February 13, 2006
Ottawa - A Brisk Morning Walk to Parliament
Hill
One of the interesting features of Ottawa is its architecture and
Ottawa has many heritage sites. Parliament Hill with its historical
neo-Gothic buildings was an area I wanted to discover in more detail.
The Chateau Laurier, a former railway hotel
Friday night, just after
we arrived in town I was able to snap a few pictures, just before
the sun went down. Saturday morning I got up and out by 7:30 am
and it was a crisp morning, with perfect blue sky. It was definitely
on the cold side, not a good idea to venture out without a hat or
a thick scarf. So it was going to be a bad hair day again, but who
cares….
I started off with the area immediately in front of the Lord
Elgin Hotel, which includes the National Arts Center, the Government
Conference Centre (the former Union Station, Ottawa's main railway
terminal), the War Memorial and the Chateau Laurier.
The War Memorial with the Chateau Laurier in the background
Then I marched up to Parliament Hill from where you have an absolutely
perfect view over to Hull and the Gatineau Hills. I admired the
sculptures “ Women are Persons” (referring to women
being recognized as their own human beings), and took a number of
pictures and video clips of the Parliament Buildings.
Walking up Elgin Street
Parliament Hill is the seat of Canada's Government and consists
of the Centre Block, the West Block and the East Block. The Senate
and the House of Commons are also located here. Free tours are generally
available every day, except my own discovery was a little bit too
early to take the tour.
The East Block
Incidentally Canada's Parliament Buildings have an interesting
history. Lower Canada (today's Quebec) and Upper Canada (today's
Ontario) joined together to form the Province of Canada in 1841.
The seat of government alternated for many years until Queen Victoria was asked to select a permanent capital in 1857.
To the surprise of many, the Queen selected the rough lumber town
of Ottawa instead of the established cities of Toronto, Montreal,
Quebec City or Kingston. One of the reasons was that Ottawa was
close to both provinces and located at a safe distance from the
American border.
A peak at the National Gallery of Canada through some ironwork
The Parliament Buildings were built between 1859 and 1866 (not including
the Library and the Tower). One year after they were finished, Confederation
occurred and the buildings were immediately selected to house the
government for the newly created Dominion of Canada.
The main building of the government buildings is called Centre
Block and it is instantly recognizable with its trademark Peace
Tower. Visitors can watch the House of Commons and the Senate from
the visitor galleries, and free tours are also available. A tour
to the top of the Peace Tower rewards you with a great view all
over Ottawa. Canada's war dead are honoured inside the Memorial
Chamber.
Queen Elizabeth II
The Library of Parliament Building - the only part of the original
Centre Block that survived the desastrous fire of 1916 - is currently
undergoing restoration work to bring it back to its former glory.
The historic East Block has not changed much since the days of
Confederation. The offices of Canada's first prime minister, Sir
John A. Macdonald, have been restored and are available to visit
on a public tour.
The West Block is not accessible to the public as it houses the
offices of the members of parliament.
"Women are persons"
The Peace Tower is Ottawa's trademark and its name is a commemoration
of Canada’s commitment to peace. The Memorial Chamber is located
on the third floor of the Tower, and it honours Canadians who have
died in armed conflicts since Confederation. The Peace Tower also
holds an observation area and the Carillon which contains 53 bells
weighing anywhere from less than 5 kg to more than 10 tons.
Detail of stone carvings on the East Block
The Centre Block was affected by a large fire in 1916. Canada began
rebuilding it while still fighting in the First World War. The new
structure, designed in the Modern Gothic Revival style by John Pearson
and Jean Omer Marchand, was completed by 1922. The Peace Tower was
finished later in 1927.
The Peace Tower peaks through
In the summer Parliament Hill offers up a unique ceremony: every
day at 10 am the Changing of the Guard takes place, and this year
the ceremony will be held every day from June 24 to August 26 of
2006.
Parliament Hill with its big open square lends itself naturally
as a meeting and entertainment venue. The Canada Day celebrations
are held here and they include free concerts, spectacular fireworks,
a flight demonstration by the Snowbirds (Canada's precision aerobatic
team), and you'll only have to put up with short speeches by Canadian
politicians.
View west from Parliament Hill
Another event coming up for 2006 is a free sound and light show
called "Canada: the Spirit of a Country", which will be
performed on a daily basis after dark between July 5 and September
10, 2006. Images will be projected onto the Parliament Buildings.
Obviously Parliament Hill is not just a boring place for politicians,
it is an entertainment venue and meeting place for people from Ottawa,
for folks from the rest of the country and for international tourists
alike.
After my discovery of the Parliament Buildings I walked further
west to have a look at the Supreme Court of Canada and the other
surrounding buildings. What really fascinated me where the huge
plumes of steam that come out of the smokestacks, I don’t
recall seeing the same types of formations in Toronto. One person
explained to me that the air in Ottawa is calmer as compared to
Toronto where we always have wind blowing in from the lake which
actually would disperse these clouds of smoke. An interesting sight....
The Supreme Court of Canada
This crisp morning walk was the perfect introduction to Ottawa and a good way to burn off calories from last night's carlory-rich
evening at Fat Tuesday's.
After a rather hearty breakfast at the Lord
Elgin Hotel, we set off to begin our day of skating on the Rideau
Canal Skateway, the main reason we had come to Ottawa.
Related Articles:
Hello from Ottawa
- My 2-day packed itinerary for Winterlude
Hello from Ottawa - First
impressions and an overview
Hello from Ottawa - The Lord Elgin
Hotel: a historic landmark in the heart of Ottawa
Hello from Ottawa - Fat Tuesday's
and the Mardi Gras Experience in the ByWard Market
Hello from Ottawa - An early
morning walk to Parliament Hill
Hello from Ottawa - Skating
on the Rideau Canal, the World's Largest Skating Rink
Hello from Ottawa - Charity and
hilarity: the 26th Annual Bedzz Races on Dow's Lake
Hello from Ottawa - Confederation
Park and other Winterlude locations
Hello from Ottawa - Darcy McGee's:
a historic Irish pub on Sparks Street
Hello from Ottawa - The Canadian
War Museum and "Weapons of Mass Dissemination - The Propaganda
of War"
Hello from Ottawa - The
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography featuring Sunil Gupta
and the challenges of immigration
An interview with Tourism Ottawa
provides a great overview of this city
An interview about
the ByWard Market, a prime entertainment and shopping area
An interview
with the National Gallery of Canada
An interview
with the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Helpful websites:
Ottawa
Tourism: Ottawa's official tourism information
The ByWard
Market Business Improvement Area
The
National Capital Commission
The National
Museum of Civilization
The National Gallery
of Canada
The Canadian War
Museum
Useful books about Ottawa:
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