The Hill

Today is Victoria Day, a holiday here in Canada named for Queen Victoria, our monarch when Canada was organized under Confederation, and I will be largely offline photographing, as it's the final day of the Tulip Festival (lots more to come here, however). I thought it appropriate to feature Parliament Hill today, since its placement results from a decision Victoria made when she designated this place as the capital. And during the Tulip Festival, the flowers can be found around the Hill, such as in planters leading into the gateways. I always get in one post from here during this festival.

There are also beds of tulips out at the north sides of the lawns, with bushes as their backdrop.

They are popular with photographers- this view takes in the East Block as well.

I seem to like taking one stretch of these tulips and photographing them two ways- normal settings and black and white. Colour works better, obviously, as the red tulips become much less noticeable in black and white.

Crossing over to the west lawn, I photographed the tulip beds as they continue.

Another angle I like to take at least once during the festival- a view from the ground up incorporating the Peace Tower.

Aside from the main tulip beds at the north end of the lawns, there are two tulip beds that flank the sides of the Peace Tower. This is the west one.

While this is the east bed.

Leaving Parliament Hill, I crossed Wellington Street to the south side, passing the Parliamentary block housing the Prime Minister's offices, which stands to the left here. There are planters set up down this sidewalk, and the view incorporating the Parliamentary blocks beyond made the shot a fitting one.