We started Saturday with a pleasant walk across the street and through a lovely park. We were surprised to see the imposing marble stairs leading to the stunning Australian Parliament building. So, we were, in a sense, relieved to see a sign pointing to the right stating “public entrance .6 km.” As the temperature was nowhere near the 159 degrees it reached that afternoon (slight exaggeration), we were happy to make the walk that let us appreciate the building’s architecture and landscaping.

I hope you can get an idea from the picture of the beauty and proportions of this lovely building. It was built to replace the Old Parliament House that stands across Capital Hill Circle from it and was used from 1927 until this building was opened on May 9, 1988, by Queen Elizabeth II who was also Queen of Australia and its Head of State. It’s Italian American designers and architects from Mitchell,/Giurgola & Thorpe in New York designed it to tit on the southern apex of the Parliamentary Triangle atop Capital Hill, at the meeting point of Commonwealth, Adelaide, Canberra, and Kings Avenues, enclosed by State Circle. I should note that, being the complete political geek that I am, simply walking into the House of Commons Chamber in this building gave me goose bumps. I simply loved the “feel” of the place.

The House of Commons. We can see many elements taken from the British House, including a lighter green color for the benches, the Speaker’s chair, the arrangement of the majority, opposition and other parties and independents. Note the three flags, representing Australia, the Aboriginal people of the mainland and the Island people who are distinct from the Aboriginals.

The Senate Chambers (the Upper House). Again, much taken from the traditions of the House of Lords. You will note the chair below the stylized Coat of Arms is for the Sovereign and to the Sovereign’s left, their spouse. Normally, the Governor General would represent the Sovereign if the Sovereign were not present.

The first picture is a view toward the mountains and Old Parliament House from the roof of Parliament House. The second is the flag I showed in an earlier blog, this time from the roof. Finally, for my friends Steve and Sally in Alexandria and their son Wolfman Dan and his wonderful partner Kristen, a Lego model of Parliament House. Dan was a champion Lego builder in his youth.

As the day heated up, Steve and I headed across the elegant expanse of land between the Parliament House and it’s predecessor and found that we had missed out on a protest of some kind earlier in the morning.

We had not planned to take another tour of another House of Parliament, but rather a quick view of the old building that we understood to be some kind of museum. But upon entering we were greeted by a staff member who asked us if we would like to join a tour that had just started and before we knew it, we were in the former office of the Prime Minister.

The Commons and Senate Chambers in Old Parliament House. (The Senate Chambers had been damaged in a fire and were closed so th picture was taken from their website.)

It was an interesting tour. The building was large, but the offices were small and had an old feel to them. They were decorated in period style for various eras that the building had been in use. One interesting historical film shown was footage that the Prime Minister during World War II, Robert Menzies, took during a visit to the UK. It showed the UK, during the Blitz and it was in color.

The temperature had not quite reached egg frying on the sidewalk stage when we agreed to walk from the Old Parliament House to the National Gallery of Australia.

There was plenty of Aboriginal art to be seen in the gallery. I will highlight a few of my favorites and show some others.

Above are five pieces of Aboriginal art from the NGA collection. I find each of them beautiful and exciting in that they tell a story easily understood by some but needing interpretation by those who do not understand their tradition and culture.

Tim Johnson, born Gadigal Nura, calls this work “Western Desert.” In size, scope, and color, it reminds me, a bit of Jackson Pollock’s ‘Summertime.’

At the end of the day, as the gallery was closing, we had to decide whether to make the half hour walk home or call a taxi or Uber. For Steve, being fitter and 3 years younger, walking is always the preference if I don’t suggest otherwise and so began “March or Die.” Neither of us realized just how hot it was or how humid. This was very possibly the most miserable 30 minutes of my trip, I joked that I thought Steve had decided to kill me. But we made it home and after a bit of cooling off, I am here to tell the tale that I am just a big wuss.

After the death march, though, we opted for a quieter Sunday (remember we are a day ahead of you folks, so it was not “Super Sunday” for us. We started with a late morning trip to the Old Bus Depot Market, very reminscent of many of the London markets I love to visit.

As we walked in the door, we spotted a particularly friendly vendor whose wares caught our attention. The result was the purchase seen below.

Our next stop was the neighborhood of the Australian National University where we had a nice lunch. We then walked over to the campus to find it devoid of human life since classes were not in session!

I did notice this interesting piece of sculpture out front.

In keeping with our “make it an easy day” theme, we Ubered to a huge shopping mall, Canberra Center that seemed to sell everything imaginable and even included two supermarkets. It was air conditioned and full of shoppers. I have to admit we had a pleasant hour or so walking the mall and window shopping. We stopped for a coffee in a very airy second level shop and enjoyed the people watching before returning home in the late afternoon, recharged and looking forward to our last full day in Canberra.

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