Thursday - Ministry of Labour, Parliament, War Memorial, the Market district, National Art Gallery.
Friday - Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Cash Creek.
Saturday - Cash Creek, 100 mile House, Quesnel, VanderHoof, Smithers.
We went to see Kristen's office somewhere up in one of the newer ministry buildings. Not a whole lot of people were there since The House is not in session and the minister is out of town. It was nice, nevertheless, to see her work place and meet a few of her colleagues.
Then we walked over to parliament hill and Kristen took us on a tour. Fortunately it was not very busy with tourists. We saw the foyer at the entry to the House of Commons where the press scrums are usually held and then peeked into the vacated Commons. We walked down the hall to the Senate and the Library. We passed all the prime-ministerial portraits. I thought it was interesting to realize that not all of them are done in traditional oils. The Paul Martin has some proportional problems but the Trudeau, Campbell, Clark and Diefenbarker ones are very professionally and artistically done.
One of the LIbrary personnel volunteered to give us some background info on the architecture and operational details of that august place. It was quite fascinating. The sculptures, wood carvings and paintings throughout the building are really very cool, without even considering their historical significance.
The weather was great. It allowed for a fantastic view from the top of the peace tower. The memorial chamber in the tower left a real impression of the immensity of the sacrifice and contribution by Canadian soldiers in past wars.
After the Parliament building we walked over to the War Memorial. Quite a solemn place and somehow smaller than I had expected. The bronze sculptures are fantastic, even the simple pieces on the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Wilma and Kristen spent some time perusing the shops and boutiques of The Market while I sat at Starbucks reading Daniel Silva. For dinner Kristen led us down to the basement of the Vineyard Wine & Bistro.
I left early to get into the Art Gallery, Wilma & Kristen caught up later. The Tom Thompson and Group of Seven collection was clearly the highlight. They must have had close to a hundred of their plain-air colour sketches besides a cross section of all their major periods. It was so cool to come face to face with the original 'Jack Pine' by Thompson and Lawren Harris' "North Shore - Lake Superior". Judith, you will be happy to know that the original is considerably larger than the version you did and that, in my estimation you got the colours right on.
And, of course it was great to meet with an original Rubens, a very small Rembrandt of disputed origin, a number of Flemish greats and two Hobbemas and Ruysdales. The latter were of significant proportions and very representative for the artists.
Friday was a whirlwind of travel. After an early, early morning departure out of Ottawa we stopped over in Toronto, switched planes in Calgary and arrived in Abbotsford at 3:15. Grandpa picked us up. Together we went to Wim & Cecile to collect Ian. He was not quite willing to conclude his stay with his cousins but he had to. Grandma had a care package ready for on the road and so, by 4:30 we were in our truck and on our way home. By 8:00 we were settled in a motel in Cash Creek.
On Saturday morning we had another early departure. We had fantastic driving weather and great scenery.
Home in Smithers by 5:00 p.m.
Tomorrow is Sunday ... a day of rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment