here in the city becomes a Christmas market. Held in the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park, the market is filled with farmers and artisans with a Christmas theme. The final date for this is tomorrow, and then the farmers are taking a couple of weeks off before coming back in here over the course of the winter. By May they're back outside the pavilion for the warmer weather. 

This is, as you can expect, a busy place during each of these weekends. Santa, who can be found in the first shot, was strolling about on the day I took these shots, on the first weekend, greeting kids, posing for pictures, and handing out candy canes. We'll see more of him tomorrow.

Dogs are welcome in the market, and some of the vendors have treats for them. This guy's name was Barney Trouble.

There is a lot of food about, some of it baked and ready for the holidays. Decorations are also abundant, along with gift ideas.

There are even musicians. These two are often around during the farmers market through the year.

These are the works of an artist who works with stained glass. I have more from this event tomorrow.