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The little trip across a big ocean
Contrary to popular opinion, Canberra is actually the capitol of Australia. That's about the only reason to come here. There are lots of museums and the only mandate in planning the city was that there be lots of open space. For only day, I decided on a tour of their Capitol and the Australian War Memorial. The Capitol is a surreal experience as they constructed a new one in the 1970's (maybe). It is very modern and the architect wanted people to feel at home when they came in. I missed a tour by minutes, so they let me just walk around and look at whatever while I waited. I was amazed at the access you could have without escort. I don't think the US Capitol has been like that since way before I was born. The rooms for the House and Senate have a very UN feel to them. Their colors are blue-green and a really muted red color. Overall, it just doesn't seem like a Capitol becuase it is so new and clean, but in the end it is kind of surreal. The best part is that they admit all the times they copied the US form of government becuase it works better than what the Brits were doing! I got a bit of lunch and then headed for the War Memorial. They have combined it into a memorial and a museum. The effect is really strong. Again, I took the tour to get my bearings and got a wonderful gent that loves history! We started in the memorial area. It was out a door and standing between columns you notice the ground level first. High walls with the names of places Australians have fought with a long and narrow reflecting pool in the middle. Towards the other end of the pool is an enternal flame. At the end of the eternal flame are stairs up to a chapel lookling building, though very simple. You step out from the columns and notice there are stairs on either side of those long walls that lead to an upper level that also ends at the chapel looking building. On either side of the upper level for some distance are the names, branch of service, and batallion/boat of every Aussie that has died in a war. People put poppies in the tracks by their family members names and it adds to the reverence of the long walkway. The chapel at the end is actually the tomb of the unknown soldier for the Great War. I found it very interesting that not all soldiers and all wars are inlcuded in this. Inside there are mutliple stained glass and mosaics that are sure to be a tribute to the men and women in the branches of service. The next phase was the museum part. It had wonderful structure and order. My favorite area was the dioramas for WWI. They really capture the major phases of WWI and the trenches. There were also some sound and light shows in the aircraft hangar to recreate an air battle during a bombing run during WWII. I stayed to closing and still didn't finish, but was treated to a bagpipe ceremony emphasizing the end of the day. It was a full day, but I closed out the evening with a Tasmanian drinking a few beers and telling tales of travel.
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