Friday: Parliament

Even though I have a plethora of pictures of this clock at home, I can't seem to quit taking pictures of....Big Ben. It's so beautiful, and reminds me of so many things (namely a part of the movie Peter Pan)...and I have more pictures of this clock than anyone would ever need. But I love it.

At any rate, what you may or may not know is that clock is attached to Parliament. The rest of that massive building is where the House of Commons and the House of Lords exist. We took a tour of Parliament, and got to take the Sovreign's Entrance (Victoria Tower) and the "Queen's route" that she takes when she comes into Parliament to give her annual speech each November. (Apparently it's similar to our state of the union address, only she doesn't stutter, pronounces everything correctly, and sits on an enormous golden throne that was built in 1845.)

Starting off in the Sovreign's Entrance, our tour guide gave us some history regarding the things we were seeing as we waited to go through airport-like security, where every person gets patted-down and people/bags go through an x-ray machine, etc. As we waited, we learned that the building that stands today was rebuilt in 1845 after the fire. Kings of England had lived on that property for centuries. Henry VIII (you may remember him and his wives) was that last King to live on this site. And of course there was no photography permitted for the most beautiful aspects of this tour, so you'll have to bear with my descriptions.

There are some other neat tidbits regarding the history of government here.

• They have a copy of the death warrant with wax seals all over it from 1649, that was a warrant for Charles I. Oliver Cromwell tried Charles for treason, and he was hung drawn and quartered.


• There was no Sovreign for 9-10 years after that, but Charles II came back in 1660 (from Paris) and reigned.


• The sovreign may never enter the House of Commons, they may only enter the House of Lords.


• There is a messenger at the door to relay messages from the sovreign to the House of Lords, down a long hallway.


• Most everything within Parliament's decorations on the inside of the building has something to do with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. (initials, paintings, etc. everywhere).


• Victoria came to the throne at age 18 and reigned for 64 years (the all-time record thus far).


• Enormous beautiful murals hang on the walls representing different parts of England's history. Two of the ones I particularly liked were the Battle at Waterloo (It was a naval battle against the French. and Duke Wellington was the man in charge of that victory); and also the Death of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. It's really incredible to see the paintings and realize that I'm sitting in the same spot where a battle happened.


• During WWII Parliament was bombed, so the House of Commons was rebuilt in 9 years time. The archway into the House of Commons is still damaged, you can see the blemishes from the bombing in the stone.


• None of you probably know this, but I really like to watch the House of Commons on CSPAN. I particularly liked watching it when Tony Blair would have to answer rapid-fire questions and everyone would shout their agreement or disagreements at him. I couldn't believe I was standing in that room...the one I watch on television.

House of Commons

First, all of the benches are green (my favorite color). For the most part, seating is on a first-come-first-serve basis, though depending on which way they voted on a particular issue they're discussing that day, the two sides (that face each other) will sit on the Aye or Noe side. The Sargeant at Arms carries what's called a Mace, or a silver sceptre-type thing that is representative of the sovreign's presence as the House of Commons does business. On top of the table in the middle of the room, there are brackets on which to place the Mace. Only the Sargeant at Arms is permitted to touch the Mace. I need to look for that when I watch it on CSPAN again.The carpet is also green, but there are two long red lines in front of either row of benches that are apparently 2 swords-length long, so people who disagree may not draw their swords on one another. (Obviously this was an older rule.) There is also a sign above the cloakroom requesting them to "Hang Swords Here" on hooks, but instead that's where they place their umbrellas (which they need most of the time here.)

Westminster Hall

Westminster Hall is enormous. This is the place is the oldest remaining building on the site, and dates back to 1097. I did get a chance to take some pictures of this hall, as well as the stained-glass window within it. This place is not only huge, but it is incredibly easy to see how it worked for people hundreds of years ago, as a center for commerce, celebrations, proclaimations, etc. Really neat. And we ended our trip to Parliament with some pics just outside the building, since I'd never been able to get behind those big black fences before. I also took a picture of Big Ben again, from an angle that I'd never seen before with my own eyes.

I really enjoyed the visit to Paliament more than I expected I would. I wish our tour guide would have gone into more detail regarding the artwork however. Luckily there is information about it online, so I can supplement my memory of what I saw with informational tidbits here.