New Parliament and the Australian War Memorial

Greg's mom and stepfather visited in October to help out with the baby. We used the opportunity to visit some Canberra landmarks we had just never gotten around to visiting. This is Parliament. The wind was really picking up that afternoon, so we got a nice shot of the flag. That's one pretty sweet flagpole.

This is actually new Parliament. It openned in the 1980's but was part of the original design of the city. In 1913 they couldn't afford to do it the way they wanted, so they built a smaller, more ordinary structure to serve as a temporary Parliament. That "temporary" turned into 60 years. That building is called old Parliament, and now houses a museum, a very nice restaurant (we ate their for Valentine's Day one year), and some office spaces.

Now, back to new Parliament! Below are a couple pictures from the receiving hall, which can be used for hosting official functions. The mural along the back wall is pretty spectacular.

Like the US, Australia's Parliament is split into two houses- the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each chamber has a very strong color scheme. The Senate is red. Unfortunately, it wasn't in session so we couldn't watch any of the hot legislative action, but it was a pretty nice tour nonetheless.

After our tour of Parliament we headed over to what is probably the biggest tourist draw in Canberra- the Australian War Memorial. It's kind of a Smithsonian museum and national monument rolled into one. Very impressive. This picture is taken from the entrance way into the memorial section. The structure in the back houses The Tomb of the Unknown Solider, paying tribute to all Australians killed in combat.

On the second floor, running along both walls are the names of all those soldiers who died, in what conflict they were fighting, and what unit they belonged to. Flowers are regularly placed along the walls.

This is inside the tomb itself. Check out that quintessential Aussie bloke admiring the awesomeness. Nice shorts.

And here is us on the front steps. Immy was passed out. It had been a busy day.

After the War Memorial, we did the most Aussie thing possible- the pub! Here is our baby girl, at about four weeks getting her first Aussie pub experience. Now, before you call us out for stellar parenting, remember this is a pub, not a bar, and no one looked at us funny at all. It's a family place.

 

She's not a happy camper in this picture. It had been a long day and she was sleepy. At 6pm it was time for bed- wild and crazy times!