Upon The Hill

 The tulips continue along Wellington as I entered the Parliamentary precinct.

Crossing the street brings us to the Hill. There are six Parliamentary blocks in all, five of them on the Hill itself. The sixth is seen at right, and houses the offices of the Prime Minister and his staff. At centre is a statue honouring Henry Harper, a journalist and civil servant who died in December 1901 trying to save the life of a woman who fell through the ice on the Ottawa River.

I went onto the Hill, where there were more tulips in planters.

My path led me west of Centre Block, where there is a rise of land and two statues. The first is Queen Victoria, and at the time of this May visit, she was surrounded by tulips.

Beyond is a statue honouring Lester Pearson, who along with Mackenzie King was one of our greatest prime ministers.

Departing, I noticed the lilac blossoms overlooking the Ottawa River.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Kindness

The City Daily Photo theme for the beginning of November is Kindness, and you can see how others are interpreting this theme right here.

I am choosing three locations today. Campbell House lies in Centretown, and dates to 1883. It was the residence of Sir Alexander Campbell, a lawyer, politician, and Father of Confederation. Today it houses offices.

As you'd expect, there's a historical plaque commemorating Campbell.

But there's another historical plaque here, commemorating another resident decades later, Colonel Elizabeth Smellie, a military nurse who resided here. The very profession of nursing involves acts of kindness, and felt appropriate to the theme.

Moving on a few blocks north, a statue stands at one of the entrances to Parliament Hill. Henry Harper's final act in life was one of kindness, sacrifice, and bravery, trying to save the life of a young woman who fell through the ice on the Ottawa River. His life is commemorated with this statue, done in the Galahad style, with plaques in English and French. 

An inscription in the stone quotes Tennyson's The Holy Grail: "Galahad... cried, 'if I lose myself, I save myself.'"

A short walk away along the Sparks Street pedestrian mall is this entrance, with a bas relief plaque to the left. 56 Sparks Street was the address for the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada, still operating today and founded in 1945.

Its founder was Lotta Hitschmanova, seen here on the bas relief. She was a refugee from Europe who came to Canada during the Second World War and who would dedicate the rest of her life to humanitarian service. I'll have more about her as I continue my series from the Canadian Museum of History.

Parliamentary

On Victoria Day this past Monday I was busy taking tulip photographs at a variety of sites. One of them was Parliament Hill, where the beds at the north end of the front lawn have tulips.

This shot looking up at Centre Block shows that there's some scaffolding up around the base of the Peace Tower, part of the work being done on the building.

A view to the west takes in the West Block, where the House of Commons is meeting for the next few years while work is happening.

The beds have a mix of reds, yellows, and some of the Canada 150 tulips. The last of them seems to be late in blooming this year, though there were some of them visible.

Each year I always make a point of getting a ground up view of tulips and the Peace Tower.

From the east end of the lawn, this takes in more of the West Block.

Coming out of Parliament, I photographed this view of planters filled with tulips before one of the gates.

This other perspective shows the East Block in the background, as well as the statue honouring Henry Harper, done in the Galahad style. Harper was a journalist, civil servant, and friend of William Lyon Mackenzie King; in 1901 he gave his life trying to save a woman who had fallen through the ice on the Ottawa River.

Parliamentary

After crossing Wellington Street from where I took the last of yesterday's shots, I walked towards one of the entrances into Parliament Hill. The Galahad influenced statue that honours the gallant sacrifice of Henry Harper stands here. Tulips in planters line the street to either side.

Tulips are also found in the flower beds at the north end of the lawn, on both the west and east sides, in front of Centre Block. The red ones have bloomed ahead of others in the mix.

There are a couple of flower beds at the base of the Peace Tower, which are filled with tulips at the moment. I have more from here tomorrow.

First Images Of A New Year

These shots are my first of the year, taken on New Year's Day. I headed over to Carleton University to catch the O-Train, and thought the minimalist look of the rails through the snow made for an interesting image. The same applied to animal tracks beside the station through the fresh snow.

Downtown, I came to Parliament Hill, which had been the scene of a big party on New Year's Eve. I should have come on down- I developed a headache late that afternoon and stayed in. These banners are hanging downtown along Wellington Street, a mark of the 150th anniversary of Confederation. The statue behind it is Henry Harper, whose presence I've featured before.

Crews were busy on the Hill, bringing down the stage and other infrastructure elements of the previous night's events. The evening had included two sets of fireworks, a concert, and a passing of the torch by school children from Ottawa's City Hall to the Centennial Flame.

This stage was set up down at City Hall, a few blocks away. Something else has been set up here as well- a large torch sculpture that I assume is going to remain lit for a good long while- probably through this anniversary year. This was where that passing of the torch had begun.