Fodor's Expert Review Cabinet Building

The most rewarding time to visit the Cabinet Building, which was completed in 1841 and remodeled almost a century later, is during the formal opening of Parliament, traditionally held on the first Friday of November. His (or Her) Excellency the Governor, dressed in a plumed hat and full regalia, arrives on the grounds in a landau drawn by magnificent black horses and accompanied by a police escort. A senior officer, carrying the Black Rod made by the Crown jewelers, next asks the speaker of the House, elected representatives, and members of the Senate chamber to convene. The governor then presents the Throne Speech from a tiny cedar throne dating from 1642.