Canberra Part 2

Wednesday was yet another rainy day so I went online to purchase tickets to Parliament House.  Because of Covid you are obliged to get tickets online and you specify the 2 hour time slot that suits you best.  We chose 9.30 to 11.30 as we were again meeting the family for lunch. Where are staying at the Alivio Caravan Park that is only a 10 minute drive to the centre of Canberra and we are grateful for the easy driving in Canberra.  The streets are not busy and with help from our car navigation system we have found our way to the various attractions without any difficulty.

The new Parliament House is magnificent.  I shouldn't really say new because it was opened in the 80's but the building itself is timeless architecture. The principal architect was Romaldo Giurgola and he was very clever in making the building part of Capital hill rather than sitting on top of Capital Hill.  Walking into the foyer is breathtaking.  The soaring marble pillars and two grand marble staircases are perfectly symmetrical as are all areas of Parliament House.  It truly is a magnificent building and at a cost of $1 billion.....it was cheap. Wandering around Parliament House I was overcome with a deep sense of pride in being an Australian and I'm certain this is what the architect intended.

(As I was taking this photo 

of the beautiful marble balustrade, a mob of school kids and their teacher came down on the opposite side. The teacher yelled at me "you can't take photos of these children!" I replied that I wasn't but she gave me a death look and huffed past me.  Please.  I am a 63 year old woman who was quite clearly pointing the camera in a totally different direction. I don't know how she could have thought any otherwise. Clearly she was delusional and power made. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of it. God Help Us....)

 

Our two hours passed incredibly fast and in no time at all it was time to meet the family at Coffee Club for lunch.  Surprisingly on this cold day we all ordered salads but gee they were delicious.  We didn't sit too long over lunch as the little grandchild was very tired and needed a sleep.  We will catch up with them all again on Friday when we will have a night with them at their place.

We didn't really want to head home after lunch so we looked up the Hop on Hop Off bus schedule and it had a $20 deal where you stayed on the bus for the 2 hour circuit.  We had around three quarters of an hour to spare and as the departure point was right outside CMAG (Canberra Museum and Gallery) we went inside to see what was on display.  I loved the HABITAT - Ways of Living exhibition that was a mix of photography and multi media. We also wandered into the "Don't Forget the Milk" exhibition that celebrated 50 years of Canberra Milk. The glass milk bottles brought back childhood memories.

We boarded the bus right on time and we got to see many of the places that we knew we wouldn't have time to check out. However we did drive through the Embassy area that was on my list of things to see and do. China of course had the largest followed by the USA.  The German Embassy looked like it needed a whole new renovation! The bus was not like other cities where you are given head phones to listen to a narrative on the attractions. On this tour the bus driver did all the narrative and it is ideal to have a local tourist guide to give you a little more intimate detail on the places that you pass.

We have been really in "full on" tourist mode in Canberra and are both feeling a little weary but tomorrow we have a couple more things to see from our "to do" list, so we need a good nights sleep for a bright and early start again tomorrow. 

xx