A visit to Parliament House was also on my bucket list – and today was the day. So I set off to visit and easily found my way (thanks to my GPS) to Parliament House and into the car park beneath.
A short upstairs walk and across the courtyard to the building. It was all very impressive, and I was rather overcome with emotion. (I usually do this, when I come face to face with important places/history!)
I did think of going on a tour, but decided to go alone, and armed with the flyer with the map I set off.
It really is an amazing place!! It is full of history, amazing artworks, and wonderful people (mainly security), and as it Parliament is not sitting, it was rather quiet, except for the many tourists. Interesting to see so many “foreigners” including quite a number of Chinese. I pondered if we would be able to get so close to their house of power in Beijing.
The shiny parquetry floors are impressive and the many artworks, portraits of all prime ministers and other significant people in our history are scattered through the building. One does have to go through security to get in, and surprisingly one can take a camera. I only had my small one, but it was adequate.
The House of Representatives – and I heard about the significance of the green colour of the furnishings.
The Senate
One thing that surprised me is the fact that there is a copy of the Magna Carta in Parliament House. I remember learning about it at school, and I was not aware that there was one of them in Canberra. A very knowledgeable staff member told us the story of how it came to be in Australia. (It is in a special container – visible on the right of the photo below.) It is possible to read all the words, as they are on the Magna Carta at the display.
I had morning tea in the Queen’s Terrace Cafe, and it was the best coffee I have tasted for a while!
I visited the Senate, the Great Hall, the House of Representatives and other places in the impressive building. I spent nearly two hours there – I could have spent more time but my foot is still challenging me. Perhaps I will be able to visit again sometime.
After my visit to Parliament House, I set off to visit the War Memorial.
I do recommend a visit to Parliament House. Perhaps a couple of days – there is so much to see, and young people should visit and get a better understanding of our government.
