Canada: The Spirit of a Country

Since this may be the last time I'll have reliable Internet access for a bit:

Last night Reluctant Kev and Cabin-Fevered Jess went for an evening drive into Ottawa to see the sound and light show on Parliament Hill We got there at 8:45pm and the bleachers were already full so we found a nice spot in the grass and waited for what we expected to be an immediate commencement - we had heard some sort of announcement happening (in French) as we arrived. The tourist website I had used to find Ottawa info had said the show started at sunset, and it was definitely getting dark.

But no.

Soon after we arrived, test projections began appearing on the face of the Peace Tower. It was at first unclear whether these images were meant to be the actual show and there had been a technical error... Meanwhile large speakers pumped out traditional and contemporary Canadian music, even including a Great Big Sea number that Kevin used for his ringtone a couple of years ago.

We sat, we waited, and the mozzies sucked our blood. Many images came up on the building and were subtly adjusted - how many bleeding lights and projectors must this show use??

At 9:15pm an announcement was made to say that the show would start in 15 minutes, and that it would run for about 30 minutes.

45 minutes of watching technical calibrations - 30 minutes of show.

It finally began at 9:30pm, and was announced as being bilingual - I grimaced at the idea of having to wait for translations but the reality was worse. Half (or there abouts) of the presentation was in English, half in French. And it often ran too quickly for Kev to translate for me. Blah.

But in the end I don't think I missed much - it's not a show designed for tourists, it's for patriotic Canadians, complete with a stirring finish including a showy interpretation of the national anthem (half English, half French) to leave the audience teary and proud.

I had a good time though, it was nice to see some of the city, and better than staying in and watching Syriana I'll wager.