We decided to head back to the Parliament buildings today as they actually do free guided tours! We gained an hour out today as the clocks went back yesterday. It was a really nice day actually, cold but the sun was shining which was nice. Whilst waiting for the tour to begin we went up the peace tower and had a look at the memorial chamber. The peace tower was named in 'commemoration of Canada's commitment to peace'. It is 92.2 metres high, has an observation area, and a series of 53 bells which weigh between 4.5kg and 10,090kg! The views over Ottawa were lovely from up there. There is a strong message behind it all- in the heart of the peace tower is the memorial chamber, which is a commemoration to those who died in military service to Canada. It is a small room but incredibly beautiful. There are amazing stained glass windows, and the architecture is very gothic in style.

The memorial chamber was dedicated in 1927 and represents peace and reflection, whilst symbolising sacrifice and loss. It was rather emotional being inside, especially looking at the books of rememberance which have inside the names of over 118,000 Canadians who have died in service to Canada since the confederation. Every morning at 11 0'clock the pages of the books are turned to ensure that each page of each book is displayed at least once a year.

After this we began our tour. Our guide was saying before we began that we were very lucky because if the house or senate are sitting or something else is going on then you can usually only see certain parts, but today she said it was the first time in a month she was able to give a full tour and we were able to see everything! Also that we would be able to take photos in the library of parliament (we were so pleased to hear this as seeing the library was one of the main reasons we wanted to do the tour) The guide said that it is normally forbidden so we would be of the few people that actually have photos of inside the library!

Firstly we saw the foyer of the house of commons, and then got to see the house of commons itself (albeit through glass doors) It is decorated in green in the tradition of the British house of commons.

We also saw the foyer of the senate and inside the senate chamber. We had already seen the peace tower and memorial chamber so the only thing left to see was the library of parliament. Walking in almost took my breath away it was so beautiful! A fire broke out on Feb 3rd 1916 destroying practically everything, apart from the library! Luckily the library's iron doors and the fact that the wind was blowing in the opposite direction helped save the library. The architecture is of 'High Victorian Gothic Revival'. The floor is a beautiful pattern of cherry, oak, and walnut. There are over 600,000 books inside, and there is a beautiful statue of the young Queen Victoria in the centre that was carved out of a single block of white marble!

I'm so happy that we were allowed to take photos because it was so beautiful in there.

After our tour we grabbed lunch and a starbucks. Kelly and I are slowly making our way through their festive drinks which are amazing! So far I've had gingerbread latte, and caramel brule latte, and Kelly has had caramel apple spice and peppermint hot chocolate. Still need to try pumpkin spice latte and peppermint white chocolate mocha!

After this we took a stroll by the river and sat in the sun for a while watching the world go by, and a rather mangy looking but so cute little white dog in a little jacket, whose hair was more like sheep's wool!

We popped to the supermarket and then headed back to cook ourselves a nice steak dinner! :)

We extended our stay here this morning for another 5 nights, so we've got until Saturday to explore some more of this city.