Parliament Views - June 30

For as little as we did yesterday, we sure made up for it on Saturday June 30^th.  We left our campsite at 9 AM to get to Ottawa for the Changing of the Guards ceremony.   We drove along the Ottawa Promenade to get to downtown where we found parking.  Free on the weekends!  We got to the Parliament Hill just before the ceremony was to start and managed to get a spot right up front.  We had to move back to allow the guard to come into the grounds so we were quite close!  The ceremony was long and very traditional.  The kids didn’t enjoy it too much because they didn’t know what was going on.  And, there is a lot of repetition.  But, it is one of those things that you just have to do!  From there we signed up for our tour of the buildings.  It was a good thing Navras told us to go do that right away since the next tour we could sign up for was at 1:50 – almost 3 hours away.  As we were taking pictures of the guard, I realized the battery on my camera was almost dead.  I couldn’t believe it – NOW????   Sometimes technology only works as well as the user. 

We decided that since photos would not be allowed in the National Art Gallery of Ottawa (NGO) we would go see the exhibits.  We figured we would have enough time to get from the Hill to the NGO and back in time for the tour.  When we got the NGO there was quite a line up as the feature exhibit was Van Gogh.  How fantastic?  We lined up and managed to get a spot to get in for the noon entrance.  It was amazing to see the artwork.  The kids loved it all reading almost everything in the exhibit.  It was fantastic to see as they had done some artwork based on Van Gogh a couple of years ago and they recognized the works and the techniques that they had been taught.  We got to write a letter to Van Gogh and even try to paint in his style. 

Unfortunately, the painting Shanti and Arjun drew was only for display at the Gallery.  Still a pretty neat thing to do.  From here we left and headed back to the Hill for our big tour.  We lined up and went through security.  Remember, for next time, it's just like the airport and they will hold anything sharp which meant my Swiss Army knife was taken away for the duration of the tour.  I have to say the tour was amazing.  In the West, we rarely see old, historic buildings but out East there is so much history.  The tour guide told us of the significance of the ceilings in both the House of Commons area and the Senate area.  We were also allowed to go into the Library.  This is the part of the building that is original, surviving a fire due thanks to the iron doors being closed.  Then we had a chance to go up the Peace Tower and see the city from high above.  What a sight. 

Once we left the buildings, we decided to go the Museum of Civilization. There was a special exhibit on the Mayans which Navras really wanted to see since he just finished learning about the civilization in Grade 8.  While it was facinating to read some of it was a bit much for the younger kids.  I decided to take them to the Children's Museum while Navras explored other areas.  That was a great idea.  We had two hours to spend there before it closed and we made sure the doors slammed behind us when we left.  It was quite interesting as much of the Museum was preparing for a big event.  When we asked what it was, I was expecting to hear it was a Gala or a big fundraiser but it as a High School Prom!  Shanti loved seeing all the beautiful dresses outside this odd setting.  After a busy day of walking, we decided just to drive to Rideau Hall and then head home.