Parliament tour and Byward Market

It was a sluggish start to the day. I ended up doing more on my tablet than planned last night so didn't go to sleep early enough and was hence tired this morning. We headed out mid morning and went to Parliament for the tour we couldn't do on Friday. It was the first day back after the summer break for Parliament and the whole area was noticeably busier. We ended up going on the tour in French as we would have had to wait some time for the next tour in English. It really brought to my attention just how bi-lingual this part of the country is with Quebec just across the river and I'll have to get used to it and dust off my GCSE French for when I move provinces. I only caught the occasional word here and there and asked Angela to summarise what had been said. It is a fantastic building and the guide drew our attention to the many comparisons with the Houses of Parliament in Westminster which were very clear. We didn't get to see inside the House of Commons on the tour. We could have gone to the public gallery after but that would have meant going through airport style security for the second time, a bit too much for me.

From there we walked through the lobby of the Chateau Laurier hotel to Byward Market and had a proper wander around having previously touched on the area just briefly. As we walked to the market we were passed by the Prime Minister in his car going towards Parliament. There was a stall selling various items made from records which gave me some crafting ideas. We went in a few stores and I was tempted to get some new trainers but think I'll wait for those until I'm in Toronto, just before I fly back to the UK. We went into the Rideau Centre where the car was parked and grabbed something to eat then drove back to the apartment with a short stop at the Museum of Nature simply to look at the outside of the building which is styled like a castle. The museum was closed as usual on a Monday but they did have the Governor General there although no real security presence. We spotted his car outside but didn't know who exactly was visiting until we asked a staff member.

At the apartment we had tea, played another game of Scrabble which I was lucky to win and then I used Angela's laptop and printed off all my travel tickets for my various bus, train and plane journeys. It does feel good to have (almost) everything organised so I'll be ready to roll out on Thursday.

 

Senate Chamber