IELTS excursion - Parliament house

We began the day in the classroom learning about the structure and function of the Queensland government.

It is a nice ten minute stroll from IIA to Parliament house in Brisbane, the sunshine was lovely!

On the way to Parliament house, we took a photo with these guys who are promoting TV show.

Nice One!

We were very lucky to have our own private tour. Our guide and security guard were very nice, they were happy to share some very interesting stories with us.

The students really enjoyed learning about the history of this beautiful old building, in particular what was involved with the original construction. Our guide told us that it took more than a year for the materials to be brought out from England. Most of it is still in it's original condition, even though it has been restored a number of times. Last year they had to replace five tiles in the grand entrance, they were made in France at the original stone masons and sent to Australia.

The detail of the interior design is really beautiful, the students particularly loved the ceiling and chandelier in the legislative council (worth more than half a million dollars and it takes three days to clean!)

Every room has it's own special function and history (including crimes, suicides and ghosts!!) we had alot of fun listening to some of the crazy things that have gone on over the years.

We had such an interesting day, we started out to learn about Queensland Government, but it soon became a history and architectural lesson too.

It was a fabulous day - with my fabulous IELTS class!