Travel Diary

I would be doing some brand new stuff on this day! I went over to the Parliament area and took some photos of big Ben and the nearby parks. And then went into Westminster Hall after getting security clearance because I would be watching Parliament on this day. I learned that it was possible to do this from the classes I taken back in 2002. Now I was finally going to make it happen.

I also thought it would be cool to listen to Boris Johnson speak, and the other members of Parliament as well. After checking in all my electronics, I headed to the gallery, which was upstairs – and separated by some thick glass. I guess they don't want upset people doing anything in there. The sessions were quite entertaining with the two parties arguing quite a lot, and the moderator having to yell order to calm everybody down. They were many speeches given, and people complained about things and the only time everyone was unified was on testifying how much they all loved the queen who was having her 70th Jubilee come up. It was nice to see everyone getting along for a short moment. Boris Johnson gave a speech at that point, but that was all, and he soon left. It's funny because I stayed about four hours in there. I didn’t really notice the time passing by so fast.

I noticed that they also had a lot of classes of students come in for a very short time – maybe 10 minutes or so, and then leave quietly. That seemed to be taking place all day long, probably to get them used to their government. And maybe what professions to steer clear of. A pretty smart idea.

After that, I went over to the House of Lords, which was a little different. For starters, there was no glass partition. It was out in the open, yet it wasn't nearly as exciting. People just droned on about laws and issues with the government. However, the place was beautiful and exquisite with carved wood and gold gilding all around. It's a remarkably beautiful place in there. It's just those activities aren't terribly exciting. I only stayed there about an hour.

I then left through Westminster Hall, but did talk to one of the curators in there for a little while and asked some questions about its usage and history. I learned that it's a place where they hold very large ceremonial events, and the lady had mentioned that the next big event would likely be the funeral for the queen, which we both agreed would be very sad. It’s funny that six months later, that's exactly what would happen. I guess it was just a matter of time. Sad, but inevitable.

I went over to Saint James Park where I was able to take pictures of pelicans, swans, and geese with offspring. It was great chance for getting some cool nature photos.

In the evening, I headed over to the theater once again, and I saw “Matilda” as it had looked interesting and it was a musical. I've never seen before and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then back to the flat to blog and sleep.

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