Ottawa Aug 5/12

We went to the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church this morning.  The original church was built by Col. By's stone masons, who had been brought over from Scotland, in 1928.  There was a delay in deciding where the Rideau was going, and they had time on their hands, so decided to build a church for the many Scots who were there at that time.  There have been additions, and it was replaced in 1872, so it is still pretty old.  And VERY beautiful!  The picture shows again how the old and new come together in this city.  The glass building is actually attached to and owned by the church.

We left church for our prearranged FREE tour of the centre block of the Parliament Buildings.  In the many times we have been in Ottawa, we have NEVER toured them.  Just before we arrived, the heaven's let loose with a huge downpour.  By the time we had lined up outside to go through security (like at the airport!), we were soaked to the skin - even with an umbrella!  The wind was blowing the rain all around!            The inside of this place is absolutely incredible!  Stone like this was quarried in Manitoba - there must have been TONS of it!  It is full of fossils from "millions" of years ago, and is carved like this everywhere!  The ammount of time it must have taken boggles my mind!  Of course, this building was built after the old wooden one burned down in 1916.

The House of Commons.

Again, the House of Commons - the big seat in the middle is for the Speaker of the House, a sort of referee.  Abovr is the gallerie, where anyone can go to listen.

This is a chandelier in the "Reading Room", which I think doesn't get used much any more.  The MPs read newspapers from all across Canada and around the world, but now they do it on line.

The statue is of Queen Victoria, who was queen when Canada was born.  She was the one who decided where Canada's capital would be.   This is in the library, which I have always thought was the most beautiful from the outside.  It is the only part of the building which was saved from the fire in 1916. 

This light is in the dome of the circular building which is the library.

There are millions of books here, only for use of the MPs and Senators.  Some are in French, some English, some in both languages.

And this is one of the 2 iron doors (they're painted to look like wood) that saved the library in the fire - someone thought to shut them.

In the Senators Chambers there are 3 chairs at the front.  One is for the reigning monarch, whose spouse sits to his/her left, and in front of them is the speaker of the senate - again, a kind of referee.  If the king/queen is not present, the Governor General can sit in his/her chair and give "the nod".

The main entrance - rotunda - is very elaborate.

.....as is everything else.

I was amazed that we even got to go up in the Peace Tower!   What a view!  The round building below is the library, then there's one of the bridges to Gatineau (was Hull) on the other side of the Ottawa River.

These buildings by the river are the Museum of Civilization - a great place that we have visited a couple of times.  It has an IMAX theater as well.

This is the west block, the green roofs behind it are on the Confederation Building.  I think that's where parliament was held after the centre block burned.

This building is across from the Parliament Buildings - the Langevin Building - is where Stephen Harper has his office.

And there is Dawg Daze - the little one on the canal wall.

This is the east block, with the Chateau Laurier across the canal from it.

We also got to see the Memorial Chamber - a room with memorials to all the people who have died fighting for our country since WW1.

That's me by the main entrance.

The Peace Tower - there is a row of windows just under all four faces of the clock.  That's where we were looking out from.

We went over to the Byward Market to eat a late lunch, and these guys were playing ball hockey right on the street.

I have never drank so much coke in such a short time (I hardly EVER drink coke!) as I have this weekend - it has been so hot, and the coke was ice cold!  They were everywhere we went, handing out free bottles or cans (small ones), and they had lots of stuff going on by the market today.

Well, I promise that the rest of my blogs will be much shorter than they have been this weekend - it's just that there is so much to do and see here!  And I am thankful to say that after quite a bit of rain today, it has cooled off nicely.  Guess I should be careful what I wish for!