I cannot say I have met someone that I listened intently to every word they said, watched their generous actions, and thought about how everything they were saying made sense. This completely sums up my thoughts about Senator Rod Zimmer.
This man went above and beyond anything I could of envisioned for coming to Ottawa. After the media event at Parliament, Rod told us that he wanted to meet up with us later on for dinner. Not only did he organize parking for our RV on Parliament Hill (overnight also), he showed us what Ottawa was truly about. The entire night you could not wipe the smiles off the faces of Brodie, Ashley or I. The stories Rod told were phenomenal. He is such an entertainer. At one point in the evening he even got up from our table to show us some dancing moves (I am planning on utilizing these).
We went out to this delicious buffet downtown Ottawa. You name it, everything was there. I piled food on to four plates and absolutely was stuffed by the end of it. From there we moved to a Irish pub where we talked, told stories, and shared laughs. I don't even know where to start with the stories Mr. Zimmer told (all I know is that he needs to write a book. It's guaranteed to be a best-seller)!
It was getting late (around one in the morning) but Rod wanted to take us into Parliament and show us around. We walked through the doors and were greeting by Josh, who was the guard we met the previous night. Josh and Rod took us to the Red Room where all the bills for Parliament are passed currently. We were given information on the entire building. Let me tell you, a lot of thought went into this building. Josh had many stories to tell.
My favorite story had to be of the Viking faces in the main foyer. When parliament was built it was carefully thought out and beautiful sculptures of faces were carved on the pillars. The request of parliament was that there was 6 viking faces to be carved to represent part of our heritage. The artists worked diligently and asked if they would be able to sign their work after they were finished. Parliament wanted nothing of this even though it would not be noticeable. Well, needless to say at the revealing of all the face sculptures there were two viking carved faces and the two carvers faces within these. Since they were unable to carve their names in they carved their face into the stone. The thing is, there is a law Parliament passed that once something is carved into the stone it cannot be removed, so these carvers faces still exist to this day in the main foyer. The There were pictures taken of us in the Governor General's chair, yet more importantly in Senator Rod Zimmer's chair.
It was getting late (around one in the morning) but Rod wanted to take us into Parliament and show us around. We walked through the doors and were greeting by Josh, who was the guard we met the previous night. Josh and Rod took us to the Red Room where all the bills for Parliament are passed currently. We were given information on the entire building. Let me tell you, a lot of thought went into this building. Josh had many stories to tell.
My favorite story had to be of the Viking faces in the main foyer. When parliament was built it was carefully thought out and beautiful sculptures of faces were carved on the pillars. The request of parliament was that there was 6 viking faces to be carved to represent part of our heritage. The artists worked diligently and asked if they would be able to sign their work after they were finished. Parliament wanted nothing of this even though it would not be noticeable. Well, needless to say at the revealing of all the face sculptures there were two viking carved faces and the two carvers faces within these. Since they were unable to carve their names in they carved their face into the stone. The thing is, there is a law Parliament passed that once something is carved into the stone it cannot be removed, so these carvers faces still exist to this day in the main foyer. The There were pictures taken of us in the Governor General's chair, yet more importantly in Senator Rod Zimmer's chair.
From there Rod had to leave, but Josh (who is one great guy!) said that he would take us over to the Heritage Building to show us around there! We moved from Canada's first Prime Minister's, (Sir John A. MacDonald) room through the first Governor General's room, to the Privy Council room where many major decisions regarding Canada occurred. Every room we walked into sent us goosebumps, and as Josh explained more and more we were just amazed at how much history was involved in this building. It was so neat going through this building in the early hours of the morning with no crowds and a phenomenal gentleman in Josh.
We cannot thank Josh and Senator Zimmer enough for this experience as it was extremely exciting to us.
We cannot thank Josh and Senator Zimmer enough for this experience as it was extremely exciting to us.
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