Snow much fun: AC students talk about their winter must-dos
It’s time to take your first step onto the snow-filled streets, where the ice is frozen to trees, lights are being strung on houses and life looks like a Hallmark movie. Winter is a great time for both solo or friendly fun, and these four AC students have great suggestions for enjoying the cold season.
The ByWard Winter Market – 55 ByWard Market Square, Ottawa
When asking Natalie Wilcock where her favourite place to go during the winter season, she said without pause, “the ByWard Winter Market.”
Making your way down the decorated roads, looking left and right at the never-ending vendors and food trucks, you are greeted by twinkling lights, red and green decorations and the sound of bundled-up people, weaving in and out of the scene.
Wilcock describes the market with glee, sharing her experiences grabbing “beavertails and great food,” while enjoying the “exciting environment, and live music.”
Rideau Canal – Ottawa
Skating down the Rideau Canal, a red rest stop comes into view. The feeling of relief floods your body as you decide whether to grab a hot chocolate first or immediately sit down and take off your skates to give your throbbing feet a break.
“I’m not really a good skater, but it is a fun experience. You can have beavertails on the ice with a campfire you can sit by,” Mercedes Veninga says.
Whether you are an expert or beginner skater, the Rideau Canal is a must-do winter activity, even if you only go once a season.
“I’ve wiped out a couple of times, but that’s expected when you don’t know how to skate. I still try to go back every year,” she says.
Soup-er season — the closest kitchen near you
In the cramped warmth of a small kitchen, barely big enough for two, friends weave around each other like skaters on ice, trying to help one another other while not letting the simmering pot burn on the stove. The scent of garlic and butter fills the air as herbs are tossed into the soup.
“My friend and I make a really good potato leek soup. It is really garlicky, but it’s delicious,” Dalia Legon says.
Sometimes a recipe is even better if you know the secret ingredient, and in this case, “the garlic is roasted before and then added in, and then it’s all pureed together.”
The cold weather is perfect for hot soup, whether it’s chicken noodle, tomato, or Italian wedding, but nothing is better than enjoying such warm delights with loved ones.
“It kind of gives us a way to come together, eat something, feel full, and then have the energy to help us through the world,” Legon says. “Like a little community.”
Silent snow walks — right outside your front door
Have you ever taken a moment for yourself to really enjoy the cold? What about the sound of soft, muffled snowfall that makes the atmosphere go still? Or the crunch of fresh snow under your boots that leave prints behind you? This is one part of winter that some forget, the feeling of enjoying and spending time with yourself.
“I’m more of a solitary person,” Ana Alekseeva says. “Especially in the wintertime, so I like to just take walks by myself. Sometimes I go to those parks that are well-lit or go right on the Ottawa River, and just take a walk there.”
Getting to spend time with yourself and appreciate the weather might be what everyone needs this winter. Alekseeva loves a night sky lit by lampposts with a light snowfall. “For me, it doesn’t matter where, it’s just…if I can get there…it’s comforting.”
No matter who you choose to enjoy the season with, every place and activity is just a walk and a single cup of hot chocolate away.
