[2012 Tulip Festival] A festival started with a royal princess

The story starts with the war.

 Once upon a time, in 1943, a baby princess was born in a foreign country where her parents have been sheltering during Nazi occupation of their country, in the Second world war.

The maternity ward of the Hospital was declared to be officially a temporary part of international territory, so that the royal baby would be born in no country and would inherit only her  citizenship from her mother.

The new born baby was Princess Margriet of Netherlands.

She was born in Ottawa, Canada where Princess Juliana, later Queen Juliana, and her family have been sheltering.

The royal family went back to Netherlands in 1945 and The Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years. Queen Juliana sent tulip bulbs year after year.

In 1953, the first Tulip festival was held in Spring and the Canadian Tulip Festival has grown to become the largest Tulip Festival in the world.

(Source: http://tulipfestival.ca/site/about/en )

Queen Juliana returned to Ottawa in 1967, to celebrate the Tulip festival

(source: cbc.ca)

and Princess Margriet who was born at Ottawa Civic hospital which was a temporary international territory by then, revisited Ottawa at the 50th anniversary of the Tulip festival.

One of the best place in Ottawa to enjoy Tulips is Beechwood cemetery.

And I like cemeteries.

You can enjoy thousands of tulips with not too many people around.

(My favorite cemetery in the whole world is "Père Lachaise" in Paris, France.

I'll post about this place some day)

We visit Beechwood national cemetery on Remembrance day, November 11th.

So that is why we went to Beechwood cemetery, instead of Dow's lake or Rideau canal, to take photos of tulips.

Enjoy tulips below: :)

 It would be really difficult to pick one,

but I would pick tulip if I have to pick only one flower kind.

There are so many different types and colours of tulips

I'd like to rest in peace, between tulips too~

White tulips

I am so ignorant.

If you know the name of this flower, please tell me.

 

 The brothers at Beechwood.

Pablo is always so curious about what his brother does.

Pablo was to short to reach any branch.

 So he used a human lift.

It was a beautiful Saturday.

 This one is my big heavy baby.

 Tombs and flowers were so well harmonized that you can enjoy both.

 This is a great idea.

Mr. D and I should buy a post to RIP already. :)

 The crematorium and chapel.

  

 Scarlet red tulips in front of the chapel

From the left side of the chapel.

 Veteran & War dead section of the Beechwood cemetery.

Rest in Peace

 Suddenly tense and warlike, but still with tulips

Crematorium.

I hope I'll be cremated. I am not sure if I want to be kept in the crematorium though.

We had a great time at Beechwood.

 Everything was perfect :)

Even the hamburger at Hinton burger was great.

 I love greasy burgers.

What is your favorite flower?

 My favorite is, as I already said, tulips...

 Because,

they are so colourful, showy, classy, and attractive, but not too racy.

  

They are graceful and elegant.

Tulip Festival