Little big adventure. Day 10 aka "C1".

Went to National Library at around 9am.

Australian National Library

Surprised at how many people there were. Turns out the exhibition I want to see - "Handwritten" is only opened at 10am. Went to cafe to get a sandwich for breakfast. 10am now. Going to reception. Even though admission is free, you need to get a ticket. Have you booked your ticket online? No? Sorry, there is no more places for 10am, can book you for later if you want?
I agree to come at 1pm and go to see Questacon - Science and Technology center. According to Tripadvisor, it should be fun, especially for children. It was indeed fun, would have been even more so if I was a child. Not so much science and technology, but interesting exhibits. Would have been really educational, if only parents stopped to discuss with their children what it was all about. There are 7 rooms/areas. Last 2 are really only suitable for children. Spent around 2.5 hours there, having fun with the exhibits.

Questacon's main ramp.

A robot in the lobby, it can make poses and cite film quotes. Wait, is that all?

By 1pm I rushed back into the library, which is next door (but some 500meters away). My target is "Handwritten" exhibition, which features old and modern manuscripts. Again, thee are lots of people, mostly pensioners, but this time I got through, thanks to a nice woman at the ticket desk, who asked where I'm from? Russia? Saint-Petersburg? Been there! Not enough sunny days though. Yeah, for me too. Exhibition is dark and quiet. In first room there are books lying in glass cases, ranging from Venerable Bede' work, to original of Dante's Divine Comedy, to various Bibles and prayer books. Next section is letters and notes written by various famous people in chronological order, starting from Erasmus, Copernicus, Galileo, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Goethe, Bonaparte, Newton and up to modern Einstein,  Marks, Dickens, Darwin and many others. People were lining up in queues to read all the labels and take a close look at papers dating back more than four centuries ago. And they really worth looking at.
Separate musical section featured original music sheets by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Brahms and many others. Directional speakers produced sounds of the corresponding music when you stand in front of the sheet. Marvelous.
Spent about 2 hours there and did not even noticed. Harried out the library but then remembered that they should have originals of the James Cook journal for this "finding Australia" trip. Bill Bryson in his "In a sunburned country" notes missed this journal as it was not on display. I felt lucky so I got back to reception and asked, and yes they have it on display now. Journal is nothing much, again, just a thick manuscript in glass case, opened at the page of 19th April 177, where he founds Australia and names the piece of shore after Ltnt Hicks who was first to see it.Above the journal there was a painting depicting a confused affair of Cook's death by hands of aboriginals who earlier praised him. Beside the journal there is a multimedia display allowing you to see scanned pages of the journal, with transcript, a timeline (showing which point in time you are at), and a map (showing where in the world you are during this voyage). Very high-tech. Apart from the journal (which is part of the permanent Treasures exhibition), there are few things to see, mainly related to earlier Australian history and aboriginal past.
Going to High Court of Australia building now, along the lake Burley Griffin, which is nice but not too nice. Saw a couple of black swans on the way, which is depicted in ACT's coat of arms. High Court is interesting building, best described as "pragmatic". Steel and concrete. Huge lobby. Building is open to public, including three court rooms. They would even allow you to sit at the hearings, but alas, no hearings until 31 Jan so I just wandered around empty courtrooms, taking a few sordid photos, marveled at the pictures on the lobby walls and went outside to find out where the hell the old parliament house is in this park.

Black swans. Found originally only in Australia.

View of the flag on top of the Parliament.

High Court building.

I found it by the smell. There was a "sacred" fire in front and SOVEREIGNTY in big white letters. Aborigines wanted some sovereignty, obviously, but I did not clearly understood from who (do they want us all to get off their land, leaving all the cities and infrastructure behind? or demolished to original state? Or do they simply want a piece of land to live and not be bothered by Australian government? Well they can choose any piece of the Australian desert - there is no one to bother them there. Of course if they want a piece of land in the center of the Sydney with a view on the harbour and Opera House, we are in trouble). Anyway I was too afraid to come and ask, so I decided to leave them alone.

Old Parliament House building. Is it me or is it too grand for a provisional building?

Sacred bonfire. I was supposed to make a donation for making a photo, but I didn't so now I'm doomed.

The museum inside, which is Museum of Australian Democracy (how many other countries have a museum of democracy? We should have one in Russia - explaining how it was born crippled, suffered greatly, and died in pain), was simply beautiful. Featuring red Senate chamber and green House of Representatives, where actual debates took place until late 80s, party rooms, and Prime Minister's office, this place just breathes with politics. I was lucky to get a guided tour by a guy who used to work there. There are also lots of exhibitions, i.e. history of democracy (featuring Washington's lamp and inkwell he used to write constitution - on 12-month loan from US, but forgotten for more than 4 years now) and many others, which I unfortunately was not unable to see as this was time to close the museum (5pm). Everything seems to close at 5pm in Canberra, as the streets were flooded with workers hurrying home, and by flooded I mean that I finally saw more than 5 people at once on the street.

The Senate

Prime Minister's office. Yep, that's first floor and just one meter from the window, unguarded.

I went downtown, found a nice Irish pub "King O'Malley" and had a dinner and a couple of local ales. Strangely enough, the place was quite busy, probably because it the the only Irish pub in the city, or, more probably the only pub in the city, opened after 5pm.
Lovely day.