Vacation 2008 - Parliment Hill

We left London Friday right after work and stopped just after the 407 express way for some dinner. Luke ate very little and we discovered that he's been so stressed about going away, that he hasn't been eating much for a while. This was worrisome because he's growing so fast, his joints stick out all over.

We stopped in Trenton to stay the night, and were on the road again bright and early. We made it to Rockland before 11. We stayed with Jim's brother. Gord is married to Cathy, they have two children Evan (19) and Josie (16). Also in the house was Evan's girlfreind, Josie's boyfreind assorted other teenagers as well as two dogs, two cats and one rabbit. But all was harmonious! Luke had a computer in a quiet spot where he could read and de-stress. I enjoyed sitting out on the deck, chatting with Cathy and even swam with Alex a couple of times.


Visiting Parliament Hill was my favourite of our touristy travels. It was just so impressive! You can see we had a very overcast day, and while we did get rained on a bit, at least it wasn't horribly hot. There are a lot of interesting things to see on the grounds. Restoration work was underway. It looks like they've put a sweater on to this tower:

There are statutes of famous Canadians all around the grounds. Alex was having a lot of fun taking pictures of them and playing in, around and on them.

We toured the grounds while waiting for out turn to tour the interior of the buildings. When we got tired, we stopped and I knitted.

You have to pass airport-type security to get into the building and my boys were very worried for my knitting needles. "It's only knitting" I told them, "I'll get it back." But they needn't have worried. After a brief consultation, which I couldn't understand because it was spoken in quick French, the security guards let my knitting through. I wonder if having a 75% complete sock on the needles increased my odds.

Right at the beginning of the tour, we were waiting in a hallway that was covered with plaques carrying the roster for the various parliaments. For a lark, I started reading the names. What a thrill when I found mine!

Actually, the member of parliament listed here was Léopold Corriveau, but still a thrill for me.

The building is rich with art, in stone, glass, metal and paintings.


The best part was the library, but we weren't allowed to photograph it because librarians are actually working in the building. The library is the oldest and most beautiful part of the whole thing and it's worth trip to see it.

There are more pictures up on Flickr, if you care to see them.