Finally.. Canada Day was a very long day as I got up at 7:30 for something which I don't want to remember and I went to bed at 2:30. In combination with the exhausting week this resulted in 12 hours sleep and afterwards I couldn't be bothered to leave the flat but did a bit of organising and washed the dishes (of pretty much the whole week). Today was bank holiday as well, but I still went here and worked a couple of hours as compensation for Friday).

I had an excellent Canada Day yesterday – although the day developed a bit differently than planned. Originally the plan was to meet at university at 1:30, take the LRT to City Hall to take the tour and eat from the Canada cake then go canoeing on the Saskatchewan and in the evening watch the waterfall from 9-11 and afterwards the fireworks.

As it was a beautiful day we – Lucka, Kamilla and I – agreed to walk, by crossing the river via the Highlevel Bridge (the old railway bridge). When passing the Legislature Building (Alberta’s Parliament) we decided to insert a short extra stop because I’ve never seen it from close. In the end that short stop turned out to be a rather extensive one because we had and took the opportunity to visit the building. (Just now has come into my mind, I’ve visited the German, the British and now Alberta’s Parliament – but I’ve never been inside the Austrian! What a disgrace!) The guides were dressed in historical uniforms (of state offices such as the Speaker or Governor) and clothing of ordinary people (similar to those one could see in films like Far And Away (In einem fernen Land) and explained interesting details about the building and answered questions.

Inside the Legislative Assembly Chamber we were explained the arrangement of the seats, the governing party (the Conservatives) is always seated right of the Speaker but presently “there are too many Conservatives” so some of them have to sit on the right side (I wonder whether that was a completely apolitical statement, because surely they could have expressed it more neutrally..) Also the wall was decorated with flags of the Canadian states, which were arranged according to the date when they became part of Canada. By the way, Canada Day celebrates 1 July 1867, the date when the British North America Act united the territories Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a federation named Canada.

Here they celebrated “100 years of Democracy” because 1906 – one year after Alberta became a Canadian province and the first elections were held – the Legislative Assembly sat for the first time. Next year they can celebrate another 100 years Jubilee: The works on the Legislature Building started in 1907 (and were completed in 1912). As you can see on the photo it’s a typical building of that time..

Apart from the political and historical information we also enjoyed an acoustic experience. If you stand at the so called “Magic Spot” in the fifth floor it sounds as if you’re standing right in the middle of the fountain which is located in the entrance hall. As the guide explained it was not created intentionally but discovered accidentally. And at first a technician was called because it was feared that a pipe might have cracked or the roof might be leaking.. (For a little bit more information see their Web Page Link on which they also feature a virtual tour where you can create a character and walk through the building. (I haven’t tried it because I would have to download a programme, but if you do, tell me how it is..)

After leaving the building it was already about 3:30pm, we had some lunch and then continued walking. Similar to the Legislature Building the Square in front of City Hall was very busy and partly a reason was that here the fountains were open to public as well. Of course Lucka and Kamilla took the opportunity (but i unfortunately was wearing Jeans, so I just enjoyed the view..) When we finally entered the building (I think it was close to 5pm) there were no tours and no Canada cake anymore but it didn’t really matter to me.

After that the quest to find the canoes proved futile as well, which didn’t matter either, because it was a nice walk through the city and Victory park. Afterwards we returned to our side of the river and had lunch in the vicinity of the University. While Kamilla left for meeting a friend we were instead joined by Lucka’s boyfriend Darius and by Ala and her friend/boyfriend (or something in between) Clemens (who’s a visiting professor from Innsbruck). Here you see them close to the river when we (and hundreds of other people) where waiting – in vain as it turned out – for the artificial waterfall which should have been created at Highlevel Bridge. Today I read that it couldn’t be created due to defect tubes. I really wonder why Edmonton sent thousands of police(wo)men to control Oilers fans at Whyte Avenue but not a single one to inform hundreds of Canada fans that the waterfall would not take place. So we were sitting at the river for almost two hours (After some time I was quite annoyed and bored – if at least we would have been allowed to have a couple of beers..) until shortly before 11pm at least the firework took place. It was nice but I’m not such a fan of fireworks and I thought they were not much more spectacular then those on New Year’s eve in Innsbruck. Whatever, at least it was a nice walk, nice talk, fresh air and relaxing - and afterwards we went for a beer, which was the perfect end of the day..

Actually this would have been the perfect occasion to write about some observations concerning Canadian national identity, but David needs the computer and besides this entry is already so long anyway..